Music Monday! Learning To Fly
The commute.
Some days it just wears you down.
The stop, then go, then slam on brakes because the guy in the next lane suddenly has to be in your lane, right in front of you.
The longing looks at the lane next to you who seems to be going by rather fast, maybe 10 miles and hour, while your lane is going so slow the speed does not register.
And the realization you cannot sneak in front of one of those cars zooming by you in the next lane because your car is so long, it won't fit snugly in the space that exists before the next car moves up. You would need to get the drivers attention and make sure they stop to let you in, which doesn't make you an appreciated driver. And with one of the only 2 on the island like it, your car is memorable. No need to make enemies on the road.
The stress of the drive just beats you down some days.
Then when you finally reach your destination, and dread the parking.
Where I am, the parking sucks. No other way to explain it.
Spaces too small, too short.
I have a loooong car. One of those great old boats, the "luxury" sedans that are spacious and long and just float down the road.
Lovely to drive when you can just cruise.
Not so lovely in stop and go traffic (see above), and really not lovely to fit in between 2 other vehicles taking up the whole of their tiny parking space.
To get out of my spot at work, if my neighbors are both there, I have to do a reverse that involves about 6 tiny turns, forwards and backwards, to maneuver the car out without scraping either neighbor or hitting the cars parked in the row behind me.
SO ANNOYING!
So all these things swimming in my spinning head the other day during one of my 40 minute commutes, and the lovely Tom Petty song comes on the radio.
I am suddenly wishing I could fly over all these cars.
I am imagining myself rising above all the other cars, and floating by smoothly, fater than a crawl, no stops and starts, and then I leave it hovering over the parking lot.....ahhhhh
I have been searching for a different car. I would say new car, but don't want brand new, and take the depreciation hit right off the bat. Something my father instilled in me from a very young age. The only time he splurged for a brand new car was the 1950's Thunderbird he enjoyed, before the responsibilities of family made him the very practical frugal man that taught me to never buy a new car. His MO was actually to drive the car until it doesn't drive anymore, repairing here and there as necessary. And if you wanted to take care of the rust spots, just grab a can of house paint and paintbush and voila! Rust spot gone. Not sure the extremes of Dad's theories wore off on me, but some aspects of his theories are there.
once in his life bought a new car, and I hear the stories of that fun little 1950's
I wanted a slightly used, not too many miles, not too old, nice to commute in car.
Smaller than what I have now, but still big enough to fit all the kids (who are all full size adults now) for the someday they will all be here at the same time again. To fit suitcases and groceries, but not difficult to park.
That, my friends, is not easy to find.
But I did, and now am dealing with paperwork and logistics that would make most peoples heads spin. Trucking to port, documents to get it to port with no state sales tax, and then paperwork for getting on a ship, then documents for arrving on island, and then clearing customs, and then licensing. Well wait, my head is spinning.
On top of that, we are the consultants for my daughter who also is searching for a car.
Her wish list is AWD on a teeny tiny budget. A car that still runs and doesn't need gobs of repairs right off the bat. Something closer to 100,000 miles instead of 200,000 miles - that is in her budget.
In the mountains, cars have lots of miles, and not many with AWD, and hardly any in her budget. (all wheel drive, a good idea in the mountains so we were on board with that requirement...)
Then there were conversations like this:
"Honey, if you smell oil while driving that is not a good sign"
"If they will fix, but need another part after that, well you can assume you will need more parts after that...."
"Yes, generally a car with 115,000 miles is better than one with 150,000 miles. Generally."
"A squeaking noise at low speeds? Not sure what that could be...."
So finding a car for her, also, is not easy to find.
And I am not even talking about the car insurance.
I really think it would be easier to learn how to fly.
A girl can dream.
Thank you Tom Petty for giving me this fantasy on my commute.
Some days it just wears you down.
The stop, then go, then slam on brakes because the guy in the next lane suddenly has to be in your lane, right in front of you.
The longing looks at the lane next to you who seems to be going by rather fast, maybe 10 miles and hour, while your lane is going so slow the speed does not register.
And the realization you cannot sneak in front of one of those cars zooming by you in the next lane because your car is so long, it won't fit snugly in the space that exists before the next car moves up. You would need to get the drivers attention and make sure they stop to let you in, which doesn't make you an appreciated driver. And with one of the only 2 on the island like it, your car is memorable. No need to make enemies on the road.
The stress of the drive just beats you down some days.
Then when you finally reach your destination, and dread the parking.Where I am, the parking sucks. No other way to explain it.
Spaces too small, too short.
I have a loooong car. One of those great old boats, the "luxury" sedans that are spacious and long and just float down the road.
Lovely to drive when you can just cruise.
Not so lovely in stop and go traffic (see above), and really not lovely to fit in between 2 other vehicles taking up the whole of their tiny parking space.
To get out of my spot at work, if my neighbors are both there, I have to do a reverse that involves about 6 tiny turns, forwards and backwards, to maneuver the car out without scraping either neighbor or hitting the cars parked in the row behind me.
SO ANNOYING!
So all these things swimming in my spinning head the other day during one of my 40 minute commutes, and the lovely Tom Petty song comes on the radio.
I am suddenly wishing I could fly over all these cars.
I am imagining myself rising above all the other cars, and floating by smoothly, fater than a crawl, no stops and starts, and then I leave it hovering over the parking lot.....ahhhhh
 |
| 1955 Ford Thunderbird |
once in his life bought a new car, and I hear the stories of that fun little 1950's
I wanted a slightly used, not too many miles, not too old, nice to commute in car.
 |
| source |
That, my friends, is not easy to find.
But I did, and now am dealing with paperwork and logistics that would make most peoples heads spin. Trucking to port, documents to get it to port with no state sales tax, and then paperwork for getting on a ship, then documents for arrving on island, and then clearing customs, and then licensing. Well wait, my head is spinning.
On top of that, we are the consultants for my daughter who also is searching for a car.
Her wish list is AWD on a teeny tiny budget. A car that still runs and doesn't need gobs of repairs right off the bat. Something closer to 100,000 miles instead of 200,000 miles - that is in her budget.
 |
| caranddriver.com |
Then there were conversations like this:
"Honey, if you smell oil while driving that is not a good sign"
"If they will fix, but need another part after that, well you can assume you will need more parts after that...."
"Yes, generally a car with 115,000 miles is better than one with 150,000 miles. Generally."
"A squeaking noise at low speeds? Not sure what that could be...."
So finding a car for her, also, is not easy to find.
And I am not even talking about the car insurance.
I really think it would be easier to learn how to fly.
A girl can dream.
Thank you Tom Petty for giving me this fantasy on my commute.
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