Well, I just "liked" my Prius previously, now I think I "love" it (only in the way one can care about an inanimate object of course, completely different). ;-)

It saved me from my own foolish self.

I have started working over in Post Falls, about 30 miles from where I live. This is not so bad with my 2006 Toyota Prius because it only uses a little over 1 gallon of gas round trip (60 miles). I typically get between 48-52 mpg driving moderately aggressively between half city and half hwy, that's the overall average. The worst I have ever gotten is around 40-42 mpg in the winters. That is a combination of the winter formula they put in, and putting on my studded tires with the heavier rims too. Also when my ex drove it, she has a nasty lead foot, and would get around 40-42 in the Summer driving like she thought she was Mario Andretti.

I have milked it in the city all day running errands, keeping it below 35 and lots of stop and go, and made it up 75 mpg average.

On a round trip from Spokane to Salt Lake City, Utah and back (using the I-90 route through Missoula Montana and all the passes), driving 65 mph, I ended up for the whole round trip getting 65 mpg!

So, I like the car for that, especially with the gas prices. And the fact that I can fit my tall frame comfortably even on long road trips is mind boggling some times.

But now, it has yet another "protect the user from himself" feature.
Since I'm working in Post Falls, I usually hold off on getting gas for when I'm over there, rather than in Washington. This is because Post Falls is 15 cents cheaper per gallon than in Spokane. That adds up.
So, I left work the previous week on Friday, and forgot to stop in, because I was in a hurry to get home for my kids. The "low fuel" warning went off about midway home. I figured I'd be ok. I then ran some errands over the weekend.

In the morning I was thinking I should probably stop and get gas, but I was  a little late leaving, and didn't want to be late for work, and figured I'd be ok.

I hopped on the freeway, and after a few miles, all of a sudden the engine stopped, a big red exclamation mark showed in my dash, and I was uttering various expletives.

I had completely run out of gas!

During Monday morning rush hour. Ack!

So I quickly maneuvered coasting through traffic to take an off ramp (which went up hill unfortunately). I coasted to the end of the ramp and stopped at the red light, figuring I would have to get out and push when the light changed. There was no gas station in sight.

When the light changed, I figured I'd just try pushing the gas pedal, in the wild hope that maybe the electric mode might kick in (though I've heard people tell me horror stories about running out of gas or battery power with a Prius). I stepped on it, and to my wonderful relief the car took off in pure electric mode no problem, and had no trouble keeping up with traffic (I quickly turned off the heater/blower and radio to conserve power)!

I drove 1.2 miles in pure electric mode to a gas station with still about 1/5th battery power remaining.

Now I was concerned that supposedly once you run it out of gas, you have to have the dealership make it work again. I filled up while crossing my fingers.

I hit the POWER button (that's how you start these cars), and voila! It started right up and immediately started recharging the battery.

I made it to work 5 minutes early too.

Thank you Prius for saving me from my own foolishness!

So, yet another sample of my space cadetness, not exactly impressive, but shows I'm all to human and flawed a mortal being. <sigh> For better or worse. ;-)

Ciao for now!