Punch Buggy

You know the game....Punch Buggy Red! And then you unexpectedly get punched in the arm.

My kids thought the game was hysterical. But to a focused mom of two kids, the game was horrible.

There is a "don't hit your sibling" rule in my house. So they would punch buggy me.
It always startled me and I felt like they were going to make me crash the car.

5 years ago I said no more punch buggy, find a new game.

So my kids came up with Square Car. Anytime they see a Honda Element, a Nissan Cube, or the like you get a nice gentle squeeze on the arm.

Square Car is the 21st centuries Punch Buggy game. Rules are simple, so go play!

What Mercedes has that I need

Location: Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, NY
Reason: PGA Championship
Car Sighting: Mercedes


The last major of the year was sponsored in part by Mercedes. And could you tell.
Every official car was a gorgeous sleek new Mercedes.
As you entered the course, there was a showroom full of new models, interactive displays and good looking salesmen and women in purple golf shirts.

Here's what they had that I needed: There was a man there whose only job was to continually rotate wiping smudges of the vehicles. We hopped out of the drivers seat, and he was there to wipe the car doors, check the steering wheel for errant fingerprints, clean the glass from any residual moisture as we inhaled and then exhaled the new car smell.

If every Mercedes could come with an anti-smudge protection package like these do, they may be on to something.

I Played a Game Called Guess Your Car

We had a service tech at the spa this week to rewire our sound system. He has spent many hours giving us good ambient music. As he was pulling wire thru a hole in the wall, I asked him what car he drove and then said, no wait let me guess.

I figured I might get it on the first try. He told me he was not that into cars, and preferred to drive his work van. I stuck my neck out and said,
Nissan Sentra.
 Wrong.
Toyota Tacoma.
 Wrong.
Ok, is it an American car?
 No.
Subaru Impreza.
 No.
VW.
 No
Honda, Mitsubishi, Fiat, Kia, BMW...
 Nope.

At this point I am scrambling....and my assistant says, I bet you ride a motorcycle.
 No.

I gave up. I ran out of options that I thought this single 33 year old hipster would be driving.

The answer: Mercedes C300

I was astounded. 

And so was he frankly. He hates the car. Doesn't know why he bought it two weeks ago. 

Wishes he had his BMW back. Gets more looks in this car then the BMW. Prefers to not be so flashy and is not sure what his intention was when he bought it used with 40,000 miles on it. 

It got me thinking.....

Did he buy for the iconic Mercedes symbol?

Texting and Driving

It is time to put the phones down. I get it, in the beginning of the phone craze we thought we could handle it. We have proven that we cannot. Accident after accident is happening with driver texting. I admit that I used to do it a while ago, but no more. Put your phone in the glove compartment if you have to. Use your built in blue tooth. Pull over. Jeez, at the very least just call.

Women, tell your boyfriends/husbands/dad/sons to stop.
Women, set a good example and leave your phones in your purse.
Women, be the best driver you can be.

We need to protect each other on the roads, and the way I can protect both of us is to focus on the road, not on my Iphone. Even Siri would agree.

February Cars

I saw a Jeep Cherokee the other day and said, now that's a nice looking car, and my son replied: Mom, you just like it because it is clean.

He was right.

February in Vermont means that there isn't a car clean for hundreds of miles. The dirt roads, salt, snow, ice create this extra coating of dirt that pretty much stays on until after tax season. It is not that we don't want to clean the car, it is that we physically cannot. There is no need to run it thru the sprayer if we can't stand the cool mist on our faces at 0 degrees. Plus, it's gonna screw up the windshield and get all iced over. Then we are in a bigger bind.

So if you head to Vermont, do not expect to check out the cars. Every car is enclosed in a cocoon of white/gray/brown-ish grim that hides all personality of the vehicle. Some cars get so dirty their entire shape starts morphing. (I didn't know you drove a hatchback? Oh, no, its still the sedan, its just wicked dirty.)

So from now till April 15, I shall be saving my quarters for my spray nozzle at the local DIY carwash. Figure $23 ought to get it clean again.

Visualize your new car

I am a fan of visualization. I think every athlete at every level should perform visualization. I believe that anyone who is successful uses visualization to make their thoughts and ideas more powerful.

My son is 11 and we visualize his Ryder Cup phone call inviting him to St Andrews in Scotland to play golf for the US. He asks frequently if we can visualize together. We talk about the phone call from the captain, the uniforms, who he is teamed up to play with, and what his strengths are that will get him to the match. (It's his putts, he always makes them from 20 feet out and in).

But today, my visualization was a champagne colored BMW. I told my husband I needed the exact info on this car so I could use my subconscious mind to harness all my power. We scouted the BMW website and found it: BMW 328i Convertible in Orion. I closed my eyes and thought about the noise it made as I pulled it out of the dealership, and the thunk the car door made as I got out of my garage. I visualized how the leather steering wheel feels, and how the seats would hug me as I went around curves. I imagined my hand running down the rear trunk line toward the lights, feeling the smooth sparkly paint under my hand.

I had this car in my mind for 15 minutes today. It was mine. And someday soon, I will be posting a photo of me waving at you from the drivers seat.

Family Autophotography

Do you have a baby photo of your child in their first car? The First Car for them, the one you brought them home in, the one with good and bad memories. Being petrified to drive a precious baby on the road, having them ruin your car with dropped sippy cups, and of course the vomit. My son threw up so much in one of my cars from ages 2-4 I thought I would never be able to trade it in.

My 8 year old daughter asked me today in the car what her first car was. I had to stop to think. Was it the Toyota 4 Runner we got to keep the chocolate lab in the way back? Or was it the Mazda 3? No, that was later....could it have been the Camry I had inherited from her great grandmother just before she was born? 

After discussion with my husband who forgets nothing, it was determined. Her first car was a 1999 Toyota 4 Runner. And I was driving a 98 Toyota Camry at the time. My son also came home in the 4 Runner, and I was driving a 1996 Camry then. So, they both have equally mundane first car experiences.  

But it got me thinking. We should all take a quick, semi posed family photo in front of a car once in a while. You know the cool 40 year old photos with the vintage 70s car behind them. It reflects style, personality, and so much more. If we don't have these photos, our kids will wonder.....what car did I come home in? 

And that is a pretty important question we should be able to answer.