In the Fall of 2007, I sat in the passenger seat of my former graphite grey Infiniti sports car with teeth clenched, “shock and awe” undoubtedly apparent. The most expensive thing ever in my possession outside of my college education had only a few minutes previous been converted into a certified piece of paper now residing in my back pocket. Now it was my duty to ensure street legality by escorting my license plates to the car’s new home in the bowels of northern Virginia.

Unbeknownst to me a few minutes earlier, it would also become an opportunity for me to reflect on my life experienced and not yet experienced..these life flashes being a direct product of the fact that the man who sat in the driver’s seat of the car I cherished and doted over for four years had absolutely no comprehension of how to drive stick…AND we were on an incline…AND there was a car right behind us the whole way, owned and driven by my wife [fiancee at the time] who would be my ride back to the apartment. Possibly feeling me cringe from afar, possibly hearing the transmission sputter in and out of operation, or possibly the fact the car was moving with gravity instead of being able to fight it like it had so many times before….Irene knew evasive maneuvers and 10x car lengths would likely be required to circumvent disaster throughout the 30-minute trip.

Flash Forward 2.5 years to present and it would be that grueling trip which marks the line in the sand between car owner and public transportation proponent. I had enough of the car insurance, finance charges, parking fees, annual registration costs, bumper-to-bumper dc traffic, rising gas prices, speeding tickets, recalls, and constant “accidents”.

public beatings to the very car photographed included:

• college-town keying of 3 out of 4 quarter panels
• parking garage pole massage
• “Toll Booth Sally” deciding to back up over my hood
• drunk DC biker side-swiping me
• sidewalk wheel grinding
• NYC dual side-mirror theft
• and lets not forget: HAVING MULCH SPRAYED INTO MY AIR DUCTS AND SIDE WINDOWS AT WORK leaving a stench of manure which would continue to surface years later no matter how many times the techs promised they got it all (a little present left for the new owner to discover if he ever uses the heat)

With such a track record, I am confident you too would be ready for the less stressful times promised by the tenets of public transportation.

If anywhere in the US could deliver in this department, it would be New York City. After our move north, the only stress involving transportation would become the variable scheduling of weekend F and V subway lines, the failure of my iPhone to appropriately sync what I really wanted to listen to on my bus trip to/from work, and hopstop.com’s inability to account for the # of cripz that would require time-insensitive on and off-ramping from the M14D (no joke, even the wheeled grannies look impatient as the bus hydraulics kick in).

And for a long time this greener method of getting around was an upgrade.

However, let it be known, as of T O D A Y, on this glorious New York [spring is at our doorstep] Sunday, I want out. I want the freedom of getting into my ride with my wife and just going for a drive. To where you ask? Who cares…anywhere….TARGET for pillow replacements, road trip to Quebec, IKEA for Swedish meatballs, or maybe next door to New Jersey for the very gardens it’s slogan promises…it doesn’t really matter! This is the freedom that cars offer and public transportation fails to offer…unlimited possibilities!

So mark my words, 2010 will mark the return of some sort of motorized wheels to this household..two or four, it doesn’t matter, enough is enough.

Because its been SO long, here’s a three-fer:

King Charles - Love Lust

Luv Deluxe - Cinnamon Chasers

The Sweet Serenades - Die Young