Experiences

Watching a commercial for the Kind.le last night, I was struck with a sense of sadness. Although wistfulness might be more accurate. Stylistically appealing and positive, the commercial ends with the tag line "The book is back."

As much as I love my gadgets, I'm still primarily a hard copy reader. I'll take the physical book over the ebook any day. (Although I do have many of my favorites in both versions!)

What struck me about the commercial, is what is being lost in this switch to the electronic format. Books and libraries and bookstores have always been such a large part of my life. To this day, the trip to the library or to the bookstore is filled with a sense of youth and joy and expectation. The discovery, the wonder of rooms full of books. The endless, overwhelming possibilities.

How I remember those summer days when friends and I would bicycle to the library. I remember the Florida heat and humidity and daytime stillness almost as if I'm there now. That blast of cool air as we entered the quiet of the library. Running my fingers along the spines of the books as I hunted for the next one that would whisk me away. Then, finally, the excitement of finding it, the satisfaction in pulling it off the shelf.

Why I Will Never Buy...

...A Jeep Liberty.

I really don't like this vehicle at all. Good thing it's a rental! I have a few basic issues that may have been corrected on later models, if there are any. I'm not sure what year the rental is. It is a Trail Rated Limited Edition, automatic transmission, and is quite fancy.

So here are my reasons, in no particular order.

• No handle above the driver's door - big issue for a short person. Need that to help haul myself up into the driver's seat.

• No step to assist short people get into the driver's seat. (I haven't checked the other doors.

• This thing is a tank; a giant lumbering ox.

• Rocks way too much in the wind. Feels top heavy.

• Did I mention this thing is a tank? Very hard to negotiate parking lots and parking spaces. Don't try to park between two other vehicles. Even if they are parked perfectly in their spots. It just is not going to happen. (Backing out is an issue too!)

• To reach the gas pedal with more than my toes, I have to sit way too close to the steering wheel. To get most of my foot on the pedal without feeling like I'm stretching and about to slide off the seat, I have to sit even closer. If that air bag ever deploys it will most likely kill me. To be fair, this is an issue I have with most vehicles as I am short. However, this one seems worse than most others I have driven. Even our company van.

• Silver knobs/plates on top of shift mechanisms are stupid. They reflect sunlight that no visors can block, usually straight into the driver's eyes (or corner thereof). Again, not just an issue with this vehicle, and probably not a problem for taller drivers.

And my number one reason I'll never buy this vehicle?

• Where the dash and middle console meet, it slopes down at an angle toward the gas pedal. Making it wider at its base. In order to use the gas pedal, I have to angle my foot to the right. Leaving my leg - and knee - feeling twisted the entire time I am driving. It sucks. Perhaps a taller person would not have this problem; I don't know. All I know is my knee hurts.

Twenty Three Years Isn't a Bad Record

This past Saturday I had my first auto accident. No one was hurt; although my car did suffer some damage.

I was driving to a rock climbing comp about 4 hours away, with my little and her mom in the car. For once, we actually left on time, with 5 hours until the comp started. A Spring snow storm had come through the night before, but the roads were great. Until we got about 1.5 hours from here, and got onto the interstate.

The roads didn't look bad; just like there was snow on them. I was going the speed limit when I decided to move into the left lane because it was clear and the right lane had snow. As soon as we changed lanes, I felt the car start to slide. I turned the wheel a bit to the right to keep us in our lane and from going into the median and then oncoming traffic. Not sure if that was a mistake as we went into a spin. At least I knew enough not to slam on the brakes, and just went with the spin. Because by that point I couldn't do much. At least we didn't roll! The whole thing was surreal.