Vehicular Sightings

Before I get to my recent vehicular sighting I want to talk about how very excited I was yesterday to receive my fixed-gear bike in the mail after Mom had it packed up and sent off last week. It was almost like Christmas morning, opening that big box, removing all the parts and laying them out on the floor, finding the necessary tools for assembly, etc... Of course, I have owned this bike for some time now and I knew it was coming in the mail, so there wasn't that same Christmas-morning element of surprise. Anyhow, I am so happy to have this bike back, I missed it! Last night after I finished putting it back together I was so excited about getting to ride it around DC today, but naturally it is wet and drizzly today. I guess it is supposed to be windy too. Not the best bike-riding weather.

Ok, now for the cool vehicular sighting. I knew these existed because I had seen them in TV shows or movies or whatnot, but until a few weeks ago I had never actually seen one in real life and I must say that I was in awe. This awe-inspiring vehicular entity was what I would probably call (perhaps wrongly) a "hook-n-ladder" firetruck. After doing a little bit of internet research I have learned that they are actually called "tiller" trucks. These are the long fire trucks that tow a ladder trailer-style and have a separate cab at the rear end for another driver to steer the rear wheels independently of the front, allowing the truck to better negotiate crowded and narrow city streets. Now, I've seen plenty of firetrucks in my lifetime, even plenty of big firetrucks, but when I saw this "tiller" truck approaching I knew there was something different about it. As it went past me and around the corner I could not help but be amazed by the grace and beauty of the whole thing. I then thought of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer drives the rear end of one of these fire trucks. I think it might be one of those life-altering experiences. I think it would be strange to be responsible for making sure that the rear end doesn't run over anything but not really be able to control the speed or the front end in any way. Anyhow, since my first sighting I have seen these trucks at least two other times and each time I have to stop walking to sit and watch in awe as it goes by, gliding around the corner like a truck half its length.

My second major vehicular sighting was a hybrid taxi cab (it was a hybrid Camry), the only one I've seen here in DC. Since moving here I've been wondering why taxi companies still use big gas-guzzling American V8 sedans like Ford Crown Vic's for their fleets. It seems to me like they would have a lot of incentive to phase those out in favor of more efficient cars like the Prius or something. I'm sure that the Prius costs more initially, but with all of the time spent sitting around idling and with the stop-and-go, high-mileage nature of Taxi cab driving patterns, I have a suspicion that the huge gasoline savings alone would pay for the difference pretty quickly. Plus I would be that the Prius is equally (if not more) spacious than the big Crown Vics, and it is probably a lot easier to maneuver through city traffic as well. I suspect that it is just a culture of resistance to change that keeps the Prius out of taxi fleets, which is unfortunate. Maybe one of these days I'll run some numbers to see how the Prius actually stacks up economically to a Crown Victoria...

Those are the two biggest vehicular sightings of late, although I did also see two Bentley's and a stunningly beautiful Maserati yesterday in swanky Georgetown. OH! And I also saw a beautiful, huge, brand-new bus perform one of the most expertly-executed turns I have ever seen. Like the "tiller" trucks, it was an awe-inspiring sight to behold. I'm sure you wish you were there.

As much as I was hoping I wouldn't, I have actually found myself missing being a bus driver the past few days. Only two months away from it and I already look back fondly on that job. I really did like driving those buses. I wonder if I could get a very part-time job driving one of the fancy double-decker tourist sight-seeing buses around DC. That would probably be fun! hahaha

Here is a short video of a "tiller" truck rounding a corner. Beautiful, isn't it?