My road is getting a root canal. Our quiet routine has been usurped by a fleet of trucks, steam rollers, diggers, and backhoes, plus the workers who maneuver them. Drivers have yanked out a trench of pavement five feet deep the length of the road, exposing the water main and replacing it. Thankfully, our faucets have continued to spurt water. But eking past the vehicles on a path that already has to suck in its breath when two cars pass has been dicey.

It strikes me as comical that this is also the week that we are driving a Tesla. We, who have been content to plod along in old cars, have suddenly been thrust into the upper class. In truth, it is our intention to buy a new one, for the first time in our forty-year marriage. We have always been able to get where we needed to, or at least most of the time. But even we have our limits, and the time has arrived to own something safe enough to get to JFK without a prayer team.  

Our adult kids have opinions about this. They, who have more experience than we do negotiating with dealerships, are weighing in on half a dozen models and price ranges. To move us past decision paralysis, our oldest son rented us a Tesla for three days. Why not? 

Because they cost more than our first house, not to mention the collective prices of all the vehicles we have owned since 1980. That's why not. Granted, that first house was a fixer upper on a dirt road in rural Florida, but still. 

We ignored all that, and brought home a Tesla, trying to use its many features to avoid scratches from said fleet of heavy machinery on Alden Road. I wish it came with one of those placards we used when the twins got their permits. I am as much of a student driver as they ever were. There is no sound when it starts, so how do I even know if it's on? More importantly, how do I know if I failed in turning it off, and it will go rolling down the hill? I have to unlearn using a brake to stop, and abandon looking at a familiar dashboard. Heaven help me if I want to turn on the radio. Does it have a radio? 

Whatever car we invest in, I will be grateful. Things like rear cameras and lane assist matter more to me than they did years back. You know, before they existed.