So, after a car-free summer, Mr. Awesome and I are car owners once again. A couple of years ago his car got stolen and stripped to the bones by some suburban thugs who apparently needed to pimp out their Honda. Our remaining car, my 1998 Nissan Sentra, was rear-ended this June and declared deceased by our insurance company. (Which was actually pretty sweet because we got about $4500 for it, and otherwise I know we would have had to sell it for parts. It was a heap.)
We went without a car for a few months, partly because we were waiting for the insurance money to clear and we were taking time to research cars, and partly to see if we could get by without one. It turns out that we could. We both work downtown now, and we can commute by bus in 15-20 minutes. I biked a lot. If we were out late (which we almost never were, being old and tired), we'd sometimes take a cab. It was doable.
But also, it completely sucked. We were a pain in our friends' collective ass, always needing a ride or to borrow a car. Buying anything heavy or bulky required serious planning--it was almost impossible to carry home both kitty litter AND laundry detergent. I pulled some crazy capers trying to get 3 full bags of groceries home on my bike. And without a car, it's pretty hard to be spontaneous. If you want to get away for a weekend--or even just go out to a restaurant on the other side of town--you have to start planning well in advance.
But now we have a car of our own! Just like Real Americans! (It looks like this, if you are the kind of person who cares about such things.) It's not new, but it's the newest car I've owned. And it has fancy features that we have never before experienced in a car of our own, such as a CD player and (gasp!) a rear window wiper. And you can put a ton of shit in it without even trying. Yesterday we went to Fred Meyer and bought one of everything they had.
I must say, it's pretty effing nice to be driving again. Sorry, environment. Guess I don't love you quite as much as I thought.
4 comments:
So, I had to go with Zombie Palin. I learned my lesson about funny Halloween costumes three years ago when I was Harriet Miers. I spent the whole night feeling gross about myself and having to explain a lot. I think it would've been the same way being McCain rally lady. This Halloween there were a ton of Palins, but I felt pretty special being the only Zombie Palin. Yay new car. And yay Obama! I imagine Seattle is like LA in that the glowy lovey hue has not dimmed one bit.
Welcome back to being a car-owning NORMAL person again. Biking and taking the bus? Damn hippies.
Can't wait to take a ride in the new hotrod!
I almost bought one of those a few years ago. Cars are a necessity, I don't care what Al Gore or that guy who used to be on St. Elsewhere say. And gas is cheaper now so I say hop in and drive to the end of the driveway to get the paper!
Looks sweet! Very happy for the newly mobile couple.
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