hoopty ride

Remember that one time last year (I love saying "last year" even though it was less than two months ago) I quit my job? Well, I was so excited to be outta there that when I raced out to my car, I hopped in and didn't notice the note on my windshield until I had already started to drive away. I saw it with a sinking feeling.  I hopped out, grabbed the note, and sure enough,

I hit your car pulling into the space next to you, I'm very sorry.  Please call (555) 555-5555 for my info (insurance) sorry again. Have a good day. 

And with that, my heart fell to my knees. My precious baby! My sweet love! I cannot believe somebody hurt you!! I race around the car, searching for the wound.  One lap around and I don't see anything.  What the? ... Second lap around, I notice a teensy small scratch and ding on the rear passenger door.  HUGE sigh of relief...

So finally after the holidays and being sick and trading emails with the poor kid who scratched my car, my sweet baby is in the shop getting repaired this week.  So I am going to rent a car while mine is being worked on.  I head into the rental place and they let me know that due to some mass-rental through Emerson College, my choice was a GMC Yukon or a GMC Yukon.  uhm... okay, I guess I'll take the Yukon?

This thing is HUGE. I mean, you could run over a small child and not notice.

"Did you hear something?"

"No, did you?"

"Guess not."

Seriously, I was driving this tank around and the only thing bigger than me on the road was an 18 wheeler.  Now, on the one hand, it gave me a little more sympathy for the people on the road driving these things.  They are huge and squirelly and can't exactly zip around.  Changing lanes requires a uniformed cop holding back the other cars on the road.  They aren't exactly the easiest things to drive.  But on the other hand, why the hell do you need so much car??? Are you really hauling that much crap around?

Here are some "fun" comparison specs:

Yukon: 5,685 pounds
Mazda 3: 2,866 pounds
(the Yukon is 2.3 times the size of my car)

Yukon: 222.4 inches/18.5 feet in length; 76.8 inches/6.4 feet in height (yes, I practically need a ladder to get into this ride)
Mazda 3: 180.7 inches/15 feet in length; 57.9 inches/4.8 feet in height

The Yukon can haul up to 9600 pounds!!! Someone tell me why anyone in LA needs to haul 9600 pounds.  Your kids aren't that fat.  Wanna know how much my Mazda can tow? Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Which is FINE because most of the time the only thing I'm hauling around is my own butt!

Anyway, I've got this behemoth for a week, so ... anyone need to move some furniture?