Here in my car, I feel safest of all / Somethin somethin somethin / and la la la la / in cars

Yep, that was my Gary Numan moment. I hate 80s technopop. OK. On to today’s RNFs:

I love my mechanical conveyance. The Mighty Ford Ranger. Kevin Poth calls it “a car with a bed,” but I don’t care. (Besides, have you seen Kevin’s truck??)

Even though the air conditioning unit died 2 years ago ($1500 to replace it..shyeah I’ll get right on that) and it has 160,000 miles on it, I still love it. I’m surprised I haven’t named it. Perhaps I will do that. Hmmm….

Anyway, as much as I love the Ranger, the price of gasoline — and the fact that I have a 22-mile commute one way to work every day — concerns me. I’ve been thinking lately that I would like to hold out with the truck as long as possible, to hopefully buy an electric or hybrid in the next couple of years.

(Just saw this photo of a gas station in Arcadia, California. Incredible. Could that be coming to little Ohio? Probably.)

Anyway, enter the Chevy Volt….

Nobody really knows what it looks like yet, but according to the story I read on Wired.com, it might reveal itself at the Detroit Auto Show in January. They say they don’t know exactly what it’ll cost, but that they want it to be “affordable.” What’s “affordable?” Well, let’s just say it doesn’t bode well for the home team when the cost of the lithium-ion battery alone is $16,000. Nice.

Don’t go here. It’s like looking at bad car accidents — you won’t be able to look away.

I can’t imagine what SUV owners are going through right now. I know my son is trying to sell his huge Suburban. Anyone wanna buy it? I don’t know what he’s asking for it. Eleventy thousand dollars, maybe. But really, at 10 MPG, who’d want it?

Or, we could be like Fusion Man and travel in real style — via wings and jugs of jet fuel strapped to our persons.

Meh. For the moment, I’ll stick with the MFR, thanks. Until gas reaches $7 a gallon…then who knows. Maybe I’ll go the way of the Amish.

Fink out (of gas).

PS – Kay’s home! Yay!