Transportation! We must think about how we will go to different places once we arrive in Gloversville. Everyone has an opinion about how they should move from place to place… We have not owned a vehicle since May 1993. We lived in Honolulu with some of the best bus service in the whole United States. Why pollute the environment any further when we can walk, ride the bus, take a taxi, or go with a friend? Most of the time we took Josh to the emergency room on the bus! It was almost as fast as an ambulance. Being a woman who couldn’t drive with a wonderful kid in a wheelchair, we traveled all over Honolulu by bus or walking. Josh and I had adventures every where… every day!
But, now we are returning to the Mainland… a whole new ballgame. Though we will live in a village with a small geographical footprint (5.1 square miles), there will be needs we have outside that walkable radius.
But, wake up alert! Did you know that if you have not owned a car for twenty-three years to help the environment, you are now considered a high risk driver? Auto insurance costs more; plus it is challenging to purchase. Undaunted, I know we will find auto insurance somehow. In New York new laws considering the purchase of auto insurance are coming out in 2017, so we will wait to see if our options improve. We have three months before we need it.
But, what kind of car? My first thought is… Scott should have a sports car! He has sacrificed for us for years and he loves Porsches. I look… I gasp! I look, again… That is just a bit out of our price range, especially if we want to buy a house. But, what about a Mustang? This is a more reasonably priced car. When I broach the subject with Scott, he is the angel he always is.
He says, “Sport car days are behind me. We need something to meet our needs today.”
I want to cry and get him a sports car anyway! Maybe we should have two cars… one for household needs and one for fun. But, he is insistent that his sport car days are really over.
“Okay, well… Brenda (a life long friend) recommends our car should have onStar,” I suggest.
“What is an onStar?”
“Apparently, it is a subscription service that calls for help immediately if we are in an accident, tracks our car if it is stolen, and provides roadside assistance if we break down. Since we are going to a very cold climate and we are getting older, it might be a good safety feature to consider. And, if we are lost, they help us with detailed live voice directions to safety.”
Not having even thought about cars for over twenty years we decide onStar is one luxury we need. It turns out that only thirty General Motors vehicles carry onStar. So our search has narrowed.
Which General Motors car should we choose? We see a darling Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback. It looks like a possible option, but will it be able to haul the small pieces of furniture we find at auctions and estate sales to furnish our home? When we go to the car dealership and see the car we realize it has a very small cargo area… darling car, but not practical for hauling anything larger than groceries.
Once again, here we are in Hawaii, buying a car we will pick up on the Mainland. Choosing the car to buy. Finding a dealer willing to work with us. Calls… Research… More calls… More research to come…
