Monday

I may need to do something that I dread. And that is to give up my car free lifestyle. I cringe at this moment, as life without a car is so far preferable to the headaches and rigors of a filthy hunk of steel and plastic crowding the front of my home.

And what's more appalling is the lack of anything offering decent mileage (not to mention that cars all look the same these days). My best opportunity right now is a 1983 VW Rabbit diesel, or a truck that a friend may let me use for the time being. What a shame that mileage on automobiles has dropped so precipitously in the past twenty five years. The closest of any decency is the Austin Mini in the 38mpg highway range. And I've read where Europe offers twenty models that get at least 60mpg while the US continues to languish while oil futures once again edge past seventy dollars per barrel.

But the saddest thing is the fact that I will once again join the lonely, sad people stuck in their cars in the horrendous traffic of Everett and Seattle. Fortunately it will only be for a few days per week, and I will still get to ride my bike and smile and wave to the other pleasant cyclists passing me on my way to work. But I guess I'm not doomed, but I will lose a big chunk of my freedom. Sad.