My poor car "Puff" is dead. Jack and I named him Puff after he blew puffs of smoke out through the tailpipe a few years ago. Puff is a 1995 Mazda Protege with about 96,000 miles that blew a head gasket while driving on I-95 to Baltimore. Given that it will cost about as much to fix it as it is worth (about $1500 blue book) it has been donated to charity.
A couple of weeks ago, on a drive home from a family trip to New Jersey, we stopped at the Baltimore service station - where the car rested in its final days - to collect the roof rack, etc. before it was to be picked up by the donation company. Jack and Claire just cried and cried...they couldn't believe that Puff was dead. (They pulled themselves together for the photo, however.) It's just amazing how attached kids can get to inanimate objects. While they were mourning the loss, I was quietly rejoicing as I would finally have an excuse to get a new car.
I was planning to get a new car in June after my daughter's private kindergarten tuition ended (she missed the public school cut-off date by two weeks). But oh well...the car is dead...its time to get a new one right? Well, my wife kindly pointed out that the reason I did not already have a new car hasn't changed. Therefore, I would have to come up with an alternative until June.
Damn, I hate it when she does that!
I'm pretty lucky. I live in one of the most congested parts of the country, but I commute only five or six miles to work against the traffic both ways. I also have many options. I can carpool with my friend/colleague who lives around the corner from me, borrow the neighbor's truck (he and his wife both work from home and rarely use more than the one car), and/or have my wife drive me in each day.
I have decided, however, that the options above will be my back-ups. Its time to put up or shut up and commute by bike each day.
It's actually perfect timing. I have been complaining about how few miles I have ridden since the little darlings have gone back to school and the days have gotten shorter. In fact, I was considering commuting by bike even before the car died so it just forced me to get over the mental hurdle.
Anyway, its been interesting preparing. Getting organized for commuting is much different then preparing for a ride on the trails. I'll post up what I learn as I go along.
Thanks for reading!
