I am of the auto generation. I was raised on cheap gas. If you didn't have a car in high school, you were nobody. However, now I find myself irate with my addiction to the car.
Cars are a financial disaster. They are very expensive to own, maintain and now operate. Insurance, safety inspections, emissions inspections, tires, brakes, you name it. They are money pits. Every car I've ever owned, I ended up hating. Here's the list of offenders that have jaded me over the years, including the reason for it's demise:
1980 Ford Mustang (orange with maroon interior...a hot look for hot times)
-Hole in the floorboard (convenient and fun way to get rid of cigarette butts), overheating
1985 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo
-Engine was running funny, pulled over, popped the hood, engine block was glowing orange
1991 Chevy Lumina (a hooptie if you will)
-Fuel injection went out
1995 Saturn SL
-The first new car I've owned, eventually (~130,000 miles) overheated with head gasket issues
1992 Dodge Dakota
-Total piece of shit, gas hog, overheating
2001 Toyota Carola
-used qt. of oil every couple weeks
2001 Chevy Venture
-intake manifold gasket, transmission
2000 Saturn LW1
-so far so good @ 120,000 miles. It is starting to run hot though.
The point I'm trying to make is that I feel trapped in the auto web. The Chevy Venture outage made us go with a new Toyota minivan. The Saturn is getting old too. It's only a matter of time. I like Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, but we can't handle 2 car payments at once.
My options are go to one car, work closer to home, or constantly drive a hooptie.
I live 22 miles from work. Something has got to give. We need more biology/biotech jobs in the city.
Anyone out there work at Solae or Sigma? If so, what do you think of it?
Cars are a financial disaster. They are very expensive to own, maintain and now operate. Insurance, safety inspections, emissions inspections, tires, brakes, you name it. They are money pits. Every car I've ever owned, I ended up hating. Here's the list of offenders that have jaded me over the years, including the reason for it's demise:
1980 Ford Mustang (orange with maroon interior...a hot look for hot times)
-Hole in the floorboard (convenient and fun way to get rid of cigarette butts), overheating
1985 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo
-Engine was running funny, pulled over, popped the hood, engine block was glowing orange
1991 Chevy Lumina (a hooptie if you will)
-Fuel injection went out
1995 Saturn SL
-The first new car I've owned, eventually (~130,000 miles) overheated with head gasket issues
1992 Dodge Dakota
-Total piece of shit, gas hog, overheating
2001 Toyota Carola
-used qt. of oil every couple weeks
2001 Chevy Venture
-intake manifold gasket, transmission
2000 Saturn LW1
-so far so good @ 120,000 miles. It is starting to run hot though.
The point I'm trying to make is that I feel trapped in the auto web. The Chevy Venture outage made us go with a new Toyota minivan. The Saturn is getting old too. It's only a matter of time. I like Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, but we can't handle 2 car payments at once.
My options are go to one car, work closer to home, or constantly drive a hooptie.
I live 22 miles from work. Something has got to give. We need more biology/biotech jobs in the city.
Anyone out there work at Solae or Sigma? If so, what do you think of it?
