1. I hate driving. I guess I was numb to it before, aware on some level it was causing me stress but for the most part just accepting it as a necessary evil. No longer. (I should qualify that -- I hate urban driving. Winding it out on long stretches of open road might still be fun.)
2. I'm no angel. I'm pretty easy to get along with normally, but when I drive around town I turn into a seething hater. When I drive it's because I have things to do -- I have no earthly idea why other people drive, but I'm pretty sure it's to make my life a living hell. They frustrate me, they confound me -- and dammit, they impede me. It's unforgivable. If they were renting their cars by the hour, they would follow my example of lean motoring efficiency. But no.
3. I love saving money. I'm averaging about $200 per month with Zipcar, and it would be a little less if I would give in and commit to the $250 per month plan, where I would get 15% off the hourly rate for every hour I drive, and any extra would role over for 2 months. I'll get there.
Note this is $200 total -- because insurance and gas are included in the hourly rate. Hurricane, shmurricane. There are no hidden costs with the Zip.
4. Other Zipsters can be annoying. To them I say: Feed the &^*% gas tank! It isn't hard. Pull into the station, hand the attendant the fuel card, and fill'er'up. You know the rule -- less than 1/4 tank remaining means get gas. On two occasions recently I've picked up cars with less than 1/4 tank, and although I get some measure of comfort from calling Zipcar to tattle, I still have to use my precious rental time to take care of the previous user's business. The car I drove yesterday had exactly 1/4 of a tank, so although technically they weren't in the wrong, they knew very well I'd get stuck with the job. Grrrr. Oh, and one more thing: In the Element? Unhook the 'biner and let the seat back down. There -- wasn't that easy?
5. Portland actually is a pretty bike-friendly town. When I moved here in '94 I didn't think so. Bike lanes were rather anemic and they seemed to have been grudgingly allotted only the roughest, most debris-strewn bits of shoulder. But yesterday I needed to get over to Hollywood, and I thought just for fun I'd take the suggested bike route up 41st/42nd. It was awesome. I especially loved the markings on the road and the directional signs. One time long ago I tried to take this route and I ended up all confused and turned around, but this time it was a breeze.
I also decided to check out the route going up and down Interstate, just to see. Overall it was consistent and safe, and I got to chat with a couple of the many other cyclists on the road. And it was much faster than I expected.
6. Motorcyclists are not necessarily our brethren. I was Westbound on Broadway last week, and at a red light I was approaching the green bike box, appreciating that the driver in the right lane knew to stop behind it, when the light changed and the motorcycle behind that car jumped over and cut me off to make a right-hand turn in front of me. Dude. I can only imagine how pissed you'd be if a car did that to you . . .
7. Sometimes not having a car sucks. But those times are brief and require creativity and patience to overcome, and those are not bad qualities to exercise.
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Guns and the Depletion of Civic Sanity
11 years ago
6 comments:
Hi,
I just wanted to say your blog rocks. I peek at it a couple times a week...keep it up! I like your latest posting too. I can relate with every single point. One point I would like to add is the frustration I get when I go to return a Zipcar and someone else has parked there! Soooo frustrating...espeically in the NW neighborhood on the Fri/Sat night. One question...you have the Zipcar plan that take 10% of, right?
Always nice to hear from you! And thanks for the compiments. It's always nice to be appreciated!
I wonder if that's a NW Pdx inflated-sense-of-entitlement thing; I'm happy to say I have yet to have a problem with a parking space. I would be very, very annoyed. What does Zipcar do when you call to report it? I've always wondered.
Yes, I'm still on the $50/month plan, which gives me 10% off. For a long time I thought, why increase it? If I go over $50, they just charge me for the overage, so why commit to more? Then I thought it must be that only the first $50 worth of time was 10% off and anything after that would be full price, but when I look my bill over I don't see that happening either, so I don't know what the hell . . .
The zipcar 10% off promo takes 10% all daily rates/hourly rates. All you do is commit to at least $50 a month. The only way this deal doesn't benefit someone is if they use zipcar less than $50 a month.
If someone is in your zipcar spot, they will get that car towed! You call up, give them the license #, and try to park in some other legal spot and you are done. Zipcar is trying to get some 'tow away' plates for zipcar spots, but are having a tricky time doing so.
It is amazing how being wrapped inside several thousand pounds of metal and plastic can turn a compassionate and reasonable person into a cyborg. I suffer from the same thing myself. I bike because it saves me money, keeps me in shape and is good for the earth, but mostly, I think I bike because it makes me happy.
rossco: You seem to know quite a bit about Zipcar's inner workings -- coincidence?
I did finally encounter someone in my space the other day -- but it was a Zipcar employee, in another Zipcar. I was 3 minutes from pumpkin time and I had to go up and ask him wtf?! He got all discombobulated, muttered something about my car not being due back for 2 more hours, and then took off. Weird.
And mt_hand: I totally agree. Biking is fun! I've had a couple of incidents of road annoyance, but no road rage since I've been commuting by bike. I definitely prefer the person I am without a car.
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