Thursday 4 November 2010

The Heat is On

Hey, I have a blog!

It’s been a good summer. And now, as the leaves have turned to flame and are starting to fall, and the warm evenings turn to crisp ones, I would like to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart. That of how I’m going to keep myself warm this winter. Actually, we’re going to discuss an area a little south of my heart because I want to tell you about my heated seats.

So I got a new car. Which is very exciting, and I kind of love it, even though I feel like a tiny bit of a sellout for driving a brand new car instead of a clunker that says, “I don’t care about appearances.” Maybe if I never wash it I can send the same message. I can do that!

I had just a couple of requirements when looking for a new car. It had to be reliable, get good gas mileage, and have heated seats. That’s all I wanted.

The first time I experienced heated seats was in my teens. My parents had just separated, and my aunt had to pick me up one morning for some reason related to that--I honestly can’t remember the details, I don’t think it was anything dramatic. I do remember trying not to cry though, and it was a really cold morning, and my aunt turning on the seats, and it feeling like a warm bath. It was immensely comforting.

So apparently that’s led to some deep-seated psychological issues about seats.

I also hate being cold, and I especially like having a warm back. As a kid, coming in from the cold I’d sit with my back against the radiator to warm up. Again, comfort food for my temperature receptors.

As it turned out, once I test drove a couple of cars, I found that I also wanted responsive steering, decent acceleration, and nice looks (shhh). And then I found that the car I loved didn’t come with heated seats. Not an option.

But I found someone who’d install them after market. And my life is...well, a lot MORE complete. I adore them. I pretty much turn mine on as long as I don’t actually have the air conditioning going. If you see me sucking my thumb and clutching a teddy bear in my car, we’ll start to worry about the psych issues, but hey, maybe it’s therapy.

8 comments:

Hey, It's Ansley said...

Congrats! What did you get? Heated seats were one of my few requirements too. Love them!

lenalou said...

Thanks! I got a Mazda 3--I'm quite fond of it. What about you?

Mary Lampros said...

What kind of car? We have heated seats in our Passat, and I remember getting a frantic call from my brother-in-law when my dad picked him up from the airport in it because neither of them knew about heated seats and he thought he'd wet his pants! Ha!

lenalou said...

Mary, that is hilarious! Your poor brother! (I got a Mazda, by the way).

bryn said...

Congrats on the new ride. We must catch up soon!

Stella said...

Ah! Very nice. I just got a new car myself, which you were in on Saturday. Which I haven't washed since I got it in September. It has heated seats. I'm pretty excited.

J T Hephzibah said...

This is an adorable post... I am sooo with you on the hating to be cold thing! I drive a 73 beetle (well I used to drive it...up until a few months ago... now it needs a new alternator which I can not at present afford to replace) well anyway...needless to say... it does not have heated seats (yet... wink)...in fact, it barely has heat! (another thing I need to get fixed) Fortunately I live in the city where one does not NEED a car... and I work from home and homeschool my kids and socialize online... so I don't go out much anyway...well... never mind all that. I just wanted to tell you that this blog made me smile... enjoy your warm backside... and feel free to suck your thumb... there are far worse things one could be caught doing in their car (trust me... I have been caught doing some of them in my wilder days of youth)
Be blessed!

Melanie said...

So, when I first read "we’re going to discuss an area a little south of my heart" I got a bit worried and wondered whether I should read on ... or that you should have put a disclaimer about explicit material about to be discussed. My curious mind read on and was glad to learn we were just discussing heated seats ... whew!