Thursday, April 27, 2006
Powered By My Own Sense of Self-Satisfaction
by Tom Bozzo
Even at present fuel prices, the financial savings are modest: roughly $1.50/day assuming I forego an after-work visit to the gym. So we're looking at expand-the-LEGO-train-layout-a-little money. The longer-run adjustments are likely to be much more substantial, though.
Those of you who may know me for my car nuttery might be surprised to hear that I'm partly in Recovery. This actually dates back a few years to an outing in which I test drove a Porsche 911 with my brother (who, being single and well-paid [*] can contemplate such expenditures) and, while its effortless displays of speed were dazzling enough, decided it wasn't worth the money. Even my present car represents an effort to get off a track that modern marketing would intend to lead to ownership of expensive, gas-guzzling Autobahn battlecruisers.[**] Given my daily driving habits, my next car could easily be one of these (since I don't so much love the looks of these), though who knows what early '09 will bring.[***]
(Title reference.)
Another fine spring day, another bike ride to work. I'd been on pace to go three full days without even riding in an automobile, but the body shop finished with Suzanne's wagon a bit early, so I took an intraday ride to pick it up. My goal is to average 3 bike commutes a week for the cycling season — for me, that runs until the neighborhood streets are befouled with frozen precipitation in early meteorological winter. Hope springing eternal, that may be more on the order of eight months from now rather than seven months.
Even at present fuel prices, the financial savings are modest: roughly $1.50/day assuming I forego an after-work visit to the gym. So we're looking at expand-the-LEGO-train-layout-a-little money. The longer-run adjustments are likely to be much more substantial, though.
Those of you who may know me for my car nuttery might be surprised to hear that I'm partly in Recovery. This actually dates back a few years to an outing in which I test drove a Porsche 911 with my brother (who, being single and well-paid [*] can contemplate such expenditures) and, while its effortless displays of speed were dazzling enough, decided it wasn't worth the money. Even my present car represents an effort to get off a track that modern marketing would intend to lead to ownership of expensive, gas-guzzling Autobahn battlecruisers.[**] Given my daily driving habits, my next car could easily be one of these (since I don't so much love the looks of these), though who knows what early '09 will bring.[***]
(Title reference.)
Comments:
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For a while I was recording my mileage and then doing the math to record how much money I was saving. It was astounding. This is all I managed to record before I forgot all about it but it was a true revelation. Keep at it!
Genevieve: A colleague of mine has one and loves it. It'll probably be on the shopping list once we're back in the market, though it may be due for a redesign somewhere along the way.
Sara: With your longer commute, I believe it. My longer-term issue will be driving out some of my car ownership costs, net of getting one of these babies.
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Sara: With your longer commute, I believe it. My longer-term issue will be driving out some of my car ownership costs, net of getting one of these babies.
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