One of the people who occasionally reads this blog is a single woman. I thought of her this morning. The source? Cars. We have two -- a minivan and a Prius. Normally, my wife drives the Prius. Tomorrow, I'm going to, because I have a few short trips to make. Gee, I thought, somewhat smugly, I'm modifying how I drive based on the cost of gasoline. This is a good thing. And then I thought that if I were single, I likely wouldn't have that option. Single people don't have this car for routine travel, that car for hauling stuff. What they have is what they have. Then, as if to prove that I really should get some more sleep, I thought 'there ought to be a way that you can rent a car for a short time, when you need it, keeping your regular car for the routine things..' Yeah. Good idea. I need to tell my friend Avis about that.
One week until school is out. Its going to be weird, having my daughter here throughout the summer. I am not looking forward to having to come up with ways to keep her from simply watching the tube ten hours a day. I thought about asking her to participate in baking with me, but she's not too much into that. Better think about it now, though -- it'll soon be August, and then school starts again.
I've been dipping into the Ask for It book. Its interesting reading. The message they give again and again, which is applicable to both genders even though the book is aimed at women, is that you can negotiate many things, including a number that you'd have sworn can't be negotiated. I'm given to understand that if you have lived in a culture where its normal to haggle, you find it very difficult to live in a place where it is not normal -- even if the price you pay is acceptable, because there's always that lurking feeling that you could have gotten it down even lower. In the US, the only example I know of people routinely haggling is in buying a car -- and I don't know of anyone who actually likes the experience.
4 comments:
Yeah I have often wishes there was a way to have like a community car among a bunch of people.
Especially since I really want a motorcycle and I can't afford to have a motorcycle and a car at the same time, bah!
Bill, there is such a thing in Vancouver, Canada. There are students who cannot afford owning a car and take the bus everywhere, but if they need to go outside the city, they can put their name down for the use of that car, which is parked in a central location. Seems to work. I saw this on the news a few years back, but can't remember what they "called" it. Anyway...you have a great thought and one that has proven to be successful :)
Yep, I've thought about trading in my SUV, but then I think again because it's paid for. I don't have a payment on it anymore. If I were to trade in for a car, I'd not only still have fuel costs, but I'd have a monthly payment too. I'll be keeping it a while longer, I guess.
I have totally changed my driving habits over the recent couple years, though. I don't make the 50 mile trip into the city so easily anymore. I try to buy more local. I filled up the other day for the first time in a couple weeks, and it was just under $80.00. I nearly choked and died right there at the gas pump.
I remember when it only cost $50 fill it up, and it's not a really old SUV. It's a 2002.
Shannon -- you could always get a big honkin' Harley, or one of the humoungous Hondas, and put a trailer on it!
Faye -- see, you people up there keep coming up with reasons why Canada is superior in so many ways! That makes a lot of sense. To be honest, I'd 'sort of' heard of it before (I think: Denmark? One of those Scandinavian countries). And, of course, I was slyly referring to the established rental agencies. But really, its like a lawn mower -- two or four families could save serious money by going in together on a good riding mower -- but do they? Nope. Same thing here.
L - you hit a good point -- in fact, I came across the same argument in Michelle Singletary's column in this past week's Sunday WashPost. You have to look at the TOTAL cost, not just the per-gallon. And given that cars like the Prius are now starting to command a premium... Come on, light rail!
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