Car Gadgets

When I drive I like to listen to rock music, loud and blaring. Unlike some people on the road, I don’t do this with the windows down, making my way through town. Rock music is for driving on the highway, the local station is for driving...local.

My car is old, which suits me as I feel we can sympathize with each other. We both understand that growing old is a process fraught with difficulties. I have some streaks of grey, the car has some rust spots, and we can both be temperamental.

The new cars are amazing with all their gadgets.

I was in my brother’s car recently, out for a country drive, on roads I thought I knew, sort of. I got confused at one point as to whether we were on the right road and my sister-in-law pulls out this GPS and confirms where we were and that the location we were seeking was just ahead.

A friend has one of those back-up cameras, which are built in, in the newer cars.

And then there are the built in DVD players. I was in my daughter’s car with her three kids and was amazed at the peace, if not total quiet. Two were watching the movie, listening with headphones, and the third listening to tunes on her I Pod. We were actually able to have a conversation in the front seat.

What was cute was listening to the kids’ response to what they were watching or listening to. There was some chatter, lots of laughter and some singing. Odd, as I couldn’t hear what they were listening to. I don’t know how distracting I would find that if I were driving. But, it has to be better than “Are we there yet?” or “Mommy, Bobby hit me”.

I always wonder though, when I watch that Ford commercial on TV. The one where the woman says “A caution light just notified me an accident could be imminent.”

What? Where?

I’m not sure what my reaction to that would be, maybe to slam on the brakes or to frantically look around so that I meander over the centre line. Maybe I’d like it to be a surprise, or at least hope I’d see it coming without the voice giving me a warning.

I expect that Velma, my car, and I will end our driving days together. I read that again and don’t want my words misconstrued. I didn’t mean that in a Thelma and Louise kind of end our days, but more of a used car lot, and ‘can you pick me up I don’t have a car’ way.

I don’t need all those extra distractions when I drive. I just like to listen to the music and think, plot and write in my head. If I was going to get any gadget for the car I’d get a tape recorder, because writing my thoughts in the notebook on the passenger seat is not the best thing to do.

All danger aside, I can never read my writing later.