Parking Ticket

 I don't drive that often and rarely, hardly ever park downtown, so I guess I have an excuse for not knowing parking rules.  Because I had errands to run afterwards that necessitated the use of the car, I drove to breakfast at the Blue Plate.  I parked on River Front Parkway and totally ignored the parking meter.  It was Saturday.  There's free parking on Saturday, Right?  Wrong, as I found out when I returned.

   That's when things got really funny with me.  I found different parts of my self having very different reactions to this and it was quite uncomfortable  having this internal self squabble.  My driver self of course exerted itself fast and loud, "What the h...., Its free parking on Saturday.  I should get free parking.  This is ridiculous what I have to pay now, this is a trick by the city to reach into my pockets."

  Now, my alternative self had to work to get a word in," There is no reason to expect the city to subsidize my parking.  Willing to pay for my car's needs is all part of being a responsible car owner.  The fact that governments have subsidized not just parking but many aspects of car driving has produced many of the issues that we, as a society, have to deal with today. As a bike rider, I experience this everyday.   Now just pay your parking ticket and be quiet."

My car driving self- "It still feels like an injustice.  My expectation was I should get it free, so I think it is only right that I do get it free.  This is a travesty!"

   My Higher thinking self-  "Better pay it quick. That $11 fine  grows to gigantic amounts if it is not paid on time. Now just pay your parking ticket and be quiet."

It seems as though my car driving self got outvoted. I paid the fine.

Maybe the tension between bike riders and car drivers is just a bigger version of what went on inside me.  And maybe the results will be the same-one day.





 

Car Travels

This past weekend was an extensively heavy car riding time.  I had to go out to Memphis Saturday- out and back and then Sunday was a trip to Nashville.  Total over the weekend I spent over 17 hours in the car-and not one minute on the bike.

   So how did I feel?  By Sunday night I was feeling stiff, slow, and heavy.  Monday morning I weighed myself and I had gained 2 pounds! Is this what car riding does to a person?

   Granted, this was a very unusual weekend and very few people ride cars that much on a regular basis. (My brother is a truck driver and I do think of him though)  But it did have me reflecting on how we transport ourselves shapes our lives and our bodies.  Because I rarely ride in cars, I could feel the effect it was having on me.  And because I ride bikes so much, I don't notice the effect it has on a day to day basis.  It just is. But I know it does

   .  People who know nothing but car driving are probably very unaware of what it is doing to themselves-but doing it does.  Studies have found there is a correlation to the number of hours in a car and weight gain.  From my experiece as a Pilates instructor, I would suggest there is a direct correlation of car riding and the level of basic physical functioning.  But because this is on going and so common, very few think of it when they are trying to figure out why they are so stiff, slow and heavy.  If people are looking to change, extra lifestyle bits are added to what is already a full and hectic schedule.  A proscribed diet or exercise done outside of any connection to any aspect to day to day life are the best things to add.  Of course, just look at ads that are trying to get us beleive that  adding a very high priced bit will change the effects of all all day-to-day lifestyle choices.

    I am grateful that I have the ability to drive where I need to go.  While I did not like the driving part, taking the trips to Memphis and Nashville were valuable to me.  I am glad I was able to do it.
But I am especially grateful to being able to come home after all that car travel and get on a bike. I love how biking shapes my life-and my body.  And it does it without me having to think of it.  I get on the bike because I need to get to work.  The bike takes care of all the rest.  How simple is that?

Car Tale continues

For those of you wondering what happened to my car situation, here is the story as far as it goes. I had taken it in saying it was not starting and because of that was not able to get emission tested. Apparently all they heard was I flunked the emissions testing. They ran diagnostics and pulled out three codes, all have to do with emissions. I was kind of confused. Last year I passed OK and I had no reason to think that was a problem as testing had not proceeded that far.

     I was told I needed to fix one of them definitely which might not solve the problem and then they would just go down the list until it was fixed. I kept asking-well, what about my car not starting. THAT was the issue that brought me in. Finally I was told my battery was fine and I probably had an electrical drain somewhere but it was a big deal to try and find.

     So I didn't get anything done. I want to actually flunk the emissions test before I do anything about that. I thought it was very suspicious that I was told I had all these emissions problems after I had just said I had come from there. They weren't interested in my starting problem.

    I have ordered a thing to put on the battery that turns it off. I will have to go up under the hood to start it but since I rarely do start it up, I don't think that is a problem. My car is running fine now. For the rest of the week I would start it up as I was leaving in the morning. I then drove it to Athens, GA and back and it has been starting every time.

     I will try to run through the emissions again. If I fail it, then I will look at options to fix it. I felt like the mechanics were asking me to jump down a black hole with them, probably never declaring it fixed until I had spend big bucks. So in the end, I spent about $85 in diagnostics to do nothing and for now, everything is fine.

Abandoned (and other car issues)

I drove my car today. No. I am not driving it because of the wintry mix. I am driving it because the city threatened to tow it away if I did not move it

Abandonment sticker-notice how dirty my car is

    I have not driven my car since- well, I can't remember when I drove it last. It has been several months at least. My car has developed a bad habit of not starting on command. I have to have Q come over and jump it whenever I want to drive it. When you have to go to that much trouble to drive, suddenly very few trips are worth it

     So there it sat, on the side of the road, parked slightly cocked eyed( I cannot for the life of me park straight) collecting dirt, pine needles and other fallout from the trees it is parked next to.

    Apparently it was gathering a forlorn and abandoned air. Someone even left a note on it asking if I was willing to sell it. He would take it whether it was running or not.


     He was not the only one who thought it was a forgotten car. The city came by and slapped an abandoned sticker on it. It said I had ten days to move it or it would be moved for me. How nice of them to offer!

     I meant to move it and clean it up before now, but considering how much trouble it is to start it and then keep it running for awhile so it would start again, I had not done it before today-and today was the tenth day.

     Q came over to jump it (he has been so sweet to do this whenever I asked, regardless of weather, and the "wintry" mix is quite nasty today) and I left it running until I was ready to meet Q at Stone Cup for breakfast  I also left it running while in Stone Cup, blowing all my environmental capital that I have earned for riding the bike. Well, I try.

     I did not have any sessions this morning and while I was in my car, I thought it was a good time to get the emissions testing that Chattanooga requires for yearly registration. Since I never had my car out running enough to go by the testing site, my registration expired. Probably added to the abandoned air.

     I went by my studio first to stop and start the car just in case it didn't start up again and I would be where I needed to be. It started fine.

     I went to the testing site, stopped the car, got out and went in the waiting room. It wasn't long before the tester came in and said my car wouldn't start. Test flunked. At least they were kind enough to give me my money back. They wouldn't jump it though and just pushed my car around the corner, leaving me to deal with it.

     I was contemplating what my next step would be- I had already called Q but he wasn't answering- when I tried to start it again, and behold, it started right up! The testers had not even gotten back inside so I asked if we could resume the test. No telling when I will get a chance to come back-probably not till the next time I am forced to drive.

    But no, I was told I had to get it fixed before I came back. Durn!

     But I did get myself to the car repair place to get this figured out. I am sitting here waiting for the bad news.

     I don't think this is going to be pretty!