Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). I am just curious. I know a lot of the talk of car replacement funds and collission and all that is a totally different story to me with 2 perfectly working cars at home and a family that only needs one car. It wouldn't even really put us out that much at this point to go to 1 car. Dh mostly leaves the house when I am home from work. So if a car breaks down or even was totaled I really wouldn't sweat it. Though I guess it is possible something could happen to both cars, eh? Flood?
But, I Was just curious because a coworker has not been ALL week because she had car problems. ??? IS it just me? You seriously can not find ANOTHER way? Strange.
When we first moved here and I had no one I had some car problems and took my car in. & then promptly called a cab. The car shop owner looked at me like I Was crazy when I Said I Was waiting for a cab - he had an employee give me a ride to work. Being young and cute helps I guess. Sure a rental may be cheaper, but I just needed a quick ride to work. Whatever. If I Was really desparate I could have taken a bus though. Light rail. Train. Lots of options, my office is right by the light rail. Cab fare for one day so I Can complete my responsibilities at work, no biggie to me. Those were in the days we were making big dough though. Convenience won hands down in those days.
Ah, so I just got the message she won't be in tomorrow again because she has no one to get a ride from. I thought of offering but I thought if she really wanted to be here, she would. Maybe it would piss her off if I offered - LOL. I don't know. She lives far out - 20 miles east of me. But um yeah, I Could give her a ride - I live closer to her than anyone else around here.
I just find it strange. Is it just me? Oh well, just extra strange because not someone I Would imagine is hard up for a few bucks for a rental or something. We are always talking about how crazy it is people live beyond their means. I guess it sends a message that work isn't that important and that isn't a message I would want to send. There are people here where the message would be - "I am too broke to do otherwise." Public Transportation can be pricey around here. But I am afraid she is sending a completely different message. IF it was me I Would just call in sick I guess - LOL. If I was just going to throw up my hands in findig a way to get to work, why would I admit that???
Or maybe I just read too much into the whole thing.
What would you do without a car?
November 30th, 2006 at 01:08 am
November 30th, 2006 at 01:33 am 1164850405
Sounds like new math to me. (Unless of course she is test driving a new job before quitting).
November 30th, 2006 at 02:11 am 1164852677
But please don't think that I mean that as a bad thing! Quite the contrary, I always believe in having backup protection for anything and everything. Clearly, there is an advantage to having a second car in case something were to ever happen to the first one.
From a financial standpoint though, if you don't need the second car, I don't know if it's worth the money keeping it up. Taxes, insurance, inspection, tags, and regular maintenance. I don't know. I'd probably throw out a "for sale" notice on craiglist or something and see if it can't fetch you a pretty penny. If not, you can still keep it around, ya know?
November 30th, 2006 at 02:17 am 1164853068
Marianne
November 30th, 2006 at 02:38 am 1164854336
Still there are people who insist on driving and insist that 4FWD makes them invincible. I wonder if the habit forms yea or nay when you're a kid. If you've been on the school bus, the regular bus isn't so scary. If you've been driven around everywhere, a bus never occurs to you.
Or it could be simple: your co worker doesn't care.
November 30th, 2006 at 03:14 am 1164856463
To clarify, what I mean is, I understand the security it brings about having two cars, but on a separate note, I also understand that people living in places with good public transportation should be able to find their way to work. With or without access to a personal vehicle. I also understand agree with the flippant attitude of people not showing up for work when there without a good reason.
Bleack. Socks. They taste horrible.
November 30th, 2006 at 03:23 am 1164856997
November 30th, 2006 at 03:25 am 1164857128
long answer: between HS and college i drove 30 miles one way for a job paying $7 an hour. granted my car got 30 miles to the gallon and gas was about 90 cents a gallon (and this was NOT that long ago!!!), but still. at $56 per day before taxes, i could not have rented a car to come to work and made money on the deal. i would have been paying money to work had my car gone caput.
November 30th, 2006 at 06:17 am 1164867467
That's the other thing - I have a minivan (bad mileage) and dh has the greatest little compact car so they both have great uses. Long trips and tight parking spaces = dh's car. Moving and transporting people and stuff = my car. There are a lot of pros to are 2 cars.
To be fair I thought about my co-worker and she lives a good 30 miles out. I know rentals are dirt cheap during the week though - you can get on for $10-$20/day. It could be cheaper than the train around here - for sure. But it would be quite a trek - a cab might not be not worth it. But then again am I any better because if it was me I would lie and say I was sick or something - hehe. At least she is honest.