Techno-skeptic

Ugh!!!  7:50 ayem. We’re  back from the Dawg Walk. Ruby is perky. The Human is wilted.

I…   Hate… Arizona! Just now it’s a chilly 94 in the shade of the back porch. Still cool out there: we’re supposed to reach 116 today. Present humidity: 19%.

Think of that. almost 1/5 of what you breathe in just now is…water! 

“It’s a dry heat.” If you think that’s dry, you must love steam irons….

Heh! Comparatively speaking, though, it is a sort of “dry heat.” I can remember in Arabia — oh, you wanna talk about Hell-holes!! — when rain would fall out of a clear blue sky.

Things could be worse, though. Be glad you’re not a Yard Dude. As we scribble, one poor wretch is trimming the shrubbery at the house across the street. Jayzus! What a way to make a living!

Daydreaming of the Bay Area, whilst stumbling around the park with the dog. Ohhhh how I do miss Berkeley, and my relatives’ beautiful little bungalow halfway up the hill to the train tunnel. Such a beautiful place. And never, ever 110 in the shade.

LOL! If I had any way to make a living there, I’d shoot up to the Bay Area in a trice. But realistically speaking: not a chance! Couldn’t even begin to afford to live anywhere near San Francisco today.

Heh! My father once remarked (angrily!) that my mother’s entire salary from her full-time job at Parkmerced would not have paid the rent on our apartment.

Well. That was a function of women’s work, not of the company in question.

whatEVER…  Today is hot and humid: no credible sign that it’s gonna get any better.

Meanwhile, sorta in that department, just today I learned that the Albertson’s supermarket down on the corner of Conduit of Blight and Main Drag South DELIVERS GROCERIES! 

Hot Dang!!!

That is amazingly good news. On two fronts:

* Transportation Front: My honored son has kiped my car! Don’t ask…these li’l family quarrels exceed the category of “too annoying to report.”

You realize: if the stores here deliver groceries, that eliminates a major reason to have to drive around in a car. And boyoboy! Freedom’s just another word…

With an Uber guy living across the street (and several similar worthies in the neighborhood), I can get reasonably priced transport to doctor’s offices, dentist’s offices, friends’ homes, and whatnot just about any time. Combine that with the grocery store delivery, and y’know what?

I DON’T NEED A CAR ANYMORE!!!!!

Seriously: There’s no reason to fill up a garage with a hulking hunk of metal and grease. For the rare occasions when I might need a car in my possession to schlep across the county, I can simply walk up to the corner of Conduit of Blight and Main Drag North and rent a car.

If that’s correct, then…seriously: I don’t need to own a car. Ever again!

* Bringing us to the Cash Front: Think of the phenomenal savings in taxes, insurance, maintenance! Holeeee maquerel!!!

Right now the Dog Chariot is stashed at my son’s house, and frankly…I’m thinking I’m gonna leave it there. He can have it. And all the bills that come with it.

Seriously… Has it ever occurred to you that a car is a hole in the ground into which to pour money?

When we lived in San Francisco, my mother and I hardly ever drove a car. We owned one — not to own a Ford would have been an affront to my father’s masculinity. But since he went to sea on tankers, he was hardly ever home to drive it. My mother stashed the thing in one of Parkmerced’s underground garages, and she and I made our way around town on foot, in buses, and by streetcar.

Now that Phoenix is finally turning into an actual city — with amenities like public transport and wahoo! Uber cabs — I hardly need a car. I could easily sell my car and, on the rare occasions when I do need one, walk up to the corner and rent a chariot for a day or three.

Imagine! No maintenance bills. No insurance covering days and weeks when the thing never leaves the garage. No siren songs luring thieves and vandals… HEY! 

Is there something we’ve been missing here, lo! these many years?

Soooo…. I’m thinking I may just leave the tank at M’hijito’s house. If he wants the thing, he can have it. If he doesn’t, we’ll sell it. It’s probably worth about 10 grand. Heeee! Think of how ten thousand dollah could fancy up that garage space! 😀