Goodbye

The car that carried me, Arlo, Damascus, and all of our stuff from one side of the country to the other is now gone. $300 and 20 seconds later, it was driven away to be pulled apart and sold in hundreds of smaller pieces. It was a short relationship of about 4 months, but she did a lot for us. This is the first time since early high school that I haven't had a car, and my feelings are pretty mixed.

It was definitely the right time to sell it. Even if the car was in perfect condition, it would have cost several hundred dollars just to get it registered in Oregon, and possibly get it smog-free. Riding a bike every day is definitely good for the travel gut (All that restaurant and fast food we consumed on the trip certainly left it's mark).

The amount of money we're saving right now by not having a car is great. Not having a car is the way to go if you can manage without one, and a city is definitely the right place to try. However, it has caused us to narrow our job search quite a bit. Arlo is especially hindered by not having a car, because construction employers usually require employees to have their own car for transporting materials.

The goal here is to get a job. Really any job would be welcome at this point so we can drop the shovel and stop digging ourselves into a debt-hole. I would love to not have to fill out another job application for a looooonggggg, long time. It's not even that the employers are telling me I'm not qualified for positions I've applied for, it's that they don't even respond. I've called the few that have phone numbers listed, and they've all told me they have gotten 50-100 applicants for a single position. I've always had confidence that if I can get an interview, I can get the job. But I can barely get an interview for most of these places. I hope this all changes soon...

Yesterday, I was riding my bike and saw a quick lube place. I immediately thought, "Oh! I haven't gotten my oil changed in a while. I better do that soon!" And I then realized I don't have a car. Haaaa..... My days are filled with many moments like this one.

Reaaaally though, it's not bad biking everywhere or taking the occasional bus. It feels good in a way. Saving money and saving the planet... pretty good deal.

But I'm still not giving up my plastic bags!