Thursday, April 25, 2013

Compact car of the week

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog is to chronicle my travel experiences.  I travel A LOT, like weekly for my job.  So far my travels take me all over the central and eastern parts of the US.  Because of my disdain for taxis, outside of New York City, I rent cars.  Apparently I just achieved 5 Star status with Hertz, whatever that means. It is basically like I get to test drive a different car every week.  I am a HUGE TopGear (UK version) and MotorWeek fan.  The knowledge and opinions I have accumulated need to be shared! So I am starting a series on the compact car of the week.

This week's car is.....drum roll please.....
KIA SOUL
File:2010 Kia Soul Sport - 1.jpg
 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_Kia_Soul_Sport_-_1.jpg

This isn't the actual car I drove, but the same make/model/color.  When I landed in Cleveland this week I had to laugh when I got my Hertz Gold email telling me that I would be driving a KIA SOUL, this was a first for me.  When I think KIA SOUL I instantly think of mice in tracksuits dancing to techno music with robots.  Ahhh the power of marketing.  From the outside I think these cars are not stylish (to put it kindly) but whatever, I would be driving it for 24 hours in a town that I know no one, what do I care.  Apart from the massive blind spots in the rear and horrible SOUL labeled upholstery (seriously?!), I must say it isn't bad, or I should say not as bad as I thought it would be.  The seat had adjustable height so I was able to sit high up like in an SUV.  The steering was just right, not to loose, and the brakes were pretty good.  You know, some brakes you barely touch and you do an anchor stop and your head whiplashes forward while others you push the pedal all the way to the floor and you barely come to a stop.  Well this was the Goldilocks of brakes....just right.  The console and stereo were nothing to write home about, but were adequate.  Some of the cars I get I can't even figure out how to turn the thing on or get a station, not joking. (I found out later from my husband that apparently the SOULs are known to have a good sound system.  Sorry, I didn't blast the music.) Roomy interior for front and back seats; however, the trunk was surprisingly small.  You couldn't fit the 2 kids, dogs, and luggage for a trip longer than a weekend in the car, but remember I rent compact cars.

Overall review: 3 stars (1 star being only if that was the last car on the lot= POS, 5 stars being I would buy it)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Just another person who started a blog

I really got started reading blogs in 2011 when I got my iphone.  I downloaded the soon to be non-existent Feeddler app and started another obsession.  I started rooting for the people on the other side of the posts, experienced the highs and lows of daily life with complete strangers.  None of them know I exist.  I rarely post comments because either a) too shy or b) it requires me to get out of the feeddler link and actually go to their blogsite (ain't nobody got time for that!)  I may or may not have anything common with these people, but I have become completely engrossed.  I love the uncensored stream of consciousness, the "telling it like it is" idea of blogs.  Which brings me to today...2013.  Let's try this form of therapy.  Like with 95% of the blogs out there, I don't have anything really interesting to say but thought this would be a good place to post this carboholic's life story. 


PS- I'll figure out how to post pictures because posts without pics are bbbborrrring