Our appetite to consume is insatiable. It doesn’t matter what we items we are talking about only that everyone has a list of wants that is not only unattainable, but also infinite. What’s more is that as soon as our list starts to become manageable, our desires, needs, wants, etc. change producing an even long, more expensive list of intangible items.
After four years in one of the greenest and bike friendly cities in the US. I had started to enjoy the culture and believe some of the stereotypes specific to the region. Cars are bad…. and even if they aren’t really bad they are really expensive. Not just to purchase either, the expenses go on and on. First is the purchase price which appears in the form of monthly payments but then insurance, registration, gas… more gas… oil changes, parking when you go out, secured parking at home, repairs, you get the idea. I was almost to the point of wanting to sell my truck. I rarely use it and Im paying for it to sit there for days or weeks at a time. The way I see it I don’t really need it, I bike to work, to the store and for pretty much any errands I have. If I need to go farther, I have the motorcycle. But oh how quickly our appetite takes over and demands to be fed.
With a savings account seemingly bursting at the seams, buying a boat was logically the best way to relieve the undue pressure that had amassed. Not just any boat, but a wakeboard boat with a 351 Ford V8. Now, all my previous thoughts (small as they may be) about environment and conserving gas had become the last thing on my mind. Especially as the 351 ripped and roared its way across the lake. In reality biking to work is done for enjoyment, not to save a tree and driving is withheld not because of the ozone but because of my parking expense. What’s more is that as the boating need list grew, wakeboard and bindings, life jacket, rope, cleaner, etc. my other lists quickly became trivial and eventually discarded.
Now while I had been on a three year hiatus from driving much less even noticing what the car industry was up to, I was immediately thrown right back into the idea that my truck, previously an expensive luxury was now quickly becoming a insufficient necessity. Sure a 1500 series Tahoe will pull the boat, but the 2500 series trucks was designed to pull the boat. And with a bigger engine, stronger breaks, a comfortable quad cab, not to mention storage, safety, comfort and all around much better quality of life, how could I not have one of these?
Pulling up to the boat launch is a veritable show room of lifted 4x4 king size trucks. Of course, I needed one of these:
After four years in one of the greenest and bike friendly cities in the US. I had started to enjoy the culture and believe some of the stereotypes specific to the region. Cars are bad…. and even if they aren’t really bad they are really expensive. Not just to purchase either, the expenses go on and on. First is the purchase price which appears in the form of monthly payments but then insurance, registration, gas… more gas… oil changes, parking when you go out, secured parking at home, repairs, you get the idea. I was almost to the point of wanting to sell my truck. I rarely use it and Im paying for it to sit there for days or weeks at a time. The way I see it I don’t really need it, I bike to work, to the store and for pretty much any errands I have. If I need to go farther, I have the motorcycle. But oh how quickly our appetite takes over and demands to be fed.
With a savings account seemingly bursting at the seams, buying a boat was logically the best way to relieve the undue pressure that had amassed. Not just any boat, but a wakeboard boat with a 351 Ford V8. Now, all my previous thoughts (small as they may be) about environment and conserving gas had become the last thing on my mind. Especially as the 351 ripped and roared its way across the lake. In reality biking to work is done for enjoyment, not to save a tree and driving is withheld not because of the ozone but because of my parking expense. What’s more is that as the boating need list grew, wakeboard and bindings, life jacket, rope, cleaner, etc. my other lists quickly became trivial and eventually discarded.
Now while I had been on a three year hiatus from driving much less even noticing what the car industry was up to, I was immediately thrown right back into the idea that my truck, previously an expensive luxury was now quickly becoming a insufficient necessity. Sure a 1500 series Tahoe will pull the boat, but the 2500 series trucks was designed to pull the boat. And with a bigger engine, stronger breaks, a comfortable quad cab, not to mention storage, safety, comfort and all around much better quality of life, how could I not have one of these?
Pulling up to the boat launch is a veritable show room of lifted 4x4 king size trucks. Of course, I needed one of these:
Ideas of styles and lifestyles change continuously. What we need and want, what motivates us to do certain things and abstain from others… its all one upgrade after another.
“It’s a quality of life issue” said the bike messenger to the suit stuck inside the office building. “It’s a quality of life issue” said the wake boarder to the messenger on the dock.
“It’s a quality of life issue” said the bike messenger to the suit stuck inside the office building. “It’s a quality of life issue” said the wake boarder to the messenger on the dock.
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1 comment:
Yo, you would need to get some accessories, so that you can "hang out" on the highway...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/129017
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