New Member from Guthrie, OK

About me: married to an angel. 3 kids, two step kids. All 5 are good kids. All five (along with my twin 4 year old grandsons) normally come over every other Thurs. for family dinner.

Never thought I would say these words: "new Prius owner here".

Given my excesses of the last 50 years, that is very strange sounding. Just sold my wife's twin turbo V12 Mercedes (543 hp) a couple of weeks ago, and still have a German V12 and an Italian V12 in the fold. Don't worry, I am not in the dog house. She still has her MRoadster for fun driving. Part of my reasoning for the Prius is to counter the huge carbon footprint I am contributing to with some of my older cars. The 69 Z/28 really smells up my garage, so I know it is not good for the atmosphere. In my defense, it has only been driven 28,200 miles since new. So, as Carl (from Caddyshack) would say: "I got that goin for me!

I have owned a lot of cars over the years. Between my brother and I, we have purchased 59 BMW's dating back to the 70s. Of course, that includes the ones we bought on Monday and sold on Friday. But, those are by far in the minority. I still own 3 (albeit one is a parts car), my brother owns one, and one of my sons owns 2.

All three of my kids drove Bimmers in high school. At one time, we had six at the house. But that was years ago. I used to own an auto repair shop. I would buy a broken car and fix it for one of the kids. I love working on cars, but had to give it up as a vocation because of back issues. I can still work a few hours at a time, but now make my living as an attorney, and have for over 27 years. It is my third vocation, after serving as a youth minister and associate pastor, then auto mechanic. Hmm, doing the math? I am 64, and married to an angel. She helps me with all my crazy projects. We have 12 cars right now, and I just bought a 2007 Prius (surprise... it needs work) for $1000. The angel of a wife drove it home at 70 mph, and it performed flawlessly. As you might guess, it is a little rough, and high mileage. My research indicates these little gas engines go on almost forever, given that so much of the load of stop and go driving is carried by the electric motor. So, how bad can I get hurt for $1000? Guess we will find out.

Will be spending some time on here researching all the maintenance issues. Have already been doing some reading on the hybrid battey pack, and have a plan in place.

Really would like to include a smart alec cool statement in my sig line, but can't do so until I have 4 posts and at least one "like". So, would one of you guys or gals "like" this. BTW, I am old enough that it pains me to say "like" this! I have never been on facebook. Yeah, I know I sound like Statler and Waldorf. I am sometimes a grouch old guy. But, I really enjoy life, enjoy my wife, kids, grandkids and extended family. My wife and I are very involved in our little town of Guthrie, even though we have only been here 2.5 years. We believe in giving back.

Looking forward to the hybrid ride.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome.
JC, you are going to have to fight my youngest son for the Z. Our kids always joke:
"When Dad dies, every one gets a car. Mom gets everything else."
Sooner Al. Always good to meet another Sooner. I went to law school at OU.
Three brutal years as a single Dad raising three kids.
My ex and I shared custody.
Started law school living in Edmond, working in Warr Acres, going to school in Norman.
150 miles per day if I did nothing but go to work and school.
After 1.5 years, I moved to Warr Acres. That made it a little better.
Thank heaven for before and after school programs.