Car

I forgot to mention this in my last post. For those of you keeping track of Heather's Rental Car Tests, I was driving a Ford Focus ZX-something down in Mississippi. It was a newer Ford Focus than the other ones I've driven, and Ford has gotten off their lazy asses and made a few improvements to it since the older models I drove last time. For one thing, they finally put an console in between the front two seats, which is nice because now you have somewhere to rest your right elbow during a long drive.

Which brings me to another non-fixed fault - at least in this Focus. There is no way to adjust the steering wheel. Like the other ones I've driven, this means that I have to scoot the seat up really far to be comfortable arm-wise - but then my legs are jammed up underneath the dashboard. It's not comfortable to drive.

One plus - this one had a little more kick to it, which came in handy when I had to pass slow trucks on those backwoods southern one-lane roads.

Also, it can take a speed bump at about 20mph. But this is better: in this particular Ford Focus, one can almost hit a buzzard at 65mph. The large front windshield gives one a nice view of the buzzard's feathery butt as he stupidly tries his best to out-run you in the same direction and then decides last minute to turn left.

So, my final grades for the new Ford Focus:

pick-up - B+
speed bumps - B+
comfort - D
ability to hit a buzzard at high speeds - B for a close call (A's are handed out only if I actually hit the buzzard)