Something Very Confusing Part 2

Me thinks.....

Re: Something Very Confusing (Part 1)

I didn't realize that our decision (to get rid of the broken car we had/not to buy another one to replace it) would be so centrally relevant to you blog readers. And I can't help but wonder how today's enormous comment-based conversation might have differed had I included certain details.

So let's just see (you tell me):

1) We moved to ABQ for Alex's education (he's getting his Master's at UNM). We had enough in savings to relocate and to support ourselves for a few months while we looked for work here. Our car died in this initial period of relocation, and we thought that fixing it was an unwise way to use what was, at the time, a very finite amount of money.

2) Since then, Alex has gotten both a part-time job and a grading assistantship. And I'm very fortunate to be able to say that I have a fabulous full-time job. Two, if I count the time I spend writing my Alibi articles/blogs : )

3) For quite some time now, we've been in a financial position that would allow us to purchase a car. We have talked about it -- and taken the environmental impact of a vehicle very much into account -- and determined not to purchase one.

4) We are aware that the location of our house puts us in a unique position to comfortably rely on public transit and/or our bicycles. And we know that our determination not to purchase a car is certainly related to the place we're presently able to live.

5) We are already conflicted knowing that at some point down the road (no pun intended), we may not be as lucky as we are now. And that we may, for one probably-subsistence-related-reason-or-another, have to get a car.

Some Very Sincere Questions:

a) We admittedly wouldn't have gone without a car had ours survived. Does this nullify the environmental considerations we've taken into account since?

b) It was great to be able to rent a car for a weekend jaunt to the countryside. But we wonder if we should even be going into the wilderness if our trip to it requires a fossil-fuel-burning-low-passenger-capacity ride?

c) But if we don't go... Then we're here all the time. And everyone needs a change of scenery sometimes. How can we reconcile that need with the invariable pollution that meeting it causes?

What say you?

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