Posted by Kitty

I’m in total awe…

I’m attending a seminar for the next two days, so I thought I better fill up my Chili Pepper aka the Prius. I’ve been getting a decent 44-47 mpg on average for the last 3 weeks that I’ve been driving it.

The infamous Wayne Gerdes and a CBS news reporter set out to see how well hypermiling works. Both of them drove a Prius from Chicago to New York yesterday, the reporter drove normally and Gerdes hypermiled the 800 miles to New York.

The results are in:

Gerdes: 17 hours, 8.9 gallons of gas, 71 mpg
Reporter: 14 hours, 20 gallons of gas, 45 mpg

After all the hype about hypermiling, why not give it a try? I already have to learn how to drive all over again as it is. Let’s see what this baby can do aye?

The Costco gas station to my house is 5 miles away, if not for the jerk-off tailgating me I could’ve done better than 65.7 mpg me thinks lol. Kerry also filled up the tank and drove home at the same time with me, he arrived about 30 seconds before me. So, I was not driving like a 90 yo senior hehee. I’m learning and practicing P&G (Pulse and Glide) every chance I get… It’s really hard to do with traffic but at night time, I can easily incorporate that.

Here’s my proof!

Posted by Kitty

Meet my new baby, isn’t she pretty??

With the gas price going up every week at least that what it seems to me, at this post the local gas price is $3.79 a gallon. I finally talked Kerry into going green and in the meantime save some money on gas by taking a chance at a hybrid car. I know there are concerns about the battery but the Toyota Prius comes with a 10 year or 150,000 warranty on the battery! I feel pretty comfortable with it.

From the start, I knew I wanted a Prius and not the other hybrids available today, it gets the best mileage and it looks cool to me! With all the extra features that come with my package it is one sweet and smart car!

After talking to several dealerships and negotiating the best price possible for a brand spanking new Prius, we finally placed the order for an incoming inventory 3 weeks ago. I thought it was going to be easy peasy, just walk into a dealership, test drive and go home with the Prius. But nope the process took almost a month! Our dealership was extremely accommodating, he let us take a demo Prius home and test drive it over night! I completely fell in love with it the minute I started the car. It uses a Smart Key entry system, no traditional key here but a fob. You don’t even have to take out the key fob to open or start the car! simply have it on you or in your bag.

We returned the car and asked for a black exterior and gray interior. The salesman searched his “incoming” stock, there is one coming in 4 weeks!! Woohooo, placed my order and awaited for the car with bated breath. Just one week before we take delivery Kerry called to check on the status and also to confirm our color choice. The incoming black car has beige interior.. WHAT? I don’t want beige interior :(… So we asked what other color choice do they have coming in with a package #2 option or better. They do have a red package 3 coming in the following week…. Oh red? hmmm.. but I wanted black after much checking around and debate red isn’t a bad color and it has a gray interior!

So finally, just before we left to a trade show in Ohio we went in to pick up my new baby. This is the second brand new car I’ve bought, when I drove her home I had 1 mile on the odometer! :):)

Here are the features on the spanking new Prius Package #3:

• 48 mpg/city, 45 mpg/highway
• smart key
• backup camera
• hands-free phone capability via Bluetooth wireless technology
• low emission
• cruise control
• heated outside mirrors
• 15-in.
  6-spoke alloy wheels with trim rings
• Vehicle Stability Control
  (VSC)
• anti-theft system
• auto-dimming rearview mirror with
  HomeLink
• 6-disc in-dash CD
  changer with nine speakers in seven locations,
• MP3/WMA playback capability
• satellite radio capability

Posted by Kitty

Sharyn (my sister-in-law) and Dennis (My brother-in-law) are doing their world trekking again this year, how I wish I could join them to see Scotland and London! However, we will join them for part of their trip!

The cabins have been booked, the plane tickets were booked last night. My mom, my sister and my good friend Karen might join us as well. Guys, if you are reading this decide what you want to do so we can book our flights together.

Here are the plans so far:

Friday before the cruise - Miami here we come! we opt for getting there a day early to ensure our arses are on time and don’t miss our ship like we did for the Australia trip a couple of years ago, no fault of ours but thanks to Delta we missed our connecting flight to Sydney… arggggg, read about our adventure here.

We plan to see the Everglades again even though we have seen it in our last trip, but Darian, Sharyn and Dennis haven’t yet.

But before we can get the party started, I’m getting my arse back into gear! Just 7 years ago, I weighted 108 lbs but now. erm… let’s just say I’m more cuddly than I’ve ever been all my life lol. I bought a pedometer and all this week I’ve been keeping track on how many steps I’ve walked. The minimum they recommend is 10,000 steps *gasp* that’s a lot of walkin’ goin on!!

My schedule has been, the minute I walk into the door from work. I go change and we head straight out for a 2 mile walk every day. On the weekend, we plan to do 5 miles with Sunday off! So everyday this week I’ve been hitting my goal (yeaaah me!!), between walking to work from the train station and back to the 2 miles walk at night, I walk between 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day. Surprisingly, I’m not that sore like I expected to be. Maybe a little tender around my calfs but that’s about it… which tells me I’m not pushing myself hard enough. Got any other suggestions to help me speed up and burn more fat?

I should also mention that Kathy, Kerry and I are in a weight challenge. The person loses the most weight at the end of six months wins a gift of their choice worth $50.

Posted by Kitty

Oy… I swear I do know my colors but hell under pressure, I only named 26 in 5 minutes. All the obviously weren’t even named!!!!

Shhhh… Kezza only named 11!!!!!! :D:D

Click here and post your numbers here!

26

Posted by Kitty

Slowly, I’m replacing everyday products to the environmentally friendly products. Here is a list of what we’ve swtiched to and their reviews.

Green Pan
By far, my favorite cookware without a doubt! Sold by HSN from Todd English (please ignore that loud mouth Joy woman, I had to mute her several times, I wrote an email to HSN CS asking them to remove Joy from future presentations! HSN if you are reading this… get rid of Joy!! She said “OMG” 1000000000 times in one showing!!! Todd can sell these pans just fine without Joy!) 

Not only are they made with non-stick thermolon ceramic coating, it does not contain any PTFE and PFOA (these chemicals can cause cancer!!!), you can cook up to 850°F!! non toxic fumes so your parakeet or any pets won’t be harmed. We have the 6 piece set and they are worth every penny we spent on them. With the tranditional telflon coating, they peel and stick after a while, you DO know where they go when they come off… don’t you?? lol

Seven Generation Paper Towel
We go through about 1-2 rolls of paper towels a week, in an effort to save the trees a paper towel at a time we have switched to the 2-ply unbleached 100% recycled paper towels. Because I’m so used to the white fluffy Bounty paper towels, these are not exactly fluffy and soft BUT I’m not killing any trees and afterall, it’s only a paper towel you have to toss them out after you use it and they do a good job. I ordered a case of 30 packs, sure it sounds like a lot but I’ll be set for at least 6 months lol.

Ecover Dish Washing Liquid
Aaahh.. I love this stuff, it washes just like Dawn or Palmolive. Why not go GREEN???