I have just spent three weeks without a car, my car broke down on the way home from work (luckily I was visiting a friend and it was outside her house) I abandoned the car and my friend’s husband kindly brought me home. The garage collected the car on the Monday and I was able to collect it yesterday. The first two weeks the garage was trying to locate a part that was required, eventually they had to give up and get a new fuel pump.
It was very different being without a car, I had to catch the bus to work, which meant a mile walk to the bus stop, I chose not to walk along the main road and took paths through the estate and along a footpath next to the park, so quite a pleasant walk in the mornings. Not so much fun in the evenings when I was tired, some days that mile felt like five.
I discovered the bus timetable did not fit in with my working hours so I arrived five minutes late and had to leave five minutes early every day. Luckily in all that time the weather was kind to me and although we did have lots of rain the mornings were fine. I also managed to get lifts home some of the time. Weekends I was not able to go anywhere but strangely it did not bother me. I usually don’t like being trapped at home but I found I coped and my sister and son came and took me to various places. I did my main shopping on line with Tesco buying less than I usually do as I live close to a Tesco and pop in every few days to get what I need. I think maybe it is a better way for me to shop as I don’t buy so much.
It was not as bad catching the bus as I thought it would be, the bus drivers were friendly and I got to know someone who caught the bus at the same time. If the times were better I would consider catching the bus more often but the main reason I won’t is the cost of the bus fare, to get the bus everyday would cost me double what I pay in petrol each week. I am sure this is the reason people do use their cars and not public transport. Ironically the path I walked along was the old railway line in days gone by.
