I Guess this Works Out to Zoom to the 8th Power

As some of you know, for some time, Alison has been contemplating replacing Zippy, her 12-year-old Saturn SC2, with a 5-door hatchback. Well, yesterday, we brought home a 2010 Mazda3 s Sport in Celestial Blue.

We considered the Honda Fit and the Toyota Matrix before settling on the 3. We know 3 people---Ashley, my mom, and Amy---who've purchased 1st- and 2nd-generation Fits in the past year and a half, and they are quite happy with them. And certainly, the Fit is clearly the best subcompact currently available. However, we decided that we wanted more rear-seat and cargo room than the Honda offered. Meanwhile, Lisa is quite pleased with her Matrix, but Alison preferred the styling of the 3 as well as all the features on the base---for the 5-door, anyway---Sport trim. I also liked the independent rear suspension on the 3, as well as the slight advantage in power and torque over the Matrix. So, we bought our 4th Mazda.

Yes, we now have 4 Mazdas. That's 300% more zoom-zoom than any other household in our neighborhood. I can't even begin estimate how many M/seagull/owl/tulip badges we own. We have a more than a few toilet seats, too.

Oh, and we still have Zippy. Yes, 5 cars is far too many for 2 humans and a 16-pound dog. Zippy will be going to live with Alison's mom, and Mia will get sold as soon as convertible-selling weather arrives.