About
Late summer 2008 the transmission in my car went out.
My car was a 2000 Hyundai Elantra. It had 189,000 miles. What a great car.
I looked into all of my options. Should I get it fixed? That was going to be $1700. Should I get it rebuilt? Not much cheaper. I might as well get a new one. Should I just get a new car? A new-new one? Or a new one to me?
I worked very hard into paying down my credit card. I got it from $3200 to $0 in the last ten months. The thought of dropping $1500 or more to get me right back where I started pissed me off.
I had been riding my bicycle to work and around town all summer. I had seriously been contemplating the idea of riding through the winter. That’s when it hit me. This is motivation! Why do I need a car?
So there it is. The idea. I’m going to attempt to break my oil habit.
This is not an easy statement. I grew up believing the american dream. The one that says it is an unalienable right to life, liberty, and nice stuff. That’s not the only thing making this difficult. I live in a small city. Public transportation is limited. Oh and my girlfriend lives thirty minutes away and my parents even further.
Despite all this I can’t help but think that breaking my oil addiction is worth it.
A coworker gave me the idea of blogging about it. It might seem vain, but I think this is a very timely subject what with words like “peak oil,” “bailout,” “recession,” and “palin” floating around. Read with me as I make this journey. Maybe you too will decide to break your addiction.
So after finding out my car was actually drivable I had a two month period where I drove most every day while I tried to sell my car. Now the car is sold, and I am completely car-free!
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By Jason B, September 26, 2008 @ 9:30 am
I saw a comment on GetRichSlowly by you and it led me here! I saw like… wait Harrisburg? I know this guy!
[Reply]
Going Carless Reply:
September 26th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Yo, that is too freakin funny! It’s a small [interweb] world! Did I tell you about my experiment? Subscribe yo.
[Reply]
By Jason B, September 26, 2008 @ 11:26 am
Well, I knew you were trying to go without the car, but I don’t think you told me about the blog. I’m all caught up and I’ve grabbed your RSS feed. I’ll link to you from my web site, too.
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