I know, I am not flying an airplane, but I still have a co-pilot. About 10 months ago, my wife came home from work and dropped a bomb shell on me. She said that she thought we needed a dog to keep me company and make me go for walks. To her surprise, I jumped on the idea. About one year before this I had suffered a hemoragic stroke that should have killed me, but that is another story.
I immediately started to search dog breeders, animal shelters, and dog rescue shelters. I thought I wanted a labrodoodle or Goldendoodle. Upon visiting some breeders I determined that these dogs got too big when fully grown. I wanted puppy. My family panicked at the thought of a stroke survivor trying to train a puppy. I eventually listened to reason and started to search the web for rescue or pound dogs in the Seattle area.
I saw an ad for Gingers Pet Rescue. They were showing a group of rescued dogs that had been on death row. There were two Poodle mixes that. We were interested in. One male and one a smaller female.
I was immediately attracted to the male. He was in his crate watching what was going on but was not barking. I thought that was great. I was later to find out he barks at strangers, mail men, and anyone who rings the doorbell.
As you can guess, we fell head over heals, or should I say paws, for this dog. We were to find out that he is part Poodle and part Lhasa Apso. He definitely has traits of both. That's enough of Bailey's history for now.
Bailey does love to GO. It could be a walk, a car ride, or even a boat ride as long as he doesn't have to get in the water. He loves to see where I am going. At stop signs he loves to put his head between the front seats and lay his head on my shoulder and then look around to see where he is at. He knows when we are near home, my mothers apartment, and where my wife works.
He is such a change from our past pets. They all got car sick or howled, driving all humans nearby crazy. Bailey, just curls up and goes to sleep. Once in a while he looks around to see where the car is going. If all looks well he just goes back to sleep.
In another post I will share with you how Bailey thinks he can drive the car.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, April 26, 2012
An Old Car Guy
Spring is coming, actually it is officially here, although no one informed old man weather. With the coming of warmer weather we look forward to traveling around the Pacific Northwest or do we? With the price of gas at $4.00 a gallon and expected to edge toward $5.00 a gallon by August. What will some of us car nuts do? Before answering that question lets look back at our history of traveling with our cars.
Some of us older generation may remember the TV series "Route 66". It was my first introduction to the Chevrolet Corvette. I still would love to own a 64 Corvette... Oh well, it is nice to dream. I think this show helped create my desire to get in a car and drive anywhere. Feeling the road through the steering wheel was and is an addiction.
Even further back in history I remember my dad telling stories of traveling across country in a Model A or a Model T. They would travel with lots of extra tires and tubes, a little bailing wire, and a tool box that had enough tools to rebuild the car if necessary. Well, those days are long gone. I do not think we will ever see cars that we can easily work on ourselves.
I think that of all the cars I have owned over the years, the one that I liked to drive best was my 67 Pontiac Firebird. It had a 6 cylinder overhead camshaft engine with a four barrel carburetor and a four speed transmission that made it fun to drive. I have always regretted getting rid of it.
Now, I drive a Volvo CrossCountry station wagon. This car has every bell and whistle on it you could imagine. My wife is in love with the heated leather seats. The Volvo is a wonderful car, comfortable on the highway. It gets between 25 and 28 mpg driving at 70 mph on the highway. Unfortunately, it is a "family car" and not what I would call a "fun car".
Just filled up the Volvo with gas - over $70. This will allow me about 400 miles of highway travel or about 250 miles of city driving. I need something that is Inexpensive, fun to drive, and gets 30 mpg in town and 40 plus on the highway.
There are actually several cars available on the American market that fit all my requirements except the inexpensive part. My son is taking delivery this week of a car that meets all the requirements except the inexpensive part. He takes delivery of a 4 door Mini Cooper. The mini really is a nice car and has done well in the American market. There are several models of Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Fiat, and others that fit this market. The American automotive standard of Ford and Chevrolet are also making new models that meet my requirements although, like the Mini, they are not inexpensive.
I keep looking at my needs and my pocket book and I wonder what to do. The Smart car has my interest if I can work with its drawbacks. More homework is needed. For now it is me and my Volvo.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Some of us older generation may remember the TV series "Route 66". It was my first introduction to the Chevrolet Corvette. I still would love to own a 64 Corvette... Oh well, it is nice to dream. I think this show helped create my desire to get in a car and drive anywhere. Feeling the road through the steering wheel was and is an addiction.
Even further back in history I remember my dad telling stories of traveling across country in a Model A or a Model T. They would travel with lots of extra tires and tubes, a little bailing wire, and a tool box that had enough tools to rebuild the car if necessary. Well, those days are long gone. I do not think we will ever see cars that we can easily work on ourselves.
I think that of all the cars I have owned over the years, the one that I liked to drive best was my 67 Pontiac Firebird. It had a 6 cylinder overhead camshaft engine with a four barrel carburetor and a four speed transmission that made it fun to drive. I have always regretted getting rid of it.
Now, I drive a Volvo CrossCountry station wagon. This car has every bell and whistle on it you could imagine. My wife is in love with the heated leather seats. The Volvo is a wonderful car, comfortable on the highway. It gets between 25 and 28 mpg driving at 70 mph on the highway. Unfortunately, it is a "family car" and not what I would call a "fun car".
Just filled up the Volvo with gas - over $70. This will allow me about 400 miles of highway travel or about 250 miles of city driving. I need something that is Inexpensive, fun to drive, and gets 30 mpg in town and 40 plus on the highway.
There are actually several cars available on the American market that fit all my requirements except the inexpensive part. My son is taking delivery this week of a car that meets all the requirements except the inexpensive part. He takes delivery of a 4 door Mini Cooper. The mini really is a nice car and has done well in the American market. There are several models of Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Fiat, and others that fit this market. The American automotive standard of Ford and Chevrolet are also making new models that meet my requirements although, like the Mini, they are not inexpensive.
I keep looking at my needs and my pocket book and I wonder what to do. The Smart car has my interest if I can work with its drawbacks. More homework is needed. For now it is me and my Volvo.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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