On Driving
Good: I didn’t get used to it.
From the second half of January to early March, Mom let me borrow her car so I wouldn’t have to deal with a closure of TriMet MAX. The light rail, due to major work, needed to close its line to Portland International Airport for several weeks, replacing it with shuttle bus lines. Yes, plural; multiple lines were closed. A little over a month before all that started, I worked out the schedule and realized, especially on weekends, the disruption could mean I’d be leaving for work much earlier than usual and potentially arriving later than usual. As in, late, and I didn’t want to risk it. I didn’t have to, thank goodness.
Mom drives a very reliable Honda CR-V, and she and Dad got by without their usual two cars while I borrowed it.* I drove it, filled it with gas when needed, and had a much simpler commute.
When the MAX disruption ended in early March, I quickly readapted to my usual walking-bussing-MAX’ing way to work. My Car Era almost stopped seeming like it had really happened. That’s probably good. For various reasons, I haven’t had a car since February 2021 and likely won’t have another for a while; for now, I need not to rely on one.
Driving meant swapping the concerns of a bus-train commute with the concerns of having a car: what if I had an accident, especially early on when we had snow and ice? What if it got damaged? What if thieves**? What if a tree fell on it? (None of that happened, but could have.)
I dealt with weather. After the snow and ice, Portland in February got a lot of rain. A lot by even Portland standards. Several times I thought Could I have some dry mornings, please? I drove as best as I could and tried to appreciate the dry mornings we did get.
Come Feb. 25, a Sunday, I drove more than usual: home from work, then up to a hotel in NE Portland for three days and two nights. I’d needed a vacation, at least a short one, so I’d splurged and booked time at McMenamin’s Kennedy School. Here’s the thing: I’d seriously considered bussing to it, briefly thinking of the logistics of packing for the bus, before I told myself No: the whole point is to relax and to make this easier, so, drive. If I can. Nicely, Kennedy School has a dedicated part of its parking lot for overnight visitors, so I could park near to the hotel. And I didn’t drive again until leaving on Tuesday the 27th. Did a slightly longer drive, too: up through St. Johns then on Hwy. 30 to the bridge to Longview, Wash., before heading home.
I didn’t do any really long trips. Monday, Feb. 19th was the longest, going east to Boring, Oregon (named for a family, not the condition) and treating myself to drive-in nachos. Otherwise, as it was Not My Car, I felt I should only do long trips if Mom and Dad were OK with it; and I wasn’t moved to ask.
Then we got to early March. Tuesday, March 5th, I didn’t drive, but instead bussed to downtown, ate diner breakfast at Fuller’s Coffee near Powell’s Books, bussed again to Red Cross in North Portland, and donated blood, after which Mom and Dad picked me up outside, drove me home, then picked up the CR-V and returned to Dundee. (Yes, I’d left it with a full tank.)
Yes, cars help. But I have options besides borrowing that car. I can have the housemate pick me up from grocery-shopping so I could buy more groceries than what I’d want to take on the bus. There are taxis and rental cars if I really need a car for longer than that. I have my own personal reasons for Not Using Uber Or Lyft, but even without them, hey, other ways to get around.
I am very lucky I mostly have other ways to get around.
* I took TriMet to work ONE day of the closure: Sunday, Jan. 14th, both the start of the shuttles running and a time we got a major snow and ice storm. That morning commute was cold and miserable. As I’d worried, I was late for work, too. Reinforced that borrowing the car was a good idea.
** Thieves stole my car June 2019 then again February 2020. It being a stick shift was not a deterrent. 😑
From the second half of January to early March, Mom let me borrow her car so I wouldn’t have to deal with a closure of TriMet MAX. The light rail, due to major work, needed to close its line to Portland International Airport for several weeks, replacing it with shuttle bus lines. Yes, plural; multiple lines were closed. A little over a month before all that started, I worked out the schedule and realized, especially on weekends, the disruption could mean I’d be leaving for work much earlier than usual and potentially arriving later than usual. As in, late, and I didn’t want to risk it. I didn’t have to, thank goodness.
Mom drives a very reliable Honda CR-V, and she and Dad got by without their usual two cars while I borrowed it.* I drove it, filled it with gas when needed, and had a much simpler commute.
When the MAX disruption ended in early March, I quickly readapted to my usual walking-bussing-MAX’ing way to work. My Car Era almost stopped seeming like it had really happened. That’s probably good. For various reasons, I haven’t had a car since February 2021 and likely won’t have another for a while; for now, I need not to rely on one.
Driving meant swapping the concerns of a bus-train commute with the concerns of having a car: what if I had an accident, especially early on when we had snow and ice? What if it got damaged? What if thieves**? What if a tree fell on it? (None of that happened, but could have.)
I dealt with weather. After the snow and ice, Portland in February got a lot of rain. A lot by even Portland standards. Several times I thought Could I have some dry mornings, please? I drove as best as I could and tried to appreciate the dry mornings we did get.
Come Feb. 25, a Sunday, I drove more than usual: home from work, then up to a hotel in NE Portland for three days and two nights. I’d needed a vacation, at least a short one, so I’d splurged and booked time at McMenamin’s Kennedy School. Here’s the thing: I’d seriously considered bussing to it, briefly thinking of the logistics of packing for the bus, before I told myself No: the whole point is to relax and to make this easier, so, drive. If I can. Nicely, Kennedy School has a dedicated part of its parking lot for overnight visitors, so I could park near to the hotel. And I didn’t drive again until leaving on Tuesday the 27th. Did a slightly longer drive, too: up through St. Johns then on Hwy. 30 to the bridge to Longview, Wash., before heading home.
I didn’t do any really long trips. Monday, Feb. 19th was the longest, going east to Boring, Oregon (named for a family, not the condition) and treating myself to drive-in nachos. Otherwise, as it was Not My Car, I felt I should only do long trips if Mom and Dad were OK with it; and I wasn’t moved to ask.
Then we got to early March. Tuesday, March 5th, I didn’t drive, but instead bussed to downtown, ate diner breakfast at Fuller’s Coffee near Powell’s Books, bussed again to Red Cross in North Portland, and donated blood, after which Mom and Dad picked me up outside, drove me home, then picked up the CR-V and returned to Dundee. (Yes, I’d left it with a full tank.)
Yes, cars help. But I have options besides borrowing that car. I can have the housemate pick me up from grocery-shopping so I could buy more groceries than what I’d want to take on the bus. There are taxis and rental cars if I really need a car for longer than that. I have my own personal reasons for Not Using Uber Or Lyft, but even without them, hey, other ways to get around.
I am very lucky I mostly have other ways to get around.
* I took TriMet to work ONE day of the closure: Sunday, Jan. 14th, both the start of the shuttles running and a time we got a major snow and ice storm. That morning commute was cold and miserable. As I’d worried, I was late for work, too. Reinforced that borrowing the car was a good idea.
** Thieves stole my car June 2019 then again February 2020. It being a stick shift was not a deterrent. 😑