I bought a new car today.
I didn’t exactly need it, but I was in the mood to go car shopping, and I wanted a little more cargo space and a few more mpgs, so I swapped the Starlight Express for a 2008 Honda Fit with a manual transmission and a lot of fancy bells and whistles.
I don’t usually buy cars with a lot of extras, but I wanted a stick shift, and the only one on the lot was this pimped-out model that cost about the same as a base model automatic. I wasn’t in the mood to wait to special-order something, so I went ahead and bought the one on the lot.
I haven’t figured out what all the buttons on the dashboard do, but I’m sure I’ll have fun playing with them, anyway.
At the moment, I’m just having a good time getting used to the feel of the transmission, which is a tad more responsive than the one in Ron’s car.
I’ll try to post a picture later. It was too dark to shoot anything by the time I got home from the dealership this evening.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 
I almost had a Fit in my driveway…but decided to be Civic minded instead. I would like to see a grassroots movement to drop the speed limits on all roads by at least 5 miles per hour. The fuel savings and environmental impact would be amazing. A few days ago you were posting about goals or resolutions for the New Year. That is mine. I drive 58 miles per hour on the interstate where practical and if I’m not causing a hazard that would feed road rage. On the secondary roads where the limit is 55, I drive 50 or less. On a 20-mile commute each morning, I only have to leave a few minutes earlier to get there on time, and I feel good knowing that I’m lessening the country’s dependence on oil. I wish I had a bumper sticker saying “I drive this slowly to save oil for your kids” or maybe a license plate that says “HYPRMLR”. It has a side effect of allowing you to be more courteous because you’re not as self-focused when you’re not in such a rush to get there.