On November 27 my car overheated when I tried to drive back to Lansing after the long Thanksgiving weekend. I made it three miles down the road before I turned around and drove back to my patents house. Luckily I have some of the best parents ever because they drove me back to Lansing that night. We dropped my car off at the shop in Lowell and back to my home. On Monday I learned that it would cost me $1400 to fix my car, and I had to make a decision whether to fix it or consider buying a new car. It wasn't a hard decision considering how much is wrong with my car other than the $1400 to fix the head gasket. The hole somewhere in the gas tank and the smashed rear end mostly deem my car worthless to everybody besides myself. I came to to the rough realization that I will need to spend some or most of my savings on a new(er) car. This was two and a half weeks ago and I still don't have a car. I have looked a little at cars online, and have narrowed it down to a Mazda3 or Dodge Caliber, but that might change when I go to test drive some cars.
In the mean time, I have been running to and from work. It's 1.2 miles each way, and it is a good way to wake up in the morning. In the past two and a half weeks I have ran every day except for one day it was raining. I even ran the morning we got 10 inches of snow and all the schools in Lansing were closed. It takes 10-12 minutes, so it's not much longer than driving to work. Ohh, the joys of city driving. I really don't mind not having a car. I like running to work. It is a hassle when I need to go to the store or go anywhere other than work though. Yesterday I left work, ran around the Capital, and all the way down Michigan to the Kroger in Frandor because i wanted to get some candy flavors, bread flour and yeast. Then I took the bus home.
Not having a car has taught me how much I don't like it when I need others to do things in life. I want to be this self sustaining person, but in reality, we all need people. I have realized how much people are willing to do for me, even when I don't ask. It's a great feeling, but I still have a hard time accepting peoples' offers for rides places. Why? I have two legs. I can get there on my own. Why be an inconvenience to other people? I have realized that what I think is an inconvenience to other people might not really be as much of an inconvenience as I want to believe. People are generally good people, and are willing to help. It's good to know there are still kind people in this World. It's comforting!
