Uneventful Commutes: 3 May 2011

Today was pretty uneventful both ways - my normal morning seat-mate was poring over notes in preparation for finals (which start next week), so apart from the normal pleasantry-greetings, we hardly spoke. It was even slow on the convertible/bug/etc. game, for a *total* of maybe 17 points, if both ways were counted, though since the coffee-maker was out this morning the morning score might've been hampered by undercaffeination.

The convertible/bug/etc. game is a family variation of... "slug bug," I think it's called? No slugging, though, and our own specific rules that sometimes feel like they change without notice. To the best of my awareness, the rules as they stand now are:

• Volkswagen Beetles (classic or old) are worth a point;
• Convertibles are worth a point;
• Jeeps with removable fabric tops count as convertibles, but the newer hard-top models don't (at least until we can see that those hard-top roofs are removable like the soft-top ones are);
• Smart Cars are worth a point;
• Points are cumulative - so a convertible Beetle or Smart Car is worth 2 points;
• Scoring isn't allowed until the vehicle is in motion (and yes, backing out of the carport counts);
• Different people can call different scoring criteria (i.e., one person calls a red bug convertible and at the same time another calls convertible red bug, in which case each gets one of the 2 points for the sighting);

Points are compared and a winner is determined when the car is shut off;

My record (with these rules) for a trip back home on the bus is 28 points, and included (of all things) a convertible truck of some kind. Willy's? I don't know.

I've been proposing that we add license-plate rules as well - something along the lines of:

• Out-of state (more than 50 miles from a state border, and not counting the car you're riding in): 1 point
• Out-of country: 1 point;
• Out-of-contiguous states (Alaska or Hawaii): 1 point;
• Off-continent (Hawaii, which I've seen once, *and* on a bug; or south american or European plates, which we've never seen): 1 point;
• Off-planet (not in my lifetime, I'd guess, but I believe in covering my bases): 1 point;

These are a point per criteria, same as convertible/car-type are, so *very* theoretically, a convertible bug with plates from a foreign moonbase would be 7 points in one fell swoop.

Can you tell that when we take family trips, we're in the car a lot?

(edit: trips, not tripes...)