Carbon Offset
Nurse: What have you been driving back & forth from the Smallish City to Green Acres?
Dr. Turbo: A Subaru. It’s been pretty good.
Nurse: How is the gas mileage?
Dr. Turbo: I can squeeze out 33 on the highway.
Nurse: I had to buy a Denali.
Dr. Turbo: “Had to”?
Nurse: Well, we have two kids, and three springer spaniels. And we needed something big enough to tow the camper. Plus if we don’t have the camper, we usually need to bring the kids’ ATVs. And the kids like to bring their friends. Our other car is an F250, so that’s big enough to tow the camper, but it’s not very comfortable to ride in.
Dr. Turbo: I see.
When I was a very little kid, my parents had two cars-- one was a VW Beetle, and the other was also a VW Beetle. (They should’ve had bumper stickers reading “MY OTHER CAR IS A VW BEETLE”.) Somehow we managed to go on family camping trips in a Beetle. I guess ATVs hadn’t been invented yet, so we didn’t have to tow anything. I remember on long rides I sometimes would sleep in the little behind-the-rear-seat compartment, right over the engine. In retrospect, lucky that I wasn’t smushed like a bug. Guess child seats hadn’t been invented yet, either.
Dr. Turbo: A Subaru. It’s been pretty good.
Nurse: How is the gas mileage?
Dr. Turbo: I can squeeze out 33 on the highway.
Nurse: I had to buy a Denali.
Dr. Turbo: “Had to”?
Nurse: Well, we have two kids, and three springer spaniels. And we needed something big enough to tow the camper. Plus if we don’t have the camper, we usually need to bring the kids’ ATVs. And the kids like to bring their friends. Our other car is an F250, so that’s big enough to tow the camper, but it’s not very comfortable to ride in.
Dr. Turbo: I see.
When I was a very little kid, my parents had two cars-- one was a VW Beetle, and the other was also a VW Beetle. (They should’ve had bumper stickers reading “MY OTHER CAR IS A VW BEETLE”.) Somehow we managed to go on family camping trips in a Beetle. I guess ATVs hadn’t been invented yet, so we didn’t have to tow anything. I remember on long rides I sometimes would sleep in the little behind-the-rear-seat compartment, right over the engine. In retrospect, lucky that I wasn’t smushed like a bug. Guess child seats hadn’t been invented yet, either.
posted by Turbo at 11:27 AM
2 Comments:
One of my earliest memories is of my little sister in that trough behind the back seat (I remember being envious, since she was not sandwiched between brothers like I was). Funny how a family of six managed to get by with a Beetle only 30 years ago...
My parents' bumper sticker would have read "my other vehicle is a tractor", I guess...
Actually, we only had one Beetle at a time--you are remembering them both at once. Never had more than one car at a time back then, but they were VW bugs. A very good roof rack and clever packing sufficed for the camping trips. Of course, you guys did not need ATV's or even bikes. Hiking, leaping into deep pools of water, rowing your blow-up boats and feeding the fire all seemed to keep you very busy.
And, by the way, we were WAY ahead of our time for safety. The well back there was deemed safer than the little baby bed balanced on the back seat that most people used. Then, when each of you could stand, we actually ordered from the company harnesses that welded onto the frame and let you stand of sit but not fly off the seat in a sudden stop or crash. We thought we were very avant.
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