car rant

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, i'm the biggest starter of rant threads I think.

anyway, in an effort to prove to me that I *will not* get finances under control and that life is not idyllic,

my car died on the way to work. THe cheap one, not the van. Hopefully it's just a battery I have NO desire to pay for towing that will be half the value of the car.

Yay me.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Our car needs the transmission fixed because we've almost totally lost high gear, so we just have to putz around town in D2.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

sweet. But at least it starts, tho even in my case that would be a MAJOR problem. My commute is something like the equivelant of Point of the Mountain to Bountiful, and even though there's traffic, I do need to be able to get the speed up for large chunks of it.

[stacer]

Ah, the wonder of public transportation. Not that I'm saying I like it, but it does make me grateful that I don't have a car when people tell me such horror stories of their own. I never had a problem with my little Escort until it was totaled (which was definitely a problem), but now I live a block from the T and 5 or 6 blocks from the bus and can usually get wherever I need to go on those, and have kind neighbors with cars when I need to go farther.

Kind of nice that the metro area of Boston is relatively small (what, maybe 15 miles across, total? it's absolutely tiny).

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

there is a bus stop that I could get to pretty quick, and a metro rail station very close, however, no rails near my work, and getting to work by bus would take 2 or 3 transfers, and take something on the order of an hour and a half to 2 hours. Since I have to be at work at 8, this cost in time is anathema to me. Too bad, becuase it'd probably save me money in the long run.

[stacer]

It can be like that for me to get to the temple--it's 8 miles away, yet it takes a bus to the T to another bus to get there, then a 5-block walk. 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way. Ridiculous. So I grab a ride whenever I can, but am at the mercy of other people's schedules, and sometimes I feel like I really ought to just sacrifice the time. But getting to work is another matter--getting there quickly is the most important thing. Especially if you don't have to pay for parking when you get there (not going to happen in Boston).

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

heck, you could almost walk the 8 miles in that time.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I'm just glad I can take the bus to classes, and that where I live, 4 different busses run by.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, I never thought I'd say that much nice about Provo, but as advanced as the DC Metro (mass transit) is, it isn't always the easiest thing to get to.  But in Provo, you're never all that far from a bus stop, which came in very handy a number of times while I was there.

And an update:

My dad didn't have to go into work today, so he graciously volunteered to go look at the car. SO he gets there, he gets in, and the car starts, no problem.

Which is part relief, part "you mean the ONLY reason it broke down is so I'd be late for work?"

I should stop whining though. I'm VERY glad the car doesn't need major work. Yet.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

Yeah, my dad's car is pretty much saying it wants to go. But my dad won't let her. She's a 95 Oldsmobile. A goodly 160,000 miles or so on her. Just a few months ago when I went home I started feeling/hearing this grinding under the drivers side. I tell my dad, I thought it was the wheel axle or something, and he tells me its probably the muffler. (I have very little knowledge of the workings of the underside of a car) So I think, great, yet another problem with the car.

What I can't wait for is when they do get a new car and, possibly, give me that old one. MMMmm goody. I'll have stories like SE's possibly.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Our car's going to hit 200,000 miles in about a month.

[JP Dogberry]

As soon as I move, I'll be relying on public transport, since I neither have a car, nor the ability to drive one. I don't mind though, since the city has a great public transport system.

[EUOL]

I'll add my 'car rant' to this one, though it's really an 'insurance rant.'  

Maybe we've discussed this before, but is anyone else bothered by the way that insurance companies aren't restricted by common anti-discrimination laws?

I've never been in a wreck.
I've never had a speeding ticket.
I've NEVER EVEN BEEN PULLED OVER.
I've never claimed anything on my insurance at all.

Yet, despite all of this, I pay about $1,200 a year in insurance--which is more than some women I know who have worse driving records.  Statistically, I'm still 'more likely' to get into a wreck because I'm male.  

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

That pisses me off too.  I just am not a big fan of insurance companies in general.  I have had no good experiences with them.   I drive better than anyone in my family, immediate or extended, but I will still have some of the highest rates in the country because I am a teenage boy who lives in Michigan.  That is, once I have a liscense and not a permit...

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I think they aren't covered by the laws because they have indisputable statistics showing that one group is more likely to do something.

the odds are against you.

But yeah, it still sucks.