Vroom, Vroom

Or is it "Zoom, Zoom"? 😊

Another reason to be thankful: I've my own vehicle. I've had a few vehicles in my day. I'm not really a truck driving type o' gal, although there's definitely a time & place when having a truck handy, that is the pick-up variety, or, at least in knowing someone who'll "loan" theirs out, is super convenient (like when someone's moving). The most of a truck I've driven is a U-Haul & that was a pretty brief experience. I doubt I logged even twenty miles with it; it was probably more like ten miles.

The vehicles I've had have mostly been of the compact variety. I've had one SUV, this one, which was at the [heavy] suggestion of an at-the-time confidant. The most that I miss about that vehicle is the large amount of cargo space. Of course. 😜 That's kind of an SUV thing. I didn't care for the ease of peering in the vehicle's windows either; I need more privacy with my vehicle. & no, bothering with tinting the windows wasn't an option. I also miss that the 12-volt power outlet remained active while the vehicle was turned off.

I started out with one of these. Well, that's not entirely true. This was the first car I purchased. It was great for me &, as Mom has said, "You loved that car." She's right, I did. I didn't know much about hatchbacks & the brilliance of having one's car end at the back window (& the ease of backing up & other confidences that come with the hatchback). That first car & I got along pretty good for well over a decade. It became my little "half classic". 😎

I've written before about the awesomeness of using pull-through parking spaces when parking (check it out here 😁). Another thing I've found to be awesome, which is more specific to just compact vehicles, is their ability to be tucked further into a parking lot space. Say when there's plenty of parking lot traffic & there's hardly any spaces, (like a weekend such as this one that's currently commencing), & a driver is going 3 to 5 mph through a parking lot, & they suddenly think they've seen an open parking spot. They pull up to it with great anticipation, & then, boom, nope! There's a tiny compact car that's parked as far back into the spot as possible making it seem that there's an opening where there actually isn't. I've been the loser of this situation, & I'm sure I've been the cause of it as well. That's just how that one goes sometimes.

I didn't get my current vehicle from the dealership, rather I got it from a resale shop. I was between it (a violet gray hatchback) & another compact (blue sedan); each was a different make. There I was, needing to make this "one or the other" decision, where I really wanted the hatchback to be the blue vehicle, & it was a lovely shade of blue. When I'd purchased this car I was glad it was available in the green that I bought, because even though I adore blue, I didn't think that the blue shade the maker offered was ideal on this car. By this maker, however, it was.

So there I was, on a dark weeknight, 'round this time of the year, & the salesman brought the two vehicles, the hatchback & the sedan, into the service area where I could view them more realistically for their more real colors, away from the parking lot lighting, & away from the fluorescent lighting of the showroom (where I'm not so sure any space existed either).

After just having had the beauty of the SUV hatchback, I selected the compact car - with the hatchback once again. I really do love that, when locking the vehicle, there's the option with one click to just hear a tiny confirmation click, although with a double click, I can listen to the standard "beep" (which, incidentally, I do find rather frustrating 😡). There's a trunk on this hatchback, though a bit smaller than a sedan would offer. It comes with a removable lid flap to either add space, or provide more privacy, whichever the user most needs; I use each option regularly. I'm able to use my vehicle as a refuge & I'm thankful for that. It can be shelter from a storm, the UV rays of the sun, pounding rain drops, the cold of winter, & even the heat of summer.

Thanks to this, which, no it didn't come with the vehicle 😂, I bought it separately, I'm, once again, able to use my vehicle's 12-volt power outlet even when the vehicle isn't turned on, just like it worked out back when I had the SUV. 😊 Only this time I can easily charge my laptop, use my tiny shredder, charge my phone, & other minor electrical outlet needs, all within the confines of my car (oh, & I could charge my tablet too, though I'd have to dig it out, & make use of it for it to need to be charged 😏😂). Sometimes my tiny little hatchback is the best place for me to "hang". Knowing that, along with some neighborly Wi-Fi access (typically when my "hanging" is somewhere 'round a local park), I can plug in from the front seat of my vehicle & get done what I need to most anywhere.

There was a time, decades ago, when I managed my day via public transportation. I worked a daylight shift, Monday through Friday, & it was in downtown where the local public transportation ran the most; it only made sense to leave my car back at the house as I'd have had to pay a steep price to park it nearby the office.

Riding public transportation is just that, public & transportation. Riders wait in all sorts of weather & precipitation for their buses, though when it's cold they don't wait for the bus to warm up, & when it's hot out, they don't wait for the bus to cool off 😎 (unless the a/c simply isn't working on that particular bus, then this is another story 😧). They're expected to not eat or drink while on riding the transportation. Commuting with items, anything bulky, is also complicated. There's no guarantee of silence, if preferred, or even a pleasant conversation. Riders are only guaranteed a ride when there's room to board a bus; they're not guaranteed a seat. Riders often stand for the duration of their commute. This might be before & after their workday.

There's likely to be a walk, a stroll of some sort, for a distance between the bus' stop & where each rider needs to be (which, if perceived positively, can be a welcome, healthy stretch - it had been one for me 😍). There's no stalling on the bus; when it gets to where it needs to be, riders need to exit the bus. This is the same case, in reverse, for boarding the transportation system.

When driving a vehicle it's easy enough to leave a few minutes earlier or later, & when plans get scheduled after the workday's commenced, it's the rider, not the driver, who needs to check their bus schedule to ensure a successful trip back to their bed at the end of the day.

Filling up the gas tank, intermittent oil changes, carwashes, general wear & tear, auto insurance, topping this off, replacing these, needing new ones of these, all do happen. These are all conveniences & inconveniences of public transportation versus riding in/maintaining one's own vehicle. Yes it can be possible to nap aboard a bus, & not so much while behind the wheel of one's own vehicle, though I'm loaded with thankfulness for the security my vehicle brings to me. 😊💗




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