Theft prevention and truck review

Had my pickup in for some work, and when it came time to drive it back to me from the depths of the lot, the young gentleman begged off because he didn't want to practice driving a manual on a customer's vehicle.  Appreciated, and yes, a "clutch" is one of the greatest antitheft devices out there--right up there with rust, I guess.

Along the same lines, I was willing to leave my vehicle in the parking lot overnight, but I made sure I brought my bicycle into my office. You can tell a true bicyclist by the fact that the value of his vehicle doubles or more when he puts his bike on the bike rack or into the pickup bed.  I'll be there when I get that carbon fiber bike, I'm sure.   Or maybe something like this wooden bike.  I notice that the artisan notes that in his view, carbon fiber is....almost as good as steel, which is almost as nice as wood.  Hmmm......at my age, I'm getting over speed, but not beauty. 

Back to the subjects.  Due to the amount of work done on my pickup, I had what I call a "very expensive car rental."  Previously, it's been an Acadia and a Terrain, and this time it was a 3/4 ton crew cab.  First the positives; my kids loved the doors and the legroom.  Controls were very intuitive, steering was nice and tight, plenty of power.  Brakes were very responsive, but not excessively so.

Downsides?  Well, not needing the towing or carrying capacity of a 3/4 ton pickup, the 3/4 ton ride didn't exactly appeal to me.  You feel every bump--not like you did back in the 1980s, but you still feel every bump.  Also of interest was that you need to press the throttle fairly hard to get it to accelerate--I am guessing this allows GMC to get a little bit better mileage, but a little bit of a turn-off versus my 1997, where I've got the "feel" that is (despite 100 less horsepower) really nice and responsive.

Biggest turnoff came about half a mile before turning it back in when I refueled it; about 12mpg.  I'm used to 15-16, but somehow I draw a line somewhere in between.  So until my career or camping trips require something bigger than a 31 foot Airstream, I'm thinking a half ton pickup will be just fine for me.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure how a lot of older people with worse backs than mine handle the ride of a 3/4 ton or 1 ton vehicle while towing their monster campers.

And for my part, a man would (to paraphrase one of John Wayne's friends from "The Quiet Man") have to be nimble to find his wife in a camper that big.  And again, I'm over speed, but not over beauty.