My car up a died a couple weeks ago. Timing
belt broke and bent a bunch of valves. It would cost around $1500-2500 to
fix. I could buy a much better car for that kind of money, so I sent it to
the scrap yard. It's been a good car, but now it's time to
rest.
I started using my bicycle to get around. At
first it was just a temporary thing. But, Roseburg is so compact, and
everything I routinely need is just right here, it wasn't a problem getting
around on my bike. My work, lots of shopping, restaurants, banks,
barbers...it's all right here.
Then I started adding things up. Auto
insurance, tags, taxes, maintenance, repairs.....it amounts to thousands of
$$$$$$ a year, just to maintain something I don't actually need! My
bicycle uses no gasoline, needs about 15 minutes of maintenance/year which I do
myself on the front steps, gets me the cardiac exercise I need, makes people
think I'm politically correct for going "green", it's fun to ride, and if it
breaks down, worst case is I buy a brand new one at Walmart for less than
$100.00!
On those rare occasions when I actually need to go
outside my little community, there are public transportation alternatives.
Even the weather is not really a factor. Yes,
it can be cold in winter, and yes, it may rain or snow. But I just dress
accordingly; no place I have to go is really that far away anyway.
So, I've made a decision to not buy a car and stick
with my bicycle. Some of my friends think that's an unusual
decision. But so far, none of them have been able to give me one reason
why I should throw away thousands of dollars on another
vehicle
(download)
