Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ack! Carless in the 'Burbs

The air conditioner in our car died. I say "our" car -- it's really my mother's 2000 Honda Civic, but I do all the driving.

Well, we finally made an appointment for routine servicing and to have the air conditioner checked out. And of course, the problem wasn't a simple recharge. Oh no, the condenser took a hit from a rock and it has to be replaced. For a pretty penny, naturally.

So the shop is keeping the car overnight (as the air conditioner is in pieces at the moment) and "the guys" will make the necessary repairs when the part arrives in the morning.

Which means -- we're without wheels until some time tomorrow afternoon. Amazing how vulnerable it makes one feel. Even with local bus service and taxis available.

We are such a car-dependent society. And individualists. We want transportation available immediately to go where we want, when we want. We chafe under the schedule for mass transit. Resent the other people for whom the bus/train/trolley stops to pick up or let off. We've developed whole towns around cars...curving streets and cul de sacs that require one to drive five miles just to go one mile...businesses located well outside of walking distance from housing, etc. *sigh*

So we're housebound until we get the call tomorrow to come bail out our little car so we can once again be independent suburbanites.

If only I could get the winning lottery ticket so I can buy myself a car!

3 comments:

Jessica said...

After having an *interesting* experience on the "Max" a couple of weekends ago, I can understand your desire to be independent of public transportation! P.S. I have a fun award for you on my blog if you're interested! :)

Shared Glory said...

I understand your pain. Living a month and a half with out a car last November totally changed my attitude around...and I'm dreading just having the car in overnight when I get back home! If only our towns were built more like Europe where we could walk to everything...but I don't know about you, but I sure love my open spaces! I'd rather be a little more dependent on my car and have some breathing room :)

Oregon Equestrian said...

I grew up riding the Rose City buses in Portland...the smelly brown buses that had moss growing on the INSIDE of the windows. So I really appreciated my first car. It's been decades since I've ridden TriMet, and I've never had the experience of riding MAX, since it doesn't come anywhere near us. But I figure I earned my "mass transit combat medal" riding the Union Avenue and Irvington buses back in the day.