Christmas Adventures
To the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"
We almost got run over by a large deer,
Driving home on the twenty-third.
You could say we got quite a surprise,
but thankfully we missed the herd.
We'd been driving for what seemed like forever,
With a screaming toddler at our backs.
We had no toys or way to entertain her,
And then we ran right out of snacks.
Eventually our dear child went to sleep,
Then Jon and I finally got some peace.
When suddenly a deer came out of nowhere,
And caused our heart rates to increase.
Luckily the child remained asleep,
After getting bounced around the back.
Jon let out a curse and slowed down to a creep,
To see if the deer left a crack.
There was a scratch or two on the fender,
We also lost a running light.
Nothing on us was really tender,
But I bet the deer was quite a sight.
So be careful when you are out driving,
Especially in the dark of night.
You never know what might be out conniving,
To challenge your car to a fight.
Vroom, vroom (Insert car noises of your choice)
It's been a while since I posted, but I'm back with some exciting news...
Well, we finally went and did it....we've been talking about it for months now....and the time has finally arrived....we bought a car!!!!! That's right folks. You are talking to the proud owner of a 2005 Hyundai Tucson. It is a SUV with a ton of space. In fact, it's the only one of the smaller class of SUVs that Jon fit in. I have been dying to post about it, but wanted to wait until I actually had the keys in hand....and now I do 
I was a total baseketcase yesterday while we were waiting to here back from the dealership. You see, I was so picky that they had to bring in a car from another dealership, just to please me 
No really, they actually didn't have the model I wanted. They had sold their last one right before we went in to do the paperwork. The Tucson is black with tan leather interior. It has leather seats, a cassette player, and an in-dash 6 disc CD player. I love it!!!
Well, I suppose I've rambled on enough about the car. Hopefully we will have some pictures of me and my new car to put up soon 
Yes Dad, I fully intend on putting up some pictures, just for you
Flash Sites
Why is it that car manufacturers feel the need to heavily use Macromedia Flash on virtually all of their websites? I mean, I can understand wanting to do a little bit of animation to show the cars moving, but a large number of the sites use Flash for content that is extremely static. All that accomplishes, really, is making it so that search engines cannot crawl through the data on the vehicles -- which makes it that much harder to find manufacturer information on vehicles. Also, at least on every computer that I use, interacting with a Flash site just feels sluggish compared to a regular HTML/CSS website. The auto manufacturers could accomplish much the same effects (minus the animations) with a well-designed HTML/CSS page, with the added benefit of, oh I don't know, Google searchability?
Search for the Perfect Car
We began looking at cars last week, in preparation of replacing Ashley's aging Nissan Sentra. So far, we have found one car that we both like, the Chevy HHR. It is referred to as a crossover vehicle, but to me it looks more like a PT Cruiser than an SUV. However, it is large enough that I can drive it and ride in it comfortably (which is very important, even though it is Ashley's car). It has a large amount of hauling capacity like an SUV, but is as fuel efficient (supposably) as my Beetle.
I have to take a moment to talk about the Toyota Prius, though. That car is so cool! It is the ultimate geek toy -- pushbutton starting, a large LCD touch-screen for controlling radio, environment, and statistics on the engine/battery, plus it has a goodish amount of get-up-and-go for a hybrid. In addition, it had a rather spacious back seating area and lots of room to haul things. There were only two problems with it. First, Ashley did not like it -- it was too high-tech (which is why I loved it). Second, although I had enough headroom and leg room to drive, the steering wheel was not high enough (and did not go any higher). I had to drive it with the steering wheel between my knees, much like how I drove my Dad's MGB back in high school. However, if Toyota fixes that in some later revision of the car, I will seriously consider it when I am looking for something new -- at least 5--7 years in the future.
We still have a lot of looking to do for Ashley's car, though. I want to look at another hybrid, the Honda Insight. I also want to go back and look at the Toyota Highlander, although I have a suspicion that it will cost more than I really want to spend. But, I have had an obsession lately with hybrids, although the current frontrunner, the Chevy HHR, is not one. The hybrid obsession is even making me want to look at the Ford Escape Hybrid (and I do not care for Ford -- too many bad service experiences in the Columbus/Starkville area; however, Huntsville may be different). I do know, however, that I do not plan on getting anything that does not average at least in the upper twenties for MPG.
We have some time, though. Current thoughts have us getting the new vehicle sometime around the end of the year. That leaves us plenty of time to look for the perfect car.
All mine
Well, my Beetle is now officially paid for -- I made the last payment over lunch. Now all I need is the title...