In Neutral

In an effort to blog more I've decided to start blogging about the every day minutia. I'm not going to wait for epiphanies any longer. I'm just going to write what's happening in the moment. I haven't had a car for the past year. I was rolling my parents old '97 plum colored Ford Taurus which I had affectionately named Gladys. I had also decided that Gladys drank brandy and smoked Virginia Slims. It was an OK ride. It wasn't my Mustang, but it did have power windows and doors, which my Mustang did not. I must write before I go on that my Mustang was totaled in an accident in 2006. Since then I've kind of bounced around from using my parents' old cars/current cars to using friends old/current cars to using LA public transit to using my feet. Anyways, I digress. I was happily driving Gladys to a from work and to all social activities until the tranny went kaput. My parents being the generous and kind souls that they are paid to have the tranny fixed and I was on the road again for a week. And then the unthinkable happened - I ran over a piece of metal in the road that destroyed my new $3400 tranny! I was devastated and obviously car less. My parents couldn't afford to give me more money for a new car.

My roomie and dear friend Amber came to the rescue when I had to sell my non-running Gladys to a neighbor. Amber had recently been given her dad's old Infiniti G35. A really nice luxury car, so she wasn't driving her '99 VW Jetta any longer. It was sitting on our street adorably collecting dust. She was tired of giving me rides to work since i tend to run on average 10-15mins late for everything, so she let me borrow her car Lady Balue. I loved driving the little lady around. I figured out that I'm totally simple when it comes to cars - i like little cars that you can park easily :). Well it was fun driving Lady except for the past due registration problem and then Amber's sister took her over by surprise right when September started. I was at the mercy of the Public Transportation system for the first time in my adult life.

I navigated the train system to and from work, mostly from work since I hitched rides with Amber to work. I usually kept my socializing local in Pasadena. There is a lot to walk to there. But I was missing the freedom of wheels. At one point my dad said I could use his truck, but then he said no. Finally I was able to use my friends Mercedes Diesel when she moved away to D.C.. I was elated. Sure the car is almost as old as me but it totally has character and a kind of cool hipster vibe. I have fallen in love with the powder blue 2 door Mercedes 300cd that I affectionately call Phoebe. Well, I had fallen in love with her until she befell my car curse. Phoebes has also come down with a case of the tranny virus. Her tranny is kaput and I was kaput when I got the estimate for it yesterday. I am car less once again and this one isn't even my car. Obviously I didn't do anything to the car in the 2 months I've had to destroy the tranny, but I still feel so bad because I know how much it sucks to have to pay that much money for something to get fixed on your car.

I am public transportationing it again. I hate it. I'm trying to be positive, but I already miss my daily walks at the Rose Bowl. I long for the freedom to hit up Little Tokyo on a Thursday night and sing my heart out at karaoke until 2 a.m.. I am determined to actually buy my own car this time. I have realized how having a car - my own car is intrinsic to my well being. Until then I guess I am just a foot soldier...