walking next to you...

so, it hit me today, like every other day that there is a better option for transportation than cars. no it may not be convenient but the cost is a great deal less when it comes to repairs. so you may be asking yourself, "what is this better option?" well, bicycles. i know, i know madness but it has to be true. well at least if you live in a place where you are permitted to use such a form of transportation.
and what makes me say such a thing. today's events. later this afternoon, i set aside some time to get a few car issues addressed. specifically the brakes. they have been driving me absolutely wild. so who better to fix the problem than my little brother joe who knows a little bit about everything, cars included:) so he told me what to purchase and i went on my way. i went to the auto shop, not my favorite place, and went up to the front counter to ask them for the things i needed. the man behind the counter was not very nice...at all. i was almost hurt by his lack of customer service but i went on. when he told me the cost, i think my mouth dropped to the floor in surprise. i don't know very much about cars and such, but i had a feeling something was not right about that so i phoned the little brother to get his thoughts on the matter...he was not happy. he said the cost was absurd and i agreed so he sent me to another place just up the street.
this other place, the atmosphere was much different. i was treated so nicely and the man behind the counter was so helpful. AND i bought brake pads with a life time warranty, some brake icing-it looked like cake icing:), five bottles of oil and a filter for less than what i would have paid for one brake pad at the other place.
cars are complicated and expensive but here, they are "necessary" i suppose:)
the brakes are better now but how much cheaper it would be if i could just ride around all day...
flat bicycle tires are cheaper to fix:)
or have usable public transportation. when will the metro run through yucaipa or at least redlands. they have a station there just waiting to be used:)
hmmm...all this to say, i am not much of a car person:)

ps...don't misread this as me being ungrateful. i was very grateful to find a good deal on car things and to get my car in working condition and to actually have a car and so on...


and so it is:)