Category Archives: Family

car rental review of a dodge stratus and chevy cobalt

Family, Reviews

Now that I’m spending weekends in Connecticut caring for my grandmother, I’ll be renting a car every weekend. I can’t really take my Saturn SUV because Vin needs it for his trips to Home Depot, and there’s no way our 1997 Saturn sedan will last another 3 or 4 years (until the SUV is paid off) if I’m driving it 350 extra miles a week. So, off to the car rental place. I will try to review the car I drive each week. Mind you, though, I’m not much into cars, so my reviews might be a bit…unusual?…useless?…

The first car I rented was a Dodge Stratus. I don’t recall the color (my receipt says it was “magnesium”), but it had 4 doors, electronic locks and controls, and rode very nicely. It also had a CD player, and the indoor temperature of the car was very easy to control and keep me either warm or cool, depending on whether my body was acting normal or being terribly hot. Also, I had no problem finding the window controls as I approached my first tool booth on the Mass Pike (don’t laugh! with our new SUV, I had to open the car door the first time I drove it and needed to use the window quickly).

The next weekend I received a Chevy Cobalt. I always thought cobalt was a color, and was pleased when the car turned out to be blue. Of course, that was from a distance. Up close it looked more of a purple, and indeed the car’s key tag also identified it as purple. This car wasn’t quite as spiffy as the Dodge. The windows and locks were manual (on the other hand, no confusion at the toll), but the lights had an option to be either manual or automatic. I couldn’t figure out what setting I had on, so I ended up just turning them on and off manually. One major annoying thing about the Cobalt is that every time I used my blinker, I’d turn my bright lights on. But the CD player was great, the temperature controls perfect, and I always knew the outside temperature when I looked at the speedometer.

Oh, and speaking of the speedometer, I not only saw it turn over to 11,000, but I saw 11,111! I’ll post the photo of it as soon as I figure out how to get the picture off my cell phone.

happy easter

Family

Do you celebrate Easter? We do, but this year I was at my grandmother’s in CT, so we’re officially celebrating next Sunday when she and my brother Greg come up to visit. Not that there’s too much to celebrate anymore. The girls are in their 20’s now, Katie works on Sundays, Kerri will probably spend the day recovering from her trip to NYC the day before and doing homework. We don’t go to church or do egg hunts anymore.

But still, a holiday is a holiday. For all you peep lovers out there, get a load of this! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070402/GAL-07Apr02-69859/index.html

spoiling my kids

Family

Me? Spoil my kids? No way! I have been known to force my kids to (gasp!) drink from a water fountain rather than buy them a bottle of water. When they were in grade school, they don’t know it, but much of their clothing and toys came from tag sales. Katie had to suffer through the indignities of eating homemade bread rather than store bought because it was cheaper. Kerri was nearly the last kid in her high school to get a cell phone.

So imagine my own surprise at my behaviour the other day. Kerri comes into my office (she and I both work in the IT department at Endicott College) and asks me if I have any money. I said that I thought I had a $10 bill in my purse, and immediately got my bag out.

Kerr said, “No, Mom, I just need 125.”

To which I replied, “$125, okay, let me get out my checkbook.”

“MOM!” Kerr said, clearly not grasping this historic moment, “I need $1.25 for the soda machine! I’m thirsty!”

“Oh,” I said, realizing as I put my checkbook away that I was about to write a check for $125 to my daugther without even asking what it was for! Have I come this far in spoiling my children? Yes, we are doing OK these days; we both have college degrees, we both have jobs in technology, and we are quite lucky that both of the kids go to college for free, but still…? Money doesn’t grow on trees, and at some point, my 20-something children should be buying ALL their own toiletries, shoes, clothing, concert tickets, snack foods, dance lessons, dance shoes, dance costumes, movie tickets, magazines, school books, art supplies, hard-drives, winter coats and prescription medication.

Darned if I didn’t give her $2.50.