Always inspect a used car....especially from your wife

I'm going to pay a lot more attention to the new Prius and maintenance. Why? Because while Kelli is driving it she pays the upkeep. So in a few years if I end up with it I want to make sure it's 100% before I take it over.

My 2004 Prius is in good shape. I really didn't pay much attention to it over the years unless Kelli brought something up. I got out of buying new tires for my Mazda5. I thought I would be free from buying tires for a while. Eh. The tires on the 2004 Prius are almost down to minimums. Thankfully they are literally 1/2 the price of what the Mazda5 tires would have been. I'm also going to need to spring for a transmission service soon, maybe a new battery (regular car battery not the hybrid battery), and possibly new floor mats. I should have required the previous owner to get the car up to snuff before I bought it. My fault. Ha!

My MPG has gone way up lately. My drive to work is 9 miles long. Of the 9 miles, 6 of them are at speeds of 35MPH and below. That low speed is great for a hybrid. My average is now up to 44.9 MPG. I am thinking with the new tires I want it will go up to 46.5 MPG. When summer comes I should be up to 49MPG easy (the "real" engine runs much more in winter than summer).

Flew my first flight Monday night. It was odd being back in the cockpit. I did fine. My first landing was decent enough. It was great to fly again.

Three months until we head out on our cruise. Long one....7 days!

Went to the North American Auto Show in Detroit on Sunday. Rented a Ford Fusion from Thrifty. Thrifty is my least favorite car rental company but National/Alamo was $48 for the day, Thrifty was $21. Of course the Ford Fusion had 26K of well worn miles on it. I was happy at first because the Fusions from Alamo/National have SYNC. Not from Thrifty as Thrifty is the ghetto car rental company. Bleh. The show was great. Maybe next year Kelli and Natali can come along. The original plan was for the three of us to stay the night, weather changed that idea.

I get paid again this weekend. Nice seeing my bank account go positive. I won't be back to normal until late March. Two and a half months of zero income was painful.