So, I'm in the process of packing up my car to go back to school. It's kind of a slip-shod affair, consisting mostly of just putting my clothes back into the laundry baskets I brought them in, wrestling my new computer back into its box, and trying to decide just what I am comfortable with leaving in the trunk of my car for any length of time. I'm working all the way up until the day I leave - in fact, working the morning of the day I leave - and it's kind of going to be a 'seriously gotta get out of the house' moment on Sunday after work. So, to streamline the process, I'm trying to prepack as much as possible. But having to decide what's okay to have sitting in my car is a matter of weighing what fits and what I'm most attached to. Not to mention that because of my work schedule, my windows of time to do all of this are rather small and more than half of the time is at night.
It doesn't matter. It will get done and I will be fine. It's just on my mind at the moment.
My car in general has been on my mind lately. I had to get it inspected this past week and now that's taken care of and not hanging over my head like it had been. They had to fix the left upper ball joint and I'm wondering if them fixing it made the noise go away that used to happen when I pulled a sharp U-turn. It would make a rather scary thumping noise just as you pulled out of the sharpest point of the turn and more than one friend was convinced my car was falling apart. But it had made that noise for as long as I could remember, so after a while, I noticed it still but it didn't bother me. But I haven't heard it since getting that ball joint fixed, so I'm hoping that was somehow related and is now gone. Either that, or I haven't pulled a sharp enough turn since then.
I also discovered that if my seat is not adjusted correctly, the rear-view mirror is a blind spot. That's kind of ridiculous, car. I mean, my car has always had stupid blind spots. The frame on either side of the windshield has been a ranting point for me for ages, since it blocks my view of oncoming cars at a 90-degree angle both ways. Super-dangerous if you're not aware of it. But recently, my brother drove in my car and so I was sitting on his seat adjustments and I realized that, because he had the seat riding higher and farther forward than I usually do - which, by the by, makes no sense, seeing as how he is taller than I am and has longer legs - that I couldn't see down the middle of my windshield because the rear-view mirror was in the way. But hey, my car runs and it gets decent mileage and the air conditioning and radio work. I honestly can't complain too much about it. Just stuff that I know I will look for next time I get a vehicle.
The reason it probably took me so long to notice the rear-view mirror was that I hadn't been driving the car much at all last semester. Honestly, the most it got driven was once every weekend to go to church and run any errands for the week. I walked or biked to school and put everything off until those trips, so it just sat there in front of the house for most of the time.
However, this semester, it's probably going to get a little more wear. My mom has been on my case about getting a parking pass and I finally caved to put her at ease for the winter.
Which brings up the whole reason I hadn't been driving the car in the first place: parking.
My college campus has limited parking, especially with recent construction work that has been closing lots right and left, and so there is a parking fee for any cars on campus. For two hundred and fifty dollars, you get a little decal on your car for a year.
Now, it might just be because I went to a community college that had the parking fee included because it was bleedingly obvious that we were going to need to park because that was the only way to get to school, but the idea of having to pay parking fees to get my education for which I am already paying outrageous amounts of money... that rankles me a little. Not to mention that there is no sort of break for commuter students. It's not like a car is an optional accessory for us; we need it to get to school - a little recognition of our situation would be nice. But okay, they're not getting the boarding fees from us, so sure, they can have my money. I'll roll with it.
But the parking lots are always full. At least, all the convenient ones are. Which I understand. No one wants to walk all the way across campus to get to their class. And even finding a spot in the inconvenient lots can be difficult at times. But the thing is, these cars aren't people who need convenient parking. These vehicles sit there for weeks. No joke, you can walk by the same car in the same parking spot for weeks. It belongs to a student on campus and they just haven't had to drive it.
No biggie. You might not need to drive your car every day. It's cool. I don't drive mine every day either. But seriously, if you're not going to be needing it at hand constantly, why not park it, y'know, a little farther away? Give someone else the better spot, because they are having to come and go every day and that would be that much less hassle for them when they are running ten minutes late for class because of traffic.
It bothers me how much this bothers me. I'm not even all that badly affected by this, seeing as how I live close enough off-campus to walk, but with the winter coming and the nasty weather it brings, things are a'changin'. If there could just be a designated lot for commuters, or a designated lot for on-campus students, or, I dunno, more lots in general, it would make a bit more sense.
I injured my foot towards the end of the semester and was on crutches for a day or two while the doctor tried to figure out if anything was really wrong with it. Clearly, there was to be no walking to school for me, so I drove with a temporary parking pass. And because of the whole 'no convenient parking' thing, I had to park behind the athletic fields. And walk all the way into campus. On crutches. In the rain.
It's not so bad for the actual handicapped folks, because at least we have decent availability for those spots and for the most part they're pretty well-located. And I ended up being just fine, so it was really just more of an annoyance for that day than a real hazard or issue, but seriously? It just brought it home for me n a way that had me thinking less-than-charitable thoughts.
So yeah, the thought of having to dish out two hundred and fifty dollars for a less-than-convenient-and-not-all-that-necessary-for-me service is sort of bothering me. And even though I might not actually need it this semester - I'm honestly just getting it because of my mom's constant worry for me and because if the weather gets nasty, I'd rather not be stuck out in it every day for a half-hour one way - next semester, I plan on being in an apartment of my own. Which is unlikely to be as conveniently close as the room I'm currently renting The car is going to become the necessity that it is for my other commuter friends.
So I guess I'm going to have to get over it. At least I won't have to freeze my fingers off or get rained on. I can be positive about this too.
I just need to finish packing.
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