Wednesday, January 03, 2007

 

well, this is somewhat over....

i made it until january 2nd without a car...but since i am teaching an 8am class this winter at OSU's delaware center [14.7 miles from my house], i think there was no option other than to start driving. now, i will certainly find out about my students--do any of them live in my vicinity, can we carpool, things like that]...but for now, i reinstated my car insurance [152$/month; low-milage coverage and no collision coverage] until july 2nd which will take me through the departure for wuhan. of course, hopefully i'll stop driving as soon as the quarter ends...but if i end up teaching another course in delaware next quarter, and the time is really early in the day, i might need to drive again. but if it is 10am-noon, for instance, i think i could easily bike there and back to campus by 230pm for an afternoon section of 104 :)

here are some things i observed about not driving:

1) it was great not to have to fill-up with gas that costs around $2.25 most of the fall. in fact, yesterday, as soon as i got my car out of the garage, i went straight to the gas station and put 12 galons in and paid only $2.15 and felt like i was getting an excellent deal. compared to italy though, where i was in december and where gas was 4 euros/gallon [$5+]...american gas is in fact very cheap.

2) i totally got out of the mindset of a car-driver in the last 6 months. last night i was driving back from my mom's house--after being at OSU hospital with my dad most the night, then going there to drop off his briefcase/wallet/clothes since he was spending the night--and i found myself smack-dab in the middle of post-OSU b-ball game traffic. this is a mistake i *never* woulda made back when i was in the mindset of a driver, always aware of, conscious of, and planning my life and routes through life around traffic jams.

3) it isnt easy to date without a car. it is a little awkward to be planning everything around not having a car...although since i generally like to cook and eat-in, this was a bonus...being able to say "come to my house and i'll cook dinner and then we'll go out"...ha ha!

4) it would in fact be highly possible to go without a car. i went almost 4 months--and actually october 2006 was the rainiest october in the recorded history of columbus--without one, and never even leaned on the last-chance options of taxi-rides, etc. i biked through rain, sleet, even flurries of snow...and since it seems our weather this winter might be unseasonably mild/warm [ie/no snow...thanks global warming!] i think i could survive in columbus without a car, no problem, though it does mean sometimes just skipping activities with friends--esp. impromptu ones--and staying home.

so, anyway, that's what i learned by not driving. it was a great experiment, and hopefully someday i will be car-free again...maybe even live in a city [like Venice!] where there are absolutely no cars spoiling the city-scape and landscape!

biker bob

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