A little background: I didn't learn to drive
until
I was 31--living in NYC and Miami Beach there wasn't a need for a
car--besides,
my legs were younger then and I didn't have claudifiaction from smoking
60 years
so I was able to walk like crazy--but when I moved to Memphis in 1969 I
had no
choice.

I started off great--my first car was a brand new white
Cadillac
with all the latest gimmicks. I immediately joined AAA--didn't know
anything
about cars and didn't want to know--don't even know how to change a tire
which
did lead to a VERY interesting encounter with a sailor from the
Millington Navy
base! (That's another blog.)

Flash forward to 1981--needed to get
a new
car as my current one (a station wagon!) had been totaled (not my
fault.) Not
having much money and wanting a convertible again I shopped around used
car
places and finally found a 1974 Chevy Caprice with a 454 motor--I bought
it for
$2,500--as it turned out it needed a lot of work done (they didn't have
lemon
laws then) but the first thing I did was get it reupholstered and
painted a
bright red which I would redo every 3-5 years until I ran out of money.
Within 5
years it was a showcase of a car.

Driving around South Florida with the top down (as I said, "The
top stays
down unless it snows!" --maybe that's why I needed new upholstery every
3-5
years! Hey, when it rained the rain fell on the back seat not on the
driver.)
was a hoot--stopping at red lights I couldn't count the number of times I
was
asked if I was willing to sell it--I would answer, "No, but make a great
enough
offer and I would think about it." No offer was THAT great.

Heaven was
driving down to Key West, with the top down, naturally, and going over
the 7
mile bridge or just cruising along the Fort Lauderdale beach. (Talk
about
getting 'lucky'--cruising in that car is a whole other blog!)

Well, in 1999 I had run out of money,
declared
bankruptcy (Oh, if I had only known that I could have the car completely
done up
before filing and that it couldn't be taken away from me--once, again,
that's
another story) and the car started going downhill--couldn't get dents
fixed or
even think of another paint job. By 2004, with over 275,000 miles on it,
the
upkeep, the insurance, (didn't know bad credit ratings could jack up
your
insurance rates),  registration & license fees plus gas climbing up I
had to
admit defeat. The driver's window wouldn't go all the way up, I had to
choose
between the cigarette lighter or the radio as both wouldn't work at the
same
time (I choose the lighter every time), it took 20-30 minutes to get the
top
up--with help--and I had to open the door to get out by reaching the
handle
outside, etc.

I decided to put a few signs in the window offering to sell
it--got a few offers that were laughable--finally agreeing to sell it to
a man
in his early 20s who said he was good with cars--all I asked him was NOT
to let
me see after he got it back into great condition. Making a long story
short I
came down in my price--he was paying me every other week when he got his

paycheck and it would take a l-o-o-o-o-g time before he paid it off and I
gave
it to him--I told him if he could come up with the money within the next
two
weeks he could have it at half the original price--he did.

I think I
actually cried when he drove it away. Being a record keeper I knew that
over the
years (including what I paid for it) I had spent $73,000 to keep it in
running
shape---a little over $3,000 a year--how much have you spent on your
car(s) over
that period of time, including what you paid for it?--I feel I really
lucked
out.

It has now been 6 years without a car--the public transportation
sucks here but I have great friend in Allen who will take me  to the
bank,
doctor appointments, etc. I, also, have a couple of friends here who
will lend
me their car on Thursdays when I need it to go foo dhopping .Not having a
car
has, in many ways, saved me money since I can't just run out and buy
things when
I want and have time to consider whether I need something or not.

          



I
really don't miss not having a car--I am exercising more than I did,
which
wasn't much--but I do miss THAT car!