Well I’m back from my sojourn to Illinois, and as I drove there and back on the lovely turnpikes through state after state, I am reminded of what I love, and what I hate, about my Toyota Prius.

When constantly reminded of the bad aspects of my ’06 Prius, like the way that Traction Control (TRAC) turns itself into a grave hazard instead of a driving safety feature by constantly flipping out over little things and killing power when no loss of traction is actually happening (like when hitting a bump in a road) to nearly cause accidents instead of prevent them, or like when the Prius is suddenly depending on only those teeny tiny wheel brakes (anti-lock no less) once TRAC has bumped the regenerative braking offline.  it’s easy to forget the good things about the Toyota Prius.

Like getting over 46MPG while roaring down the Indiana I-90 turnpike at 70MPH.  (Because that’s the legal speed limit and I don’t condone speeding, of course.)  And like while doing the above wonder, having plenty of power left to accelerate, if need be.  Or, in Chicago construction, having the ability to pull out on a dime to slip into traffic.

It’s really all quite impressive that a car that can get such good gas mileage can also perform so well when you need it.

When TRAC doesn’t kick in.

When you have aftermarket tires because you need even some pale imitation of traction to drive safely.

And when you’ve replaced the stock air filter with a K&N performance filter to prevent your Prius from stuttering when you push down the accelerator.

Right then.  So in theory, the Toyota Prius has really got potential.

Now if only Toyota would just get around to fixing those little niggling details, like TRAC…

Or give us an option for a driver’s seat that’s actually comfortable and adjustable for long hauls, like one would buy a gas-sipper like the Toyota Prius for.

And I wonder if aftermarket brakes for the Toyota Matrix can be fit onto a Prius…

But in the meantime, I’m back from my trip, home safe and sound, and blog entries should begin trickling in once more.  I hope you didn’t miss me too much. 

Sorry faithful readers, but I’m going on vacation for about a week.  So there may not be any new blog entries for a little while.  It all depends on how much free time I can manage and if I can find some free wireless for my laptop when I have that free time.  In the meantime, everyone have fun and try not to miss me too much. 

You may have noticed that during the holidays here, I haven’t exactly posted much.  That’s because my birthday is New Years Eve and well, besides the normal holiday things, I’ve been busy with stuff.  Such is life, especially in these trying economic times.

But fret not.  Soon InsanIT.net will come to life once more with its usual verve.

So I’m on holiday.  If you couldn’t tell.  Blogging is on hold.

Sorry.

Faithful InsanIT.net readers may have noticed that there haven’t been any new blogs in over a week.  Sorry about that.  I really meant to do better, but I’ve been working a lot of overtime and simple things like email and web comics fell to the wayside.  Blogging went right out.  Sorry.

The good news is I just finished the project and hopefully will not be needing to put in overtime anymore.  And I even have a three day weekend.  I might almost be sane for my 4th of July blog entry. 

The bad news is that I really am quite mentally wiped at the moment, so until I’m back up to speed, blogs may not be quite as interesting as usual.  Sorry.