Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The wrong stuff

My first car, a 1989 Honda Accord
Greetings Bloggies.

I have through sloth and indifference created an annoying situation.  4 years ago I bought my second car.  My first car got taken away from me for cheap days before I went to the north for the first time.  The cash was helpful as I had non then.  Four years ago a second car was a good idea.

At the time in the Spring of 2007 I had a steady job in the North West Territory and was quickly putting away money.  Spring came along I had the computer I wanted, things seamed solid with job, I had enough cash to spare and frustration with a lack of mobility. At that time my life was still centered around Kelowna, and prior to getting the car I would arrange pick up and spend time at my folks, not a way to live.  So I conscripted a friend to help me get a deal and I found a machine that was in budget and alright.
Me unloading Wessel from Serenity 

Never Ever back out of underground parking
without having coffee first. 
The car a 1999 Subaru Legacy proved up to my needs, as I was traveling between the Okanagan and Kootenays it was good on winter roads and reasonably fun on the same roads when they were dry.  But fundamentally I am not a car person, though I have a notion of how an internal combustion engine works, by and large its a black or in this case green box to me.  Fuel goes in, momentum, heat and carbon dioxide comes out.  I don't like or want to spend money on cars, I did not have any shops I trusted so I was slow to have it looked at.  I was also hard on it, it was the first standard I owned, and after all this time I still mess up more then I should.

Roughly a year and half ago I moved to Vancouver, Burnaby to be more exact.  Prior to that move the car was used often as the ability to travel to a different town was a key part of my private life.  After the move usage decreased with time.  Fuel down here was more expensive and even more critically there were alternatives.  It turns out that when faced with an alternative I will use it.
The car sometimes known as Serenity,
before I had a chance to do any harm. 

That did not surprise me.  I was late in getting into driving, not even starting lessons with my father until the spring of my grade 12 year.  It did not help that I did not think much of the available things to do in that fly speck town.  Being that I was weakly motivated, when provincial exam season rolled around I abandoned the effort.  In the summer of 2005 after hurting a foot and choosing not to take bush work and knowing that I would have field classes the following year I at last made the effort to finish the process.  So Some time after turning 26 I at last had certificate good enough.  That was too late in life for driving to be much more then a chore on all but the best parts of the roads.  Besides it being too late to get a love of driving, I had already found a love of cycling and have established long ago that if my bike sneezes I have it looked at.

So now I find my self with an ugly, high mileage car, and not enough interest or money to fix it up.  I was telling my self last year, when I get a steady job I will fix it up.  Now I know better.  I use it less then twice a month.  The last time I seriously used it was helping my sister with stuff from Ikea. I walk to the stores or ride my bike.  Nearly any event I want to go to I can get to by transit.  I just don't think about using it in any thing like a day to day setting.

So what todo.  I know it would be far too much money and time for me to fix it.  I know that is not a thing I will do.  Yesterday I established that the condition of the beast is poor enough that I am unlike to get rid of it through a dealer.  The truth I don't want to sell the car.  I would feel bad about saddling others with a bucket load of little things.  I don't want to sell the car I simply no longer want to own a car.  And no taking the insurance off if is not an option, I have to park on the street.
A Legacy of a legacy system. 

1 comment:

Ien in the Kootenays said...

I think you are selling Serenity short. Yes, you want to be honest, you want to be rid of it, AND you should get some cash for it. Find out what it is truly, honorably worth, then put it out there. This is a Subaru. They age well. It probably has a relatively low mileage for its age? You will make someone who is into fixing things happy and get some needed cash. Think Camera.