On any given day, I may be in Homestead for an 8 a.m. meeting and finish my day at a Healthcare Executive Forum meeting in Palm Beach Gardens at 7 p.m. The places and people may vary, but my mileage is pretty consistent very, very high! And although my old Honda Civic hasnt been too bad at the pump, getting about 32 miles per gallon its still a heart stopper when the pump wants more than $50 at a fill-up more than once a week. (The only places I want to hand over that much money are Circuit City or Best Buy!) Then to add insult to injury, we have Carols giant gasoline sponge a.k.a. an SUV, which basically requires a fill-up to go from the garage to the driveway. So with gas prices only going higher, I thought it was time to make the jump into hybrid land.
And the good news is I decided on this “economic leap of faith” about two weeks before all the local newscasts started to moan and groan about $3,000 increases in hybrid prices as well as the scarcity of supply. But despite my good timing, I was definitely surprised by hybrid high prices and supply delays. Even calculating my savings in gas costs, it was hard to justify the price of a new car. So I decided to go the used car route (which is actually my usual course of action), and I got lucky!
I put out some feelers to used car dealers (friends and foes) about used hybrids with low mileage. I test drove a few bad apples especially the Prius that didnt say Prius because the name had been knocked off in a previous collision! But not long after, I was driving up to Pensacola to a good friends dealership to pick up my 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. I wont lie its definitely an adjustment. When I idle at a red light, the car goes silent, making you wonder if it will ever actually start again. And the dashboard is pretty busy, with its battery gauge and mpg monitor arcing and fluctuating. But the adjustment Im more than happy to contend with is at the pump! At an average 45 mpg, my visits to the gas station are definitely fewer these days. I even made it up to Atlanta on only one fill-up, saving not only in gas but in the obligatory gas station calories.
So, although Im the last person you would call “green,” Im trying. Weve even installed new fluorescent bulbs and shower heads, but I may draw the line at those water conservation toilets!
Charles Felix, Publisher
On any given day, I may be in Homestead for an 8 a.m. meeting and finish my day at a Healthcare Executive Forum meeting in Palm Beach Gardens at 7 p.m. The places and people may vary, but my mileage is pretty consistent very, very high! And although my old Honda Civic hasnt been too bad at the pump, getting about 32 miles per gallon its still a heart stopper when the pump wants more than $50 at a fill-up more than once a week. (The only places I want to hand over that much money are Circuit City or Best Buy!) Then to add insult to injury, we have Carols giant gasoline sponge a.k.a. an SUV, which basically requires a fill-up to go from the garage to the driveway. So with gas prices only going higher, I thought it was time to make the jump into hybrid land. 
