Cars are evil.

Last winter I bought my first car.

I admit the decision was made impetuously. It was mid-December, thirty-below, and I was sick of taking the bus and begging for rides (what can I say, I'm a wimp - I hate being cold, I think my ancestors were crazy to move to this country, so much for hardy Ukrainian stock! *sigh*).

With help from some boy friends, I located a snazzy blue 1995 Volkswagen golf. Its beautiful shiny blueness called out to me, as did its silver rims and its fancy CD player. Even though it lacked power doors, power windows, air conditioning, was a standard transmission, and was over my price limit ($5,500), I ignored all criticisms and rushed to buy it.

A little less then a year later and I've spent almost $1,500 in repairs and a recent 'car check-up' reports that I will soon have to spend even more as my car is evidently experiencing a mid-life crisis.

I love my car. I love driving it. I love having the freedom to go wherever I want, the freedom to drive my friends around, go out in the middle of the night, accept weird work shifts, take night classes, explore whenever I please - all without having to first consider dreadful bus schedules or the weather.

(Oh, and I love my winter tires, too - those were at least a smart bonus.)

But I want to finish school. Ideally in this lifetime.

And when I think about the fact that the money I spent on my car and on repairs for it could have been used to pay for almost 2 years of full time study (or alternatively, to go to the Maritimes 6x, Europe 3x, and Japan at least 2x) I feel a little... nauseous.

Plus, now that my place of employment is being moved to a new building, I will no longer have a parking spot. Which means the idea of driving my car to work each day is no longer going to be just plain selfish and environmentally unfriendly but also completely unfeasible.

So, the way I see it I have 2 options. I can stop cold and give up my car addiction completely by selling Bluebell (my car's name - stop laughing! my family has always tended towards farm animal sounding names for their vehicles!) and buying a bus pass.

OR I can stubbornly dig in my heels, sell my 'expensive' car and buy a tiny, old, "beater" to use only for school and other 'fun' stuff...

What to do, what to do.



[P.S. While I bask in indecision, please let it be noted for all you who read this that I will happily accept any offers of 1) money, 2) car repair assistance or 3) free advice on buying a better used car!]