I am the Little Old Man With The Hat
I have always hated to be stuck behind the Little Old Man With The Hat. You know him. He's the one who is afraid to drive more than 20 miles per hour on the interstate. The one who worries that the gas pedal will break off if he steps on it. The one whose turn signal has been on since 1996.
Recently I received some advice from my Dear and Sainted Mother. The same lady who, when I was three, gave me the wisdom to "never ride a motorcycle that you can't pick up," told me, "You should keep the tachometer under 2000 RPM if you want to save gas." My mother may be a little behind the times when it comes to technology, but in matters of motor vehicles she is up there with Montgomery Scott.
So for the past two months I have been watching my tachometer very carefully. I drive a standard shift car -- never could get the hang of that newfangled automatic transmission -- so it is easy. I shift when the tach hits 2000 RPM, and never let the needle creep above. The trouble is that this leads to extremely slow acceleration. I find that coming off the stop line it can take me as much as a full minute to work up to 50 MPH. The people behind me have been honking furiously, just like I used to do to the Little Old Man With The Hat. Sometimes they go roaring around me and shoot me rude gestures. They are already out of sight while my speedometer creeps gradually up to 20, 25 -- shift now -- 30...35......40........
It takes me longer to get to work in the morning. I've pissed off countless people, even had a few look like they wanted to ram my rear bumper although nobody has tried that yet. But my gas mileage has increased 25% from what it was a few months ago. 32 MPG in April; almost 40 MPG in July. It's like paying $3.00 a gallon for gas.
Let them honk. I just tip my hat.
Recently I received some advice from my Dear and Sainted Mother. The same lady who, when I was three, gave me the wisdom to "never ride a motorcycle that you can't pick up," told me, "You should keep the tachometer under 2000 RPM if you want to save gas." My mother may be a little behind the times when it comes to technology, but in matters of motor vehicles she is up there with Montgomery Scott.
So for the past two months I have been watching my tachometer very carefully. I drive a standard shift car -- never could get the hang of that newfangled automatic transmission -- so it is easy. I shift when the tach hits 2000 RPM, and never let the needle creep above. The trouble is that this leads to extremely slow acceleration. I find that coming off the stop line it can take me as much as a full minute to work up to 50 MPH. The people behind me have been honking furiously, just like I used to do to the Little Old Man With The Hat. Sometimes they go roaring around me and shoot me rude gestures. They are already out of sight while my speedometer creeps gradually up to 20, 25 -- shift now -- 30...35......40........
It takes me longer to get to work in the morning. I've pissed off countless people, even had a few look like they wanted to ram my rear bumper although nobody has tried that yet. But my gas mileage has increased 25% from what it was a few months ago. 32 MPG in April; almost 40 MPG in July. It's like paying $3.00 a gallon for gas.
Let them honk. I just tip my hat.