Alternatives and Alternatives

Next up in my budget pie line of thought: Fuel for my Jettawagon TDI (aka Stinky).

Stinky is of course, a diesel car, hence his name. I searched a long time for the right diesel car, preferably one that was new enough as to have nice little things like air bags and a short list of needed repairs. This was made more interesting by my my small amount of savings and my desire not to have a car loan. So I searched and waited and saved my money as best I could, till I came across Stinky. The hope was to let Stinky make good use of the Piedmont Biofuels Coop and do one tiny bit to reduce my dependence on oil. The hope is good, the reality… is a little more challenging than I’d thought.

You see, after years of living in-town, on two bus-lines, within a mile of work and most everything I could ever need, in addition to being house bound by CFIDS & Fibro for many of those years – my guesstimates at how much fuel I would need to use in a month were thoroughly and utterly useless.

I now live just out of town, as its what I can afford. 6 miles from where I work and at least 3 miles from those most everythings that I really don’t need anyway. Even at Stinky’s best so far, 30 mpg in-town, a tank full of B100 just doesn’t go as far as I thought it would. It often doesn’t even last me the month. At $3.50 a gallon, its kinda killing my “how little money can I live off” budget.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Biofuels Coop is a great resource for this area, the price reasonable, and I think most anyone not trying to survive off $14,500 per year could do very well with a Biodiesel car (though personally, I don’t think Biodiesel alone is the answer to all our fuel problems that some wish it were). I fully intend to keep feeding Stinky his regular meals of B100, and not only because he wreaks to high heaven if he drinks anything else.

What I want is to find a way to make that tank full of B100 stretch to cover the whole month. I still drive considerably less than your average American. My driving simply exceeds my budget. So what I need are some alternative forms of transit to my alternatively fueled Stinky.

That in mind, I set out one day with my backpack and a good pair of walking shoes, to discover if the closest bus stop was as far away as it looked. 2 miles later, the answer to that question was yes and no. No, two miles is not too far to walk to the bus on occasion. I love the freedom of getting somewhere under my own power, the slowing of time that comes with walking. And yes, it almost is too far for one recovering from 7 years of CFIDS. I’m so amazingly out of shape! I mean, I knew it was bad, but yikes! I swear there used to be muscles under there – though there must be some tiny remnants still, because they hurt!

So I thought I’d try an alternative to my alternative. I dug my trusty old bike out of storage (back in another lifetime, I actually used to bike to work every day). I cleaned it up, bought myself a bike helmet, and headed off down the road. I tried to be smarter this time. One afternoon I did a test bike ride, just halfway to the bus stop and back. I was going to be good and allow my body to recover from its exertion before attempting more. Except that feeling of flying down the road on a bright sunny day, oh how could I have forgotten how much I loved that? In a few days I biked to the bus stop for real, put my bike on the bus and headed off to work. I was sore yes, but better than expected.

In a few more days I headed out again, biking to the gym for a swim in the pool. Getting back on the bike was a bit painful and my knees were not entirely certain it was a good idea, but I stubbornly persisted. Foolish, foolish girl that I am. For at least a week I hurt in so very many places. I haven’t braved the bike since, though it was nearly a month ago now. My excuse of course is that it needs a check-up, after being in storage so long. I took it in to the shop. I was right too, things are falling apart that ought not be. For now, I’ve a reprieve, but as soon as the bike is back from the shop I’ll be trying again.

I figure, even if I only bike and walk to work one day per month each (at first). I’ll still be nibbling away at that fuel bill. Besides, its good for me, right?