| 5/17/2006 |
AWW BEEP BEEP AWW BEEP BEEP
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If you will, indulge with me for a moment while I talk about my new Jeep... or Yeep as I seem to be calling it for some reason.
I really like my new Yeep! It's like a pet. A pet that I have to feed every couple of weeks. A pet that I got to buy some fun toys for. A pet that I even thought about naming Libby? Not sure... so don't hold me to that one.
I loved my old Jeep. It moved me three times and has helped others move. It made numerous trips to Louisville KY, St Louis, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. It had 8 miles when I drove it off the lot in 1996. It had over 115,000 miles on it by the time I sold it. I had it for just under ten years. The salesmen at the dealership were actually impressed and somewhat surprised that I owned the same vehicle for that long. Is it really that uncommon of a thing to happen?
The transition to the new Jeep has been relatively easy, with few bumps along the way. The brakes and gas are more sensitive. A fact which I quickly noted as I drove off the lot like it was my first day in Driver's Ed. There have been some features that I wasn't aware of that I'm finding quite handy. Like the display that shows how many more miles I can go; how long before I need an oil change; temperature and direction; and even programmable garage door openers. The one that has surprised me the most is the fuel gauge monitor. It alerts me when I am getting low on gas, and how much further I can go before I'm bone dry.
This happened for the first time yesterday and it scared the hell out of me. I tend to be very sensative to cars making funny noises. Whether I understand what the hell the noise means is unlikely. But I am aware of the presence of a new noise.
When the Low Fuel Alarm sounded, it was in the middle of a song that had two heaping scoops of beeps and chirps and tones all it's own.
*BOOOOOOOOOOP*
"What the fuck was that? Was that the song? Are there sirens approaching? What the hell are you trying to me Yeep?" To locate the source of the noise became my next challenge. In much the same way as I've blinded people with my high beams in an effort to turn on my windshield wipers, I fumbled around with multiple buttons in an attempt to discover the cause.
I imagine this is why you may see a lot of new cars, not even plated yet, involved in accidents. The drivers are probably trying to discover the source of some new noise or alert they never had before. Then, WHAM... right into the back end of another vehicle. Knock on wood!
My very first car had a similar feature. It was a small panel the size of an index card with a crude drawing of the vehicle. There were several LED lights embedded at strategic points on the display that would indicated if the engine needed to be serviced or low on gas or if there was a door open. At some point, the panel worked intermittently and the lights would come on and off at random. "Did the oil need changing? How can I be out of gas? I just filled up."
I finally noted on the dash a small gaspump shaped lit icon, that I presumed meant I needed to fuel up. I then figured out how to flip through the various computer displays to discover that I could go another 15 miles before I'd be out of gas. I might barely be able to make it home. Who knows how accurate it is? I made it to a gas station just fine. Which, I know is very anti-climactic way to end the story. I like that fact that I've got a warning for when I get low on gas. I typically don't let it get super low, but it happens. Especially with a new car, where I'm not used to knowing how far I can 'push' it before something needs to be done. |
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I posted this @ 5/17/2006 09:06:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
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