2 posts tagged “car”
A few weeks back, my transmission ceased working while I was climbing a hill on Highway 26. I got to the top of the Sylvan exit, and the car would move no more.
A lot of hand-wringing followed, and I ended up having the car towed out to a transmission shop in the suburb where I'm working these days. A grand later, and a replaced clutch, I drove it back home. And then the electrical entirely cut out. So I took it to a well-regarded shop in town. Another grand later, they say it should be able to limp along for another 30 to 50 thousand miles. Given that I drive about 6 thousand miles a year, that's a quite a long time.
I drove the car home, and the next time I got in, my check engine light was on. So I bring it back in. It can't be a big deal, right? Actually, it appears it might be.
I've been a little anxious lately -- I think I'm not getting enough exercise, not seeing enough friends, probably not getting enough sunlight -- just in general. I've been having a hard time shaking it. And this just doesn't help!
I found this via Boingboing, as an entry in English Russia called An Abandoned City. This is from a school lunchroom; the cyrillic says Bon Appetit or the Russian equivalent.
Would like to know why they (the Soviet Union) would support an entire living city…
We live in interesting times. Perhaps our parents and grandparents also felt as though our way of life was about to end. As we drove down I-5 this weekend, I was flooded with thought. In twenty, thirty years, will there be some new sort of "car", or will the freeways be abandoned to bicycles and elk? Given that freeways are almost never the shortest route between points A & B, will bicycles have any use for them?
Will we have any use for the suburbs and the exurbs? Will they be the new slums?
I'm probably going to donate my car to charity in the next couple weeks or months. It has lots of life in it, but I use it so little, it seems like an expensive indulgence. If I keep it, I'll pay 2/3rds of its blue book value in insurance in the next year. I'll need to replace the transmission, which I think is probably about 2/3rds of the value. I spent the value of the car in repairs earlier this summer.
I felt strangely superstitious, not wanting to mention that the car will be going away in its presence. So this last car trip was very bittersweet. I've had the car for 14 years. It's never broken down, it's never left me. But given that I drive once every couple weeks, does that make it worth the exorbitant cost of the insurance, just to have a car in the driveway?
