Through a series of generally unremarkable events, I am driving a new vehicle or perhaps I should say that I have started a new automotive “relationship.”
This is not a “new car” in the accepted use of that term, but it is a much later model than the car I drove previously, and for the moment, I am still in the “honeymoon” phase of the relationship.
That may be something of a mixed metaphor, but after numerous problems with the previous vehicle, including overheating concerns when heat indexes were in the 100s, I am just enjoying the comfort of not having to look constantly at the heat gauge to determine my need for proximity to a service center.
In fact, the heat gauge was the first thing to go on a recent day that also included a strange roar from the engine and problems with the car’s transmission.
With no other options, I took the car to a service center, and the final prognosis did not come for two days, although the initial discussions were foreboding.
This was on a Friday, and I decided to weigh the decision until Monday — should I invest more in this car or go ahead and take a gamble with another vehicle?
Fortunately, I was able to come to terms on obtaining another vehicle in a fairly brief time, so I was able to divorce, perhaps another mixed metaphor, the old vehicle fairly easily.
The old car is gone; the replacement vehicle is in my driveway.
Although I have argued in the past my relationships with cars have been totally utilitarian — to get from one place to another, I realize that mobility is an important aspect of life — having control of the ability to get from one place to the other.
Benchmarks in such mobility include learning to ride a bike, getting a driver’s license and owning a car.
That may be the viewpoint of a Southern baby boomer who grew up away from any possibilities for mass transit.
My utilitarian viewpoint may have been an effort to separate myself from those who made active efforts, so their vehicles were extensions of their personalities or perhaps even enhancements of their personalities.
Some reports now indicate that the millennial generation may not have the same fixation with motor vehicles that earlier generations did.
They see them primarily as utilitarian at best and support efforts to increase use of mass transit to provide access to jobs, entertainment and other activities in which they are interested.
As I watch people in electronic wheelchairs try to maneuver the streets of Murfreesboro, however, I can see the same need for independent mobility as children on their first bike rides or teens during their first driving lessons.
While I sometimes am concerned about the safety of their vehicles on busy city streets, I understand that the people who are directing them are trying to retain as much independence and mobility as possible.
Transportation is among the biggest challenges that this community faces, and I do not have to venture too far from my residence to watch the many changes that have come and are coming to Memorial Boulevard, not the least of which is the Bridge Over Broad.
Read more at: http://www.dnj.com/story/opinion/2015/07/30/leonhirth-new-automotive-relationship-changes-transportation-outlook/30891103/
This is not a “new car” in the accepted use of that term, but it is a much later model than the car I drove previously, and for the moment, I am still in the “honeymoon” phase of the relationship.
That may be something of a mixed metaphor, but after numerous problems with the previous vehicle, including overheating concerns when heat indexes were in the 100s, I am just enjoying the comfort of not having to look constantly at the heat gauge to determine my need for proximity to a service center.
In fact, the heat gauge was the first thing to go on a recent day that also included a strange roar from the engine and problems with the car’s transmission.
With no other options, I took the car to a service center, and the final prognosis did not come for two days, although the initial discussions were foreboding.
This was on a Friday, and I decided to weigh the decision until Monday — should I invest more in this car or go ahead and take a gamble with another vehicle?
Fortunately, I was able to come to terms on obtaining another vehicle in a fairly brief time, so I was able to divorce, perhaps another mixed metaphor, the old vehicle fairly easily.
The old car is gone; the replacement vehicle is in my driveway.
Although I have argued in the past my relationships with cars have been totally utilitarian — to get from one place to another, I realize that mobility is an important aspect of life — having control of the ability to get from one place to the other.
Benchmarks in such mobility include learning to ride a bike, getting a driver’s license and owning a car.
That may be the viewpoint of a Southern baby boomer who grew up away from any possibilities for mass transit.
My utilitarian viewpoint may have been an effort to separate myself from those who made active efforts, so their vehicles were extensions of their personalities or perhaps even enhancements of their personalities.
Some reports now indicate that the millennial generation may not have the same fixation with motor vehicles that earlier generations did.
They see them primarily as utilitarian at best and support efforts to increase use of mass transit to provide access to jobs, entertainment and other activities in which they are interested.
As I watch people in electronic wheelchairs try to maneuver the streets of Murfreesboro, however, I can see the same need for independent mobility as children on their first bike rides or teens during their first driving lessons.
While I sometimes am concerned about the safety of their vehicles on busy city streets, I understand that the people who are directing them are trying to retain as much independence and mobility as possible.
Transportation is among the biggest challenges that this community faces, and I do not have to venture too far from my residence to watch the many changes that have come and are coming to Memorial Boulevard, not the least of which is the Bridge Over Broad.
Read more at: http://www.dnj.com/story/opinion/2015/07/30/leonhirth-new-automotive-relationship-changes-transportation-outlook/30891103/
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