Oh sure, I still had to get the kid off to school (they frown on absentee students resulting from lazy parents), but I was pretty sure I could justify my way out of any chores that needed doing around the house. Vacuum? No time, I needed to upload a video from my camcorder to my computer. Dust? What, with these cool Pins to look at? Dishes? No way, I have a really important book to read. I pondered going to the gym, but only if I planned to catch up on CSI episodes.
I was still in this state when I turned off my alarm clock and started our morning routine. As I put fresh food in the feeder, the bird reminded me that the kid wanted left overs heated up and put in her thermos for lunch and would not appreciate the dry cereal that I had dumped in it. Oh yeah. I put the cereal away. We wanted bagels this morning anyway.
We made it to the corner before the bus and I waved as it pulled away and roared down the street. Then I sprinted to the house, shed my outer winter layer and plopped down on the couch. I was still in my jammies. Giggle. What to do first. I lay back and looked out the front window trying to decide if I should eat first, or perhaps take a little nap.
The phone rang.
Arrgghh! I am going to invent a death ray that works over phone lines and kill all telemarketers. I mean, it was not even 8:30 in the am! I answered the phone. It was not a sales person. It was the kid. What could kid want? I mean, she just got on the bus like 15 minutes ago. She had her lunch, water bottle, homework stuff, shoes and instrument. Was something wrong?
"Um, Mom. (insert best friend name here) forgot her instrument. Could you bring it to school for her?"
Sigh. I stress the importance of kids being responsible for their own things, but I am not an Ogre. At least not on Fridays. And music thing was still pretty new for best friend. It is gonna happen once in awhile. I agreed to pick up said instrument and told them they were lucky it wasn't Thursday. Thursday I wouldn't have been able to help them. Thursdays I am not available. Thursdays I am busy Ogre mom.
Winter gear on over jammies, I headed out. Without coffee, I might add. Surely I am getting points toward sainthood, right? Thankfully I have an attached garage which keeps the cars out of the direct cold in the winter. Instrument picked up and delivered, I returned to my lair once more. Now I needed coffee and something to eat. I decided that I might read some of the newspaper that had been delivered to my house last weekend. We don't have a subscription, so this was a novelty.
What caught my attention was an article on cars and how you no longer need to idle them during cold weather. Since new cars all use electronic ignitions (and not carburetors like in the old days) they do not require warming up before you drive them. Carburetors needed warming up before driving in cold weather to ensure proper air to fuel mix. Electronic fuel injection relies on sensors to do this job, which monitor the conditions to get this equation right. Therefore warming up the car is no longer necessary. Therefore remote starters were unnecessary.
Seriously? Where does this guy live? Hawaii? Has he every actually climbed in a car on a -10 degree day and just started driving? Even at +10 degrees your hands freeze to the steering wheel, and the only reason you wear gloves is to be able to slide your hands out of them and off the wheel should you need to exit the car. Warming up the car may not be necessary for the engine, but is sure is for the people!
Heck, I had a remote starter put on both of our vehicles. While I don't need it at home, sure has come in handy over the last two polar vortexes when I was out and about. I highly recommend them to all my family and friends. Personally I think they should come standard with all cars. Sure beats the quick run out to the car to start it, then back in to thaw while waiting for interior of the car obtain something above sub-zero temperatures on the inside.
There was a great deal more in the article about emissions and fuel economy. My thinking is we need to have better efficiency in our vehicles. I made a mental note to buy the most environmentally friendly car I could afford in the future. In the meantime, I will continue to trade off emissions for warm car so that my brain is warm enough to function when driving, making me a safer driver. Safety first.
Hmmm, next article was about how most teen driver deaths occur in older model cars (11 years or older). Ya think? I question the income sources of teenagers that drive newer cars than me. Enough serious reading, where are the funnies?
I think I know why I don't get the newspaper. Looks like the floor needs mopping. Must be time to go to the gym and find a CSI program that I haven't seen. Can't waste this day.
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