To My Neighbor, I’m Sorry for Waking You Up Every Morning This Winter

Dear friendly neighbor,

I'm sure my headlights have woken you up at 4:40 AM for the past few months.  I'm sure when I start my car in the morning you hear it. And I am certain you hear the two beeps my car sounds off when I run back into the house because I forgot something, and I bring the automatic keys in my pocket.

No surprises here. I'm guilty of starting my car before I take off for my day.  Don't we all when it's single digits?

In the words of the famous Taylor Swift, "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me."

I don't mean to be rude. I try SO HARD to make sure my headlights are off before starting, but I know that is not 100% of the time. It's probably only 50%.

Every morning, in the winter, before I wake up to co-host 'Kira and Logan in the Morning' on 97.5 WOKQ, I need that car to be pipping hot.

It is incredibly hard to get into my freezing cold car before 5:00 AM in the middle of January, February, and now...March. I have to start that sucker up, get the defrost going, get my seat warm, and so on. It's the only way I can get in a car on a pitch-black New England morning.

50% of the time, the headlights are off, and I can only hope you don't notice.

The other 50% of the time, I catch the headlights being on after a few minutes.

My stomach drops every time. I would be IRATE with me if I were you. I mean, what a rude awakening...4:45 AM and bright white LED's shining through your window blinds.

Just know, I'm sorry. I don't mean to leave the lights on during the 5-10 minutes of preheating my car.

I am not a jerk...just forgetful and usually groggy before my second cup of coffee.

Sincerely,

Your kind, forgetful, caring (even if it doesn't show), NEIGHBOR LOGAN

PS. for the full rules for starting your car in the morning:

New Hampshire has idling limitations based on temperatures. If the temperature is above 32º F, you can legally idle for 5 minutes. If it's between –10º and 32º F, you can idle for 15 minutes. And if temps are below –10º? Well, then you just go out there and idle for as long as you'd like.