If you have been following along, you already know that I dislike driving. It is an aggravation that I wish I did not have to deal with. I work for the local bus company and I get to travel on our coaches for free. The only problem is I live in a town in another county, and the bus doesn't gome anywhere near my house. If it did I would use it rather than drive.
I love having a car, though. If I need to go anywhere, I can. While having a car is great, I constantly wonder if it worth the aggravation. Since I live in a distant suburb, I have no choice. With gas over $3 per gallon, it is getting expensive. It would be great if I did not have to drive to work every day, but when I have to travel long-distance to visit friends or run errands a car comes in very handy.
I used to drive a big old SUV. I had a Ford Explorer with a V8 engine. This was a very nice vehicle...except for the bane of all SUV drivers everywhere: horrible gas mileage. I was only getting 13 mpg, which with gas prices the way they are makes it an expensive vehicle to feed. I was contemplating trading it off for a more economical vehicle for a while, then the display on the radio went out.
Now it had to go.
After taking it to the dealer, and them telling me that they would not replace it even though it was supposed to be covered under the extended warranty, I got really really pissed. I was still seething and I went straight away to a local Chevrolet dealer, since I had been looking at Impalas, and traded it off. Surprisingly, not only was the payment less, the mileage was better and they gave me a good price for the Explorer.
But I still hate to drive. I have carefully mapped out a route to work that is not only quick, but has very little traffic. I rarely have an issue with other drivers on this route, and I can get to work in about 20 minutes.
I am thankful, though, that even though some drivers are lousy and inconsiderate, we have comparatively few issues. I am reminded of a story told to me by my friend RDW. He is an engineer that was in the Air Force for a number of years, and he worked and lived in Saudi Arabia for a number of years. (With his fiery Mexican wife, L, which made for interesting times!)
When he was there, there was an intersection in the middle of Riyadh where two, ten-lane roads met. The speed on each road was 100 kph...about 62 mph. This intersection had no traffic signals, no signs, no control devices of any kind. It was constantly busy with traffic. He said that no one ever stopped, ever. The best way to traverse this intersection was to just drive fast and go straight through. If you pause to look around, you are liable to be hit from behind. If you look at another driver, they interpret that as you are letting them go, and they will. He said there were a number of nasty, deadly accidents at that intersection...but not as many as you would think.
Two years before he left, they installed traffic signals.
We have it pretty lucky.
I love having a car, though. If I need to go anywhere, I can. While having a car is great, I constantly wonder if it worth the aggravation. Since I live in a distant suburb, I have no choice. With gas over $3 per gallon, it is getting expensive. It would be great if I did not have to drive to work every day, but when I have to travel long-distance to visit friends or run errands a car comes in very handy.
I used to drive a big old SUV. I had a Ford Explorer with a V8 engine. This was a very nice vehicle...except for the bane of all SUV drivers everywhere: horrible gas mileage. I was only getting 13 mpg, which with gas prices the way they are makes it an expensive vehicle to feed. I was contemplating trading it off for a more economical vehicle for a while, then the display on the radio went out.
Now it had to go.
After taking it to the dealer, and them telling me that they would not replace it even though it was supposed to be covered under the extended warranty, I got really really pissed. I was still seething and I went straight away to a local Chevrolet dealer, since I had been looking at Impalas, and traded it off. Surprisingly, not only was the payment less, the mileage was better and they gave me a good price for the Explorer.
But I still hate to drive. I have carefully mapped out a route to work that is not only quick, but has very little traffic. I rarely have an issue with other drivers on this route, and I can get to work in about 20 minutes.
I am thankful, though, that even though some drivers are lousy and inconsiderate, we have comparatively few issues. I am reminded of a story told to me by my friend RDW. He is an engineer that was in the Air Force for a number of years, and he worked and lived in Saudi Arabia for a number of years. (With his fiery Mexican wife, L, which made for interesting times!)
When he was there, there was an intersection in the middle of Riyadh where two, ten-lane roads met. The speed on each road was 100 kph...about 62 mph. This intersection had no traffic signals, no signs, no control devices of any kind. It was constantly busy with traffic. He said that no one ever stopped, ever. The best way to traverse this intersection was to just drive fast and go straight through. If you pause to look around, you are liable to be hit from behind. If you look at another driver, they interpret that as you are letting them go, and they will. He said there were a number of nasty, deadly accidents at that intersection...but not as many as you would think.
Two years before he left, they installed traffic signals.
We have it pretty lucky.
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