Factor # 11 -- living outside of a car
Fifteen years ago, I bought a house in Salem within easy walking distance of my office. I sacrificed living in Portland because I could not stand the commute, and I liked the idea of living in a downtown area where I could walk to almost everything.
For three years my plan worked well. I walked to work. Saw my neighbors. Got to know a lot of the detail about my little capital city.
Then along came Jiggs. Because he was a very small puppy when I got him, I had to let him out every noon. Great. I now had an excuse to get home to have lunch and play with the dog. The problem was that I did not have enough time to walk back and forth to work.
So, I started driving my car to and from work for my lunch break. Jiggs soon developed a strong bladder and bowels, and I did not need to make the drive. But I continued to drive to work.
In 2001 I had a very bad car accident. Car totaled. I was without a car for almost a month. At one point, I decided I would not get a new car. I would walk everywhere in town and rent a car for trips.
That notion lasted a week. But it planted a seed. I now spend very little time in my truck around town. It is 7 years old and I barely have 50,000 miles on it -- mainly from trips to the coast with Jiggs. I find that I notice a lot more when I get out of the truck. I do not want to lose that in Mexico.
Is this factor still important to me?
Very
Grade for Melaque:
B
Melaque is small enough that it is possible to walk everywhere. The only reason I do not rate it higher is that the markets are a bit far from the house to buy very heavy loads.
And I know the answer to that. If I buy my daily meals on my shopping trips, I should not have that much to carry. I could probably do that in the States, as well, if I did not buy a dozen 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke at one time.
Next post: offering help to others graciously -- accepting help from others
Fifteen years ago, I bought a house in Salem within easy walking distance of my office. I sacrificed living in Portland because I could not stand the commute, and I liked the idea of living in a downtown area where I could walk to almost everything.
For three years my plan worked well. I walked to work. Saw my neighbors. Got to know a lot of the detail about my little capital city.
Then along came Jiggs. Because he was a very small puppy when I got him, I had to let him out every noon. Great. I now had an excuse to get home to have lunch and play with the dog. The problem was that I did not have enough time to walk back and forth to work.
So, I started driving my car to and from work for my lunch break. Jiggs soon developed a strong bladder and bowels, and I did not need to make the drive. But I continued to drive to work.
In 2001 I had a very bad car accident. Car totaled. I was without a car for almost a month. At one point, I decided I would not get a new car. I would walk everywhere in town and rent a car for trips.
That notion lasted a week. But it planted a seed. I now spend very little time in my truck around town. It is 7 years old and I barely have 50,000 miles on it -- mainly from trips to the coast with Jiggs. I find that I notice a lot more when I get out of the truck. I do not want to lose that in Mexico.
Is this factor still important to me?
Very
Grade for Melaque:
B
Melaque is small enough that it is possible to walk everywhere. The only reason I do not rate it higher is that the markets are a bit far from the house to buy very heavy loads.
And I know the answer to that. If I buy my daily meals on my shopping trips, I should not have that much to carry. I could probably do that in the States, as well, if I did not buy a dozen 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke at one time.
Next post: offering help to others graciously -- accepting help from others
