Feh. Since the voice post doesn't seem to be appearing...

[camwyn]

Schadenfreude is the joy you feel seeing two cars double parked on the left, one on the right, and another further down on the left in such a fashion that several other cars including, in particular, an SUV cannot get through AT ALL.

Enriched by the joy of knowing that this isn't your problem any more.

Used the Zipcar, all went well, got stuff at IKEA. Still gotta paint the bookshelf but now I have the coffee table and there will be storage enough for my things and, well...

Anyone up for a party on Sunday, June 12th? It'll be a "camwyn Finally Got Off Her Ass And Bought Real, Adult Furniture And Organized The Apartment" party. Since I know a lot of those of you who live near me and read this are Jewish and observant, I'll get paper plates and we'll find somewhere to order from. There'll be movies or TV shows or whatever on DVD. It'll be fun. Lemme know if you're interested and live close enough.

Comments

[vivian-shaw.livejournal.com]

Heh. Wish I could. Have fun!

You know what's also schadenfreuderiffic? Watching people waiting...and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for the odoriferous and unreliable bus, with its crew of muttering unwashed lunatics, while you merrily drive past and park your car in the secure off-street parking lot in which you are guaranteed a space.

mmmm, off street parking...

[camwyn]

Alas, around here the only guarantee one gets is if one pays $7 to $10 every single time one makes a stab at the parking lot. And most places charge more for overnight. Poo.

[vivian-shaw.livejournal.com]

Ah, but my landlord rocks. Just add sixty-five dollars to the rent each month and I've got a personal parking spot. I feel all important now.

SUV vehicle

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

OK, I have to confess that I absolutely adored my little Baby Blue SUV in Mtwara, and that the Toyota Land Cruiser that Q had is the only vehicle I have ever lusted after. Baby Blue got 'trapped' twice (once in the takataka garbage pit as I wrote in LJ a year ago) but other than that, 4-wheel drive was wonderful. And Q's Land Cruiser, with it's high clearance, could take us absolutely anywhere, reliably, although even he had a story about a river crossing that took 4 hours after the car sank into mud halfway...
What is the problem with SUVs where you are??? or is it the attitude of drivers who think they are in tanks, or armoured personnel carriers (APCs) or something?

Re: SUV vehicle

[camwyn]

It's partly the attitude, but mostly it's that they're EVERYWHERE in this part of the country. Every idiot with more money than sense buys one on the grounds that 'they're safer' or 'they're good for offroading' or 'they let me see where I'm going' or 'the guy down the street has one' or 'they've got lots of space'. Never mind that they're only safer for the person inside the SUV and that they kill more people in other vehicles when they get into vehicle on vehicle accidents. Never mind that nobody who buys one in this part of the country would even DREAM of taking the thing further off road than parking on the grass at the local park. The seeing where you're going is valid, at least; the 'guy down the street' argument is just stupid; and the people who want lots of space are usually mothers or men who don't want to be seen driving a minivan, so they go for the 'safe' vehicle that lets them drive like idiots because hey, it's safer for THEM. Stick the kids in the back and ignore the rules of the road.

Re: SUV vehicle

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

But - isn't the fuel consumption AWESOME??? Q had two 60 litre tanks, when we went to Nachingwea on field duty, we filled both of them so we wouldn't run out of fuel in the middle of the bush, and the total cost was two weeks salary for me. If the Programme hadn't paid for fuel, I doubt we would have gone anywhere, I don't think we got very good 'mileage'. We calculate in terms of litres required to go 100 km, so I don't think it translates well to tell you we needed 12-14 litres to go 100 km, but that's a LOT of fuel to go that distance.

So, basically, owning an SUV where you are is a matter of who has the biggest dick, all over again... as opposed to being a matter of survival in the bush. What's wrong with driving a van?

Re: SUV vehicle

[camwyn]

Minivans are seen as being the province of 'soccer moms' and other thoroughly domesticated types, wehreas there is still something vaguely Manly about most SUVs. At least, I think that's the big thing. They might handle better, too. I don't know for sure.

Re: SUV vehicle

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

'soccer moms' - what a concept! I suppose the same thing applies to vehicles like the wonderful Volvo station wagon I drove for 17 years. I was a 'scout mom'. I think my record for one trip was five dogs, seven children, and gear for an agility course. Not too sure, but I think that according to Finnish law that was 'overloading' and I could have been fined.
SUVs handle beautifully - Q could almost thread a needle with his - especially compared to the Volvo wagon (which drove like a truck) and the VW van from the 60s that I have driven. And SUVs are apparently (?) somehow associated with men like Q and Hare, standing up to their waists in riverwater while several dozen locals ('natives') with a bull ox help haul them out of the mud so they can continue through the bush...even when the SUV in question is on the road to Brooklyn...
We don't buy things for the life we have, we buy things for the life we WISH we had, evidently.

Re: SUV vehicle

[ouatic-7.livejournal.com]

I live in the Chicago suburbs. We are also infested with SUVs that never go off road. We do get some nasty road conditions in winter, though. My solution to the winters is what I call a mini-SUV. I have a Suburu Impreza Outback Sport. All Suburu's have AWD. Mine is about the size of an Escort wagon with slightly greater ground clearance and a tad more head room inside. It's way easier to park than my old Taurus wagon and gets much better mileage than those behemoth SUVs. I can't carry a team in it but my child isn't into organized sports anyway.