Mileage may vary

“As it is with all stories, fast cars, wild bears, mental illness, and even life, only one truth remains: your mileage may vary”

Jenny Lawson

Last November I posted to these pages a brief item which celebrated (should that be the appropriate expression) the fact that my much loved Lexus GX470 had just passed the 200,000 mile mark (miles rather than kilometres since she is of US origin).

That post went on to muse upon the annual mileage that this now eighteen year old vehicle had clearly done throughout its life to date.

Based on the mileage that was on the clock when we purchased her she had to that point apparently averaged some 14,000 miles per annum. Since coming to us she had enjoyed a considerably less energetic existence, covering only around 6,000 miles each year…

…until last year!

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many side-effects, one of which – as you might expect – is that we have all stayed home a great deal more than we had done previously. Working from home and not being able to travel or to get out on the town as we had been used to doing, meant that our vehicles have only been used for short, essential(ish) trips.

I mention this here because just the other day I noticed the odometer click over 203,000 miles. Now – I know that there is another month before a year will have elapsed since my last post on the subject, but I will be very surprised if I cover more than another few hundred miles in that time.

I can’t be entirely sure – but the last time that I did such a low annual mileage might well have been the year that I started riding motorbikes – back when I was in my very early twenties…

…and a lot of water has flowed under a great many bridges since then!