One of the nice things about living in Peru was the taxi system. You could choose to walk most places because everything is fairly close, but if you had a bunch of stuff to carry, it was raining, or you were in a hurry or just feeling lazy you could flag down a taxi. In the first month or so I was there I watched as other interns haggled with prices and soon learned what reasonable rates were, what taxis you were never to take, and the routes to most of the places I wanted to go. By the end of my time there I could haggle with the best of them, normally getting what people would call the "Peruvian rate" (i.e. what taxi drivers would charge the Peruvians). Today I am wishing for a taxi. Despite the fact that my poor car has been to the shop three times (one stint for two weeks) the check engine light is on again! My mother insists that I get it in this morning because she doesn't want me to get stranded but, despite the wisdom I see in this advice, I have a few problems. 1) They live out in Fulshear, a full 35-45 minutes away from here and so, even if she drove up to lone me her car I would need to take her back. 2) I am working today, taking the Jr. High girls to the Galleria to eat lunch and ice skate. While I am using the church's suburban, I still have to drive up to the church and then back later. 3) Borrowing my mom's car would leave her stranded again.
I am very frustrated with my car right now. The check engine light has always been ultra sensitive but after being stranded (and spending an exorbitant amount of money fixing it) we don't want to take any chances. I just want the darn thing to be fixed, at least for longer than a few weeks. Unfortunately, living in a city like Houston requires that you own a car (generally speaking of course) because the transportation system isn't so great. On top of that, I pick up girls all the time, run errands, and really doubt it's safe for me to walk to work. Thankfully, both of my parents have cars and will be loaning me the truck yet again, hopefully not for too long. I just need to be praying for patience... and that I'll remember to get a temporary parking pass from the apartment complex.
2 comments:
Stupid cars! And I hate our non-existent public transport. We are a huge city! We need a great train! Not one that runs on roads and hits buses. I'm just sayin. Sorry for your issues and hope you can get it figured out. Also, I think it might take you two days to walk to work! :)
your mom told me about the car stuff going on, yuck! i agree with your post about needing taxis or something, that would make things so much easier! if you need to borrow the van, there might be some times that we could work it out, so let me know when you need a car. miss you!
Post a Comment