I haven't mentioned my car(s) recently. Now that I'm not navigating my way over ice and slush, I can (almost) enjoy driving. It's lovely to be able to pass a slower vehicle without feeling as if I need to get a running start. Bonnie Blue is agile, fast, and comfortable. Yesterday I set the cruise control on 70 right as I was leaving town and didn't have to brake or accelerate until I got to my exit--just sit back and ride for about 50 miles. I'm still a bit bothered by the car's blind spot, even with the little attached wideview mirror, but knowing the blind spot is there, I can plan for it. Still, changing lanes is not something I've ever been good at or comfortable doing.
One of my problems, of course, is that it's hard for me to turn around and look behind me. My neck feels on the verge of getting a crick in it at all times for two reasons: first, my lack of a proper pillow, and second, my tv-viewing angle. I do not know what to do about my pillow dilemma. It doesn't matter what kind of pillow I buy, I find something irritating about it. The specially designed pillow for side-sleepers is wonderful, but pillowcases don't fit it properly, and I can't turn it over, or even around, since it's flat on the bottom and the top side has two humps: one fits my head and neck okay, but the other doesn't. The pillow is made of memory foam, but apparently, what it remembers is that I wad it up, so that's how it stays: wadded. So the pillow sort of resembles a Kleenex on the verge of being discarded. Neck support is therefore only sporadic. Other pillows don't even do as well as that one. If I weren't such a cheapskate, I'd buy a better pillow, but I just fear that no matter what I spend, I'll wind up with a pillow I don't like.
We're considering changing the living room arrangement so that we can (perhaps) get a better angle for the television. The best solution would be for me to stop watching television, but I doubt that will happen. When I get home, I'm so tired that it's all I can do to get out of the car and stagger to the sofa, where I collapse in front of the soothing, hypnotic tv waves.
We really need a one-story home. I've been looking at plans for barrier-free homes, given our ages and the conditions of various family members. If the recession ever lets up where homes are selling again, we can see about building such a house north of town where I would have easier driving to work, and actually, so would my husband.
When people are young, two story homes seem romantic and exciting. As people age, they begin to regard that climb upstairs, just to go to bed, as an ordeal. It's the same way with cars. Young people don't care whether a car is comfortable. They look at style and speed. Then when they hit the over-the-hill age, what matters is safety, comfort, and gas mileage. My old Buick Bessie, now in the hands of my younger son who probably regards driving it as the kiss of social death, is still the most comfortable car I've ever had. Those big bench seats are ideal for someone with a bum leg and big butt. My son probably puts a paper bag over his head when he gets in it to drive, but in truth, if I could have had a brand new one built exactly like that one, that's what I would have chosen.
And on one last note about cars before I get busy for the day--we've renamed the white Toyota. Its first name, Yoko, just never sat right. (When I think of Yoko Ono, I am reminded of her shrill vocals on Lennon's songs, and this car is smooth and mellow, not sharp and shrill.) Thus, the car's new name is Pearl. The color is Pearl white, and if my hubbie is feeling silly, he can call her Minnie Pearl. (But for that to be really effective, he'd have to hang a price tag on her somewhere.)
If I don't get Bonnie Blue bathed soon, she'll be in need of a new name--Muddy Mabel. And on that descriptive note, I'd better end this post and start doing some real work for the day. Dr. S.
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