the open road

I got a car.

YAY!!!!!!

It's a used car, and not the newest model, but it gets me where I need to go with tunes and air conditioning (if I use it, which I do only sparingly). I enjoy this newfound independence so much, I've been getting a bit carried away. I drive everywhere. Whereas I used to get stressed out if I didn't leave the house by a certain time, now I think, 'ah, I can drive and I'll be there in two minutes!'

Yes, yes, it's not terribly responsible and I'm sure everyone around here has noticed. But I've noted people who live closer to work than I do driving there and back again. Our streets, you see, are constructed without much consideration for the fact that pedestrians, shopkeepers, delivery trucks, bicyclists, bikers, cars, and buses must all use the same narrow space. I imagine that the people who drive from a short distance do so because they want to avoid blocking traffic or getting sideswiped. Those are my reasons. ;)

I'll have to start walking again soon, though, for health and wellness and because the rainy season appears to be over, thus eliminating my biggest excuse for driving. By the way, we had some quite torrential rains here last week. The culverts and river were gushing with all the muddied water that had flowed down from the mountaintops.

Yet I must say, having a getaway car can be quite important. I once forgot my keys at work, and spent my whole lunch hour walking home, then back to work to fetch the keys, back to my place to get some lunch (wolfed down in five minutes, if I remember correctly), and back to work again. And a few hours later I walked back home. Too much time spent walking.

But it's a small town, and people will talk about the ostentation and frivolity of my driving everywhere...

What do we live for, but to make sport for our neighbors, and to laugh at them in our turn? :)