My husband (shaking head). Have you met him? If so, you can skip ahead. If not, here are a few things you need to know.
My husband is awesome. He is a handyman plus. He can literally do anything: welding, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, carpentry, IT, cooking, laundry, and even sewing. I’m convinced they based the TV series MacGyver on him.
He can be the most easygoing guy in the world. If I want us to go on a vacation, I pretty much plan it and then tell him about it. If I want to order takeout, he says “Surprise me.” But he can also be one of the most difficult too.
He’s the only person I know that can stop by the hardware store for a single nail and agonize over the decision.
3/8? 1/4? Galvanized? Corrugated? Spiral? Pneumatic?
When it comes to guy stuff, he is extremely picky. Now I want you to imagine him picking up a rental car.
First of all, he likes cars. A lot. We subscribe to several car magazines and we always attend the car show together. He knows more about cars than I ever care to. And when I need help falling asleep, he talks to me about the viscosity of motor oil.
So when he gets to drive a rental car, he’s like a kid in the candy store. He prefers to go to the companies where he has some sort of premium service: gold, emerald, or whatever it’s being called these days. Then, he gets his pick of the litter. He usually picks his car based on one he’s been wanting to “try out.”
When he’s forced to go with some other car company that assigns him a car, he’s been known to go back to the counter to see if they might have something else. Like that shiny red one over there.
He usually gets it. He’s learned to attract more flies with honey than vinegar.
He rents these cars locally because he’s on the road most of the week. He drops his car at our local airport, picks up a rental car there, and heads home to pack up for the journey out the next morning. And every time he comes home, it’s the same thing, “Honey, wait til you see what I got this week.”
He’s driven a Volvo, Nissan, Chevy, Ford, and probably others he’s never even told me about. But this week, he was especially excited to show me his car.
He came in and said, “I have something for you to write about!” He was referring to my involvement with TWIN (Toyota Women’s Influencer Network). He was proud to show me his brand new Toyota Camry. As per usual, my son and I went out to the driveway and climb in and test all the buttons and switches.
I gave him my initial assessment. The outside was very blah. Nothing special about the design. But the interior was especially comfortable and roomy with a nicely positioned dashboard and center console. I told him I thought it would be a good car for a long drive. He said he would let me know. And I knew he would.
Over 300 miles later, he’s happy to report a few key things he discovered when driving the Toyota Camry:
- It is actually a very comfortable car for long distance driving.
- It has a very nicely integrated iPod system. He says the interface on the dash operates exactly like the iPod menu does. My car also has iPod integration and I’m less than thrilled. I think Toyota probably made a wise choice by not trying to re-engineer something that is already so wildly popular.
- It has a very good braking system. I didn’t ask him exactly how he knew this. I really didn’t want to know. Sometimes, grown men and rental cars are a dangerous combination. I should tell you about my honeymoon sometime.
- It has a ridiculous gauge. According to him. It’s the average MPG, which in and of itself is a useful measurement. I guess his issue was with the non-digital gauge that you would never really see moving. I kind of understood his point. Kind of.
While the weekly travel is getting old for all of us, we do get a little excited to see new cars every week, even if it only means a quick glimpse a night and a joyride around the block.
Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.
14 comments
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. Rental cars can be fun. That’s how I fell in love with the Mazda 6 back in 2005. Oh, and p.s that secret gauge might be the mpg but I still find it incredibly useless. It’s probably there for esthetic effect only. Who knows?
I love rental cars for two reasons: I can try out different cars and I can park wherever I want without worrying about door dings (my husband has made me super paranoid about them).
I wish we would be more fun when we pick rentals…we usually go with what will fit our family and our junk and is cheap! Oh…and if they have a Ford, that’s what Tim prefers!!
I used to rent from Hertz all the time for work and I’ve driven my fair share of Fords and I like them (I own one!) but I love trying new cars!
My husband worked for a Ford dealerships about 5 years ago that had a Hertz rental company with it. I LOVED the perks of him getting a rental car to bring home every so often for the fun of it. He would always get the newest sports car for date nights.
Now THAT sounds like deal. My dad works at a Ford dealership and I think he drives an old Toyota Celica!
My husband sounds much like yours in all things good (handyman, sewing, etc) and in the not so good…I will no longer shop with my husband because he once spent 3 hours in REI picking out special wicking underwear. 3 HOURS!!!!! For underwear!!!!! Oy.
So – I love my husband to pieces but…3 HOURS! For underwear!!!!! ‘nough said.
Okay, yes. Our husbands would get along famously. I can totally imagine mine doing that for underwear. YES underwear!
I can’t even express how envious the idea of an integrated iPod system made me.
If it is integrated well, it is awesome. If it’s not, it’s not. I know whereof I speak.
Are we married to the same man? Does he possibly travel here every week while he’s not there? Wait, no, I also have him on the weekend, so I guess not. But wow are they ever alike!!
So based on your comment and another one, there must be a whole breed of this type of man out there. Maybe there’s breeding farm in the midwest or something 😉
How funny. My husband is NOT a car guy. Sure he likes them but he prefers to have everything done for him. My dad always did everything himself and when I got my first car he taught me how to change my own oil. My husband said, Why bother. It’s cheap to have someone else do it and you don’t have to get dirty. He is terrible at picking out cars too. He bought me this used 1992 gold chevy lumina one time because it looked cool….and everything on that car broke! I was always limping into the station with some crazy thing wrong or having them check out this suspicious clunking noise. Of course they didn’t find out what was wrong until it broke…. it was my engine shifting because the sub-frame only had one bolt left and it was only as thick as a pencil. The last one broke and my engine hit the ground while I was driving. Thank God there was no one behind me and I wasn’t on an express way! The steering and everything went out when that fell. My husband was out of town when that happened and I was supposed to pick my parents up at the airport in a few days. So I had to get a car fast! I went to all the used car places writing down vin #’s (while running off useless car dealers) and then looking them up on carfax. I decided on a 1995 camery and I still have it. It is the best car I have ever had!
Such an awesome post! Now I want to test drive a Camry!