An Open Letter to Auto Manufacturers

Dear Car Maker,

I love hybrid vehicles.  I wish I could fit in them.  So, Make me one that is big-ish and has a natural “car” noise to it.

The New York Times reports that automotive manufacturers have decided hybrid cars are “too” quiet.  So, now these hybrid cars are being built to make artificial noises.  One car sounds like “a cross between a starship and a Formula One car.”  This has the potential to get silly quick.

Personally, I don’t like ring tones on cell phones.  It’s hard to go everywhere without hearing today’s top 40 hits as blared through someones cell phone.  In the same band wagon are ring back tones that play in your phone when you are trying to reach a friend.

Car Maker/The Man/ Powers at Be- Do us all a favor and program cars with a “real-car”(perhaps that of a Corvette…) sound and at the very least don’t let customers mess with the sound.  The minute the you hear a car winding up to “MMMbop“…  Anyway you’ve been warned.

Walking

I just found an interesting website that ranks your areas walk-a-bility.  Most of us prefer to drive around town, but with gas, and the popular shift to environmental things–who knows.  I live near Travelers Rest SC.  It gets a 72 out of 100.  But you can also specifically search by your address to see just how close you are to places.

http://walkscore.com/get-score.php?street=Travelers+Rest+SC&go=Go

Lately I’ve been walking around the remarkably picturesque lake at Furman University.  This is near the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment and the entire area is gorgeous.