It appears that I will be driving a rental this weekend; the truck did not make the worklist at the mechanic today, and our houseguest can’t even guess what has his car out of commission. It is to be hoped that the truck will be back Monday evening, but it is not by any means known.
I did get to the dentist, but his opinion was that I needed to get to a specialist. That’s about all I really accomplished today, due in part to the fact that the houseguest with the car trouble needed transportation, which knocked more than an hour out of my afternoon.
Mercifully, we happen to have cash on hand at the moment; regretably, there are bills which need that cash which aren’t going to get it while we struggle through the transportation problems.
At least I can still get here.
–M. J. Young
October 27th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Mr. Young,
I know our situations are miles apart, in more ways than one, but I do have something I’d like to add. My car died shortly after your visit to Columbus, and I have not had a car since then. As a direct result of that, I’ve found that I can save a boatload of money, and my life isn’t as inconvenienced as I believed it would be at the time. I also have 3 grocery stores, 2 gas stations, 2 pharmacies, a movie theater and 2 video stores within walking distance of my apartment, so that might have something to do with it. I just want to say though that losing a car can be a gift in disguise. Now you have an honest excuse to not do people favors constantly, and you can have some more Mr. Young time as a result. One way to look at it I guess.
John “A1nut”
October 28th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Thanks, John, but you’re right–our situations are worlds apart.
I buy between three and five hundred dollars worth of groceries every two weeks, including twenty to thirty pounds of meat; I can only afford it because there is a discount grocery story within fifteen miles. There is a grocery store closer, but it’s a small operation that would cost me between thirty and fifty percent more and would not have everything I regularly use. The drug store from which I get my vital medicines is probably four or five miles from here. Church is a five minute drive down a fifty mile per hour country road; the last time I walked that distance, I was not certain I was going to make it, and it took me well over an hour. In fact, the last time I walked any distance, sometime this spring, I made it about a mile and wished I’d brought a cell phone, as I was seriously close to needing an ambulance.
As to those favors and errands, well, the big one is of course my mother-in-law. There really is no one else who can take her grocery shopping once a week, and get her to the bank. It is fortunate that we are able to do so. Of course, me not having a car only happens if my wife does not have a car (since they are, after all, her cars, and if there is only one she will insist that I drive her so I have it in case she needs me to do something for her while she is at work). She would be unable to get to work, which means we would lose our home and have to go on public assistance with our remaining minor son.
So I understand that it was a blessing for you to be without a car, but for us it would be a disaster. It’s costing us a lot of money just to survive the weekend without it.
Thanks for the thought, though.
–M. J. Young