A brand new, 2009 Toyota Prius. My finances are going to be %#%^#@^&% for the next few years, but I love the car.
The financial burden means that I won't be attending any steel shows this year, and possibly next year as well, but sooner or later, like our California Governator, "I'LL BE BACK"
Here's a picture of my steel sitting in the back. Notice how it well it fits.
Money notwithstanding, tonight, I'm one happy steel player.
Well, whatever floats your boat... but I feel genuinely sorry for you, Mike! You could have gotten a much better car for less money. The only thing green about the Prius is that it drives like a lawnmower. And looks like one.
Here's my solution. I can pack two steels, two Nashville 112s, two 'Steelers' Choice' Sidekick seats, an FX rack-bag, two electric guitars in gig bags and the spare tyre in the boot (trunk to you guys). Everything is out-of-sight to a would-be thief. It does 22+ mpg around here, and, on my last 2,500-mile trip across the country, it achieved 28.1.
It cost me just a few thousand dollars - a cash sale, so there's no car-payment (I won't be a slave to a mere motor-car) and, needless to say, it's extremely comfortable.
Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles, Martins, and a Gibson Super 400!
----------------------------------
Mike, most people post here in "Our Extended Family" when a family member is sick, or has a prayer request, such as the one for Tom Brumley. Rob Parker is iced in, we need to keep him in our thoughts. It's now possible to communicate with Al Petty, thanks to Reece. Do you REALLY think it's so important that you bought a car, and you need to post it in this, one of the most serious sections of the Forum? You already posted here when your old car "died," and a lot of people found that in poor taste. Maybe you could move this post to "Steel Players," or something?
Not trying to start trouble. But just to show that different people have different attitudes about things, until I got to the last couple of posts I was thinking about how this would belong in the extended family section. As I said, no problem, just musing.
Regardless of which section of the forum this thread belongs in, this is an AMAZING Car, and I'm totally stoked. It's going to take months for me to learn all it's features.
Two that I especially like are the camera in the rear kicks in when the car is in reverse, and projects an image of whatever is in back of the car, on the GPS screen, and the built in blue tooth speaker phone for one's cell phone.
I just found out you can "ask" it to find all the local places of interest, parks, museums, restaurants etc. In the case of restaurants, it will even break them down to Chinese, Italian, fast food, etc.
And being a hybrid, it averages 50 miles to the gallon.
The engineers at Toyota really hit it out of the park when they designed this puppy.
And now that the price of gas has come back down, Toyata ain't even ADVERTISING these little goat-wagons. Anybody had one worked on yet? Gotta go to the dealer, right? How much more does THAT cost than going to a good, competent mechanic?
I've got a 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, gets 29 MPG on the highway. I've got cases for all my guitars, and I use 'em. Life is good, isn't it?
Joshua Grange wrote:Nice car Mike.
Anyone who has anything mean spirited to say is just an obvious jerk, plain and simple.
Not trying to be mean-spirited there, Josh, ol' buddy. Just telling the truth. Adding GPS, or a camera to see behind the car, or Bluetooth, to make cell phones easier, really have nothing to do with the performance of the car. As for watching the GPS screen, instead of the highway, how many wrecks are we talking about?
Never mind the long-term testing of the hybrids. We don't know if one will last 50,000 miles, yet. And as ANY automobile becomes more electronically controlled, the more technical training required for the mechanic. And where will we find these mechanics? At the dealers'. And the dealers are gonna charge more. It's called "supply and demand." You ought to look into it, instead of writing PM's.
Goodnight, sweetie.
BUFFOON
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)bə-ˈfün\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French bouffon, from Old Italian buffone
Date: 1585
1 : a ludicrous figure : clown
2 : a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person
— buf·foon·ish \-ˈfü-nish\ adjective
[/b]
That toyota has attitude. !
I just bought an apple mac so i can record
on more than 8 tracks at a time and can work on more than 1 project before i master it.
I should be able to record a symphony when i get the hang of it.
Thank you so much for your cd's
Anyone learning to drive a PSG is in for a treat soon.
No reversing cameras but it will have, whats the word ?
Mike. Fill it up and make the trip to either Dallas or Scottys.
I would like to meet you.
2010 is my year off!
David, I'd like to meet you too. But chances are it won't happen this year. Trips to steel shows are expensive, and I just took on a HUGE financial obligation that's going to cut into my spending money for a while.
Maybe next year. Or perhaps when you're visiting our country, you can also visit my city and let me play tour guide. (Warning: I know a lot of great restaurants and you'll leave here ten pounds heavier than when you arrived.)
I take mine down to travel 3 blocks away 
