Man! It is passing cozy out there! Four in the afternoon and 110 in the shade of the back porch…augh!!!
A modest bank of clouds lurks to the north…this would add humidity to the mix. How much, I wonder?
Humidity: 16%
Chance of rain: 24%
Yech! And we live here…why?
Totally not in the mood to fix dinner, but…well… Figure I’d better get out to that ‘cue, because — don’tcha just know it? — if I wait until a decent hour, those towering white cloud things in the sky to the north of us will invite themselves to home and dump all over us.
But…do I care?
Nya nya nya! No, I don’t!
I ain’t goin’ anywhere. Ain’t about to go anywhere. Rain makes me no nevver-mind. Same for the heat.
Seriously: my son’s machinations of a few weeks ago resulted in his stashing the car elsewhere.
My reaction to that was hah! BFD! I’ll just rent a car!!!!
*****
But it was, shall we say, an enfeebled reaction. Because…I don’t need to rent a car. By dayum, I don’t need a car at all.
😮
A guy who drives for Uber lives right across the street. Several others live here in the’ Hood. So if I want to go anywhere that’s outside of walking distance, all I have to do is call one of those folks.
But DO I wanna go anywhere outside of walking distance? Truth to tell: not often. We have three major supermarkets within steps of the Funny Farm. A veterinarian. A storefront “emergency”clinic.
Hmmmm…. WHY spend a lot of money on a car, on insurance, on licensing, on whatnot…when you really don’t NEED one? When you can rent a car if you just must have one right this minute?
What an insight!
Seriously: it never entered my mind, before this, that I could get by here without a car. That a car is a superfluous, pointless expense… But y’know what?
At least where I’m living, it’s true: a car is a superfluous, pointless expense.
So here’s my plan, to the extent that a plan is applicable:
* Trot on down to the DMV and be sure, in person, that my present driver’s license will cover me in a rental or borrowed vehicle.
* Trot on up (about three or four blocks) to the rental place and ask how much it would cost to rent a chariot, and for how long.
* Talk to my financial guy about the advisability of selling the Dog Chariot, and ask how to go about that most efficiently and safely.
* Move forward with that, as advised.
* Make friends with staff at the car rental place. Be sure my insurance will cover a rented vehicle.
* Discuss the plan with my neighbor, the Uber driver. Find out how to get an Uber (or other rental) on short notice, if needed, and what else I need to know about renting cars.
* Figure out what to do with the garage. One idea is to turn it into a studio for wanna-be artist friends. Get an art teacher to meet with a group, and use the space for art tables and supplies.
* And finally, if dispensing with the car altogether actually works, sell the damn thing — or give it to my son, if he wants it.
Probably this scheme is not going to save vast amounts of money. My car is paid for, and it doesn’t cost much to maintain and insure. But…who knows? Maybe the idea will save something. And it’s…well, it’s sooo very 21st-century, eh? 😀
If I need to get from Point A to Point B: ride a bus or the railway, or mooch a ride from my son.
If I need a car to take me to an appointment — distance here to distance there, on time — hire an Uber.
If the dog needs to be schlepped to a vet: impose on my son or a neighbor to help haul her there.
**********
LOL!
And probably this scheme is not going to prod my memory to post a post when I finish writing the post! 😀 😀 😀
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So here ’tis, a day late and many a dollar short. Summarizing its message (such as it is…):
My son’s purloining my car (out of concern my safety) has opened the door to a number of big-city possibilities. Among them: the fact that my neighborhood is over-run with Uber drivers. One of these worthies lives right across the street!
That’s in addition to the very busy train and bus traffic running up and down Main Drag West.
When my mother and I lived in San Francisco — lo! these many years ago — we did own a nice car. We thought of it as my father’s, though of course she drove it more than he did…because he went to sea. He was a Merchant Marine officer, and traveled far more on the ocean than he ever did on land.
He loved his spiffy Chrysler, though. And so my mother inclined to avoid driving it, in order to keep it safe from the City’s rambunctious traffic. She’d take it out and drive to a grocery store maybe once a month, but otherwise we walked or took the public transportation.
Welp…y’know what? A what that hadn’t dawned on me until the present altercation with Mijito? I don’t need a car here any more than she did when we were in San Francisco!
Whaaa???????
It’s true! Living in my neighborhood, I really don’t need a car. Especially with an Uber driver living across the street and willing to schlep me to destinations like the dentist’s office or the Mayo Clinic.
No kidding. Everything else is within easy strolling distance. Right off the top of my head, for example, I can list a mob of routine destinations…ones that I can walk to without having to pay a dime.
- 3 large supermarkets
- A Trader Joe’s
- A Walgreen’s
- A delightful Mexican supermarket
- A large bookstore
- A computer store with a repair service
- My son’s house (a bit out of the way, but not an unreasonable walk)
- A stop for a bus that goes straight down to the church
- The same bus proceeds on down the road to the beloved AJ’s Overpriced Gourmet Grocery Store
- A storefront doctor’s office
- And if I’m not mistaken, there’s a veterinary office within walking distance.
See what I mean? In the time I’ve spent loafing in my car (a matter of years, it’s true…), Phoenix has morphed from a large small town into a real city.
Soooo…. Why not make use of the amenities of a real city?
You know, I hadn’t thought about it before, but this post brought to mind a news segment I watched quite a while ago (maybe a year or so?) that said an increasing number of teens and young adults were declining to get driver’s licenses because they didn’t want or couldn’t afford the expense of owning a vehicle and services such as Uber and public transportation made it easy enough to get to the places they needed to go.
So it seems you have a lot of company! 😀
Man!!! Can you imagine a teenager unilaterally deciding not to get a driver’s license??? Have times changed, or have times changed!
You have most services you need within easy walking distance, except when the weather is just too hot and humid. For those occasions have you considered getting either an e-bike or a mobility scooter? The advantage of a mobility scooter would be the ability to take it inside most stores, so you won’t have to worry about someone stealing it while it is unattended. Used mobility scooters are often available for less than $1000, and you wouldn’t need a high end one given you wouldn’t be using it on a daily basis, nor intending to travel very far, and aren’t a heavy individual. The front basket would carry a good amount of groceries, and you could carry a backpack if you needed to really stock up.
The roads here would make riding around in a mobility scooter or on an e-bike suicidal. Plus…as one person, I really don’t need THAT many groceries to add up to a week’s supply.
Also…at this point in my dotage, walking is the main source of exercise for me. The more I walk, the longer I’m likely to remain mobile. So…just now (that could change…) I’m happy to walk to, from, and around in the local stores.