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Coping [cars]
Jan. 29th, 2024 01:28 pmCar-shopping is sure managing to dredge up all kinds of emotions and memories.
First off, it is a logistical hassle. You can't just buy a car like you'd buy a bike. Inspections, paperwork, test drives, salespeople, more paperwork, registrations, licensing, et cetera. Hidden issues. Most of the issues with a bike are readily apparent.
Second, it inevitably involves making appointments, dealing with people, making phone calls. And you can't have reasonable interactions when dealing with people, because people get funny when it comes to major financial decisions. So the people trying to encourage the major financial decisions engage in elaborate psychological tricks, whether they want to or not, because they become necessary for survival.
I am learning about myself that I am totally disinclined to make massive spreadsheets and obsessive optimization calculations, when it comes to something like this.
Then there are the accessories for the thing. Winter things, summer things, racks, hitches, sprays, polishes.
Parking. Lord have mercy, does my area have the absolute requisite minimum number of at least 3 distinct places where I can put the thing for storage purposes at any particular point in time??
Insurance.
Electronic gizmos for paying tolls.
The only times I've ever had major attempts to steal my credit card info has been when I've tried to use the card to pay for gasoline.
-
These are just some of the reasons why I ultimately decided against purchasing a car in the past. They are costly, not just in time and money, but mental overhead.
I want to be very intentional and deliberate about continuing to commute to work by bicycle. I feel like this purchase threatens my identity as a bicyclist.
None of this is to say or suggest I'm going to back down this time. We live in a car-culture country.
It's just...I can't say I am liking or enjoying this stuff.
-
Maybe at some point I should write more about those first attempts to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle, trying to learn how to drive with my family's Dodge Caravan minivan. I don't think I ever got competent enough with it to actually drive it around Seattle. I don't know how my mother managed to drive it everywhere while we were growing up. She has her own fair share of stories with that car.
First off, it is a logistical hassle. You can't just buy a car like you'd buy a bike. Inspections, paperwork, test drives, salespeople, more paperwork, registrations, licensing, et cetera. Hidden issues. Most of the issues with a bike are readily apparent.
Second, it inevitably involves making appointments, dealing with people, making phone calls. And you can't have reasonable interactions when dealing with people, because people get funny when it comes to major financial decisions. So the people trying to encourage the major financial decisions engage in elaborate psychological tricks, whether they want to or not, because they become necessary for survival.
I am learning about myself that I am totally disinclined to make massive spreadsheets and obsessive optimization calculations, when it comes to something like this.
Then there are the accessories for the thing. Winter things, summer things, racks, hitches, sprays, polishes.
Parking. Lord have mercy, does my area have the absolute requisite minimum number of at least 3 distinct places where I can put the thing for storage purposes at any particular point in time??
Insurance.
Electronic gizmos for paying tolls.
The only times I've ever had major attempts to steal my credit card info has been when I've tried to use the card to pay for gasoline.
-
These are just some of the reasons why I ultimately decided against purchasing a car in the past. They are costly, not just in time and money, but mental overhead.
I want to be very intentional and deliberate about continuing to commute to work by bicycle. I feel like this purchase threatens my identity as a bicyclist.
None of this is to say or suggest I'm going to back down this time. We live in a car-culture country.
It's just...I can't say I am liking or enjoying this stuff.
-
Maybe at some point I should write more about those first attempts to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle, trying to learn how to drive with my family's Dodge Caravan minivan. I don't think I ever got competent enough with it to actually drive it around Seattle. I don't know how my mother managed to drive it everywhere while we were growing up. She has her own fair share of stories with that car.
