everything you never wanted to know. about me. 

"“If he doesn’t write a thank you note, he’s going to be a dead fish.” -Tom “Yeah. We gave him gyro meat.” -Rob “EW. Gyro is NOT an animal.” -me, 3/10/06

—another crazy day at work

"...IF Sentra broke a THIRD time, I would look into a new car."

—me, 2 days ago in the 3/9/06 entry

March 11, 2006

To Car or Not To Car

time 9:51 am, again!!! feeling happy wearing pajamas music 50 classical masterpieces reading Vince Flynn, I have Reader's ADHD ready for I'm pretty content right now next R&R time

I jinxed myself. With that last entry. Not six hours after I had uploaded my 3-9-06 journal did I walk out to the Sentra, twist the key in the ignition, only to have it do THE EXACT SAME THING IT HAD DONE only 10 days ago. Hm. Great. (And remember, that quote above?!?! Third time's the charm?!?!)

Being a pro at it at this point, I stumbled back up into the office, dialing Triple A on the way. (And need I mention that I have now used exactly half of my allotted tows for the year? Yeah. Not so good.) Salena, Peter, and Jackie were surprised to see me, but being the good hearted souls they are, offered me a ride home. I explained, of course, that I would once again be kickin' it with the tow truck driver on my way to Park Auto. Woo hoo. It's becoming a weekly occurrence!

So you can see where this is going. Obviously they still can't figure it out. (It would be too amazing if they did.) Therefore this is the New Plan. I have to (*sniff sniff* - I love this car) ditch the Sentra. I refuse to drive it anywhere anymore because I am certain I will get stuck. Not that Triple A isn't convenient and awesome or whatever, but let's get real. Parking with the thought of "so can a tow truck get to me from here?" is not the greatest of all possible worlds. Therefore I will become a bus and walking hound. (And let me tell you, I started this yesterday, and, it being 60 degrees and sunny out, it was awesome. Except for my sore feet. WTF?!) That is, until I can ditch the Sentra in Madison.

Yes, that's right. The second part of this New Plan is to somehow get the Sentra to Madison next weekend. I have horrible feelings about this for several obvious reasons. I mean, what if I get stuck in Black River Falls or something?! Thankfully there is no law against leaving your car running unattended in WI, so included in this Plan is that on Thursday, when I start up the Sentra for the last time, I MUST NOT let it stop running. Not once. (Sounds like a crazy situation, huh. Believe me, it is.) I am afraid to even talk about this based on how horribly I jinxed myself with that last journal. Ah, so be it.

Part Three of this New Plan is to figure out what the hell to do next. (Oh yeah I should note that my mom is being super gracious and involving me in a Part 2.5 of this Plan, which is me taking her van back up until I move. YAAAY Mom.)

One possible solution, though I probably shouldn't publicize this, is that Stephie is getting a new car sometime, and is kind enough to think of me when referring to her old vehicle. My mom thinks that she and Sharon could somehow accomplish the retrieval of this. But this is all thinking ahead, because I am not sure, VERY not sure, that I could afford Steph's car one way or another. We all know how frugal I am, hahaha.

(Here I should note that STEPHIE IS AMAZING because she read my ENTIRE last entry. YAAAY Stephie!! I do owe you an email, actually I owe a lot of people. I will get to that this weekend, do not worry! PS So is Diana and so is Jeff. WOO.)

Another possible solution, and one I am strongly considering at this moment, is the ditching of owning any type of car completely. The only serious problem this presents in my mind is going to Madison part, which I do pretty frequently. The benefits this presents, however, are enormous.

A car costs me a TON. Let's review:

  • Insurance. I pay an insane amount for insurance, partially due to old accidents, partially due to being under 25. And the fact that cars are expensive.
  • Gas. It's slowly creeping its way back to near $3/gallon, and there are rumors that it may get even higher this summer (note: unsubstantiated). I don't commute a whole ton, and once I move it'll be close to nothing if not nonexistent, but still. I do fill up pretty frequently, in my mind.
  • REPAIRS. Note the past three months. Need I say more? (Though Park did NOT charge me yesterday, and I LOVE them for that!!!)
  • The horrible fact that I am a huge road-rager. Seriously I have a problem and get worked up way too much when driving. Nevertheless...

Things I LOVE about having a car:

  • I really do love long drives, ala to Madison. I would miss that.
  • Um, it's a pain to rely on other times/people/etc to get anywhere? And this state gets damn COLD in the winter??!
  • Going wherever whenever (see above).
  • This is dumb, but what if I want to go to the Gap?? LOL! Well I am sure there is a bus I could take.
  • Nationals are in St. Paul next year. I don't want to disappoint my visitors by forcing them on a bus.

So, okay. However, my research of yesterday/today has proven to me that I am also in decent shape to live without a car. Obvious benefits include the opposites of those listed above, PLUS saving the environment and mucho stresso that a car gives me. Yes oh yes. Now, there are some things I would seriously have to get if I did this:

  • A way to get to Madison. And Chicago. Note, working on that.
  • Bus passes. Sure, it costs $ to hop on ze bus, but CAR INSURANCE ALONE costs me near $100 EACH MONTH. Need I say more??
  • Lights (front and back) for my bike. VERY IMPORTANT!
  • Registration w/ the city of Minneapolis for my bike.
  • A U-lock for my bike. Can't trust those wind-ey ones anymore.
  • Reflective clothing.
  • Mace. (Well, maybe, hahaha.)
  • Small waterproof backpack. For all the times I am outside.
  • Small, fold-able raincoat, like my old 8th grade Anorak (where did that go, anyway?).
  • ZIPCAR membership. This is to get places like Eagan, Burnsville, CG, etc., wherever people may be, on the weekends. You can't deny the greatness of zipcar, but I would have to buy into the whole deal if I wanted to do that.

Well anyway we'll see. I can GUARANTEE that within 10 minutes of posting this, 23560981 people will write telling me why I am CRAZY to consider living without a car. And 87.962% of those people will be family members. (Only exagerrating. Slightly.)

It would seriously rock if I could do this, and I feel awesome about it, but next week will be a test run. After yesterday, wherein on top of my morning workout I ended up walking about 4 miles or so, I can see I will also need to wear things other than clogs from time to time. Hahahahaha.

But it was so nice to just sit on the bus and not worry. Very peaceful and good. It made me feel like I was in Europe! (Strange, but true distinction.) hahaha.

Things I am thankful for after this whole debacle:

  • My youth and health. Seriously, you couldn't do this if you couldn't walk a ton. I am so grateful for that.
  • Living in a city that HAS buses. (Now, more light rail would be even better.)
  • Internet access. For bus schedules.
  • Flexible employer. They understand if I am late or early or whatever.
  • Having gone to Europe. It increased my confidence in my ability to handle these situations, dumb as that may sound.

So. End of that. Again, we'll see. Jeff is not very receptive to this idea already...:).

.....

In other news, I am sooooo disappointed with the Gophers. Seriously, I got it in my mind that they were going to WIN the Big 10 Tournament. I know, I know, pure fantasy. But still. I seriously thought they were going to win last night. Boo. Guess I'll have to root for Badgers and OSU.

Also I just had the best breakfast ever. Oatmeal made from oat bran and orange juice. I am so happy.

Now I think we're going to the gym. And tonight the gymnastics meet! YAAAY. Tata for now!

 

—Lexi