Welcome to the Machine
As I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago, I became a motor vehicle owner again last week. The vehicle in question is a silver and blue '89 Suburban, which I have lovingly named The Dreadnought.
Having it has already proven very helpful. For example, I have to leave work at a specific time (five minutes before the hour) in order to catch the train that puts me on the correct bus downtown to get me home at night. If I miss that train, I have to wait another hour, either at work or somewhere downtown. Getting out of work at the proper time is not a problem most nights, but with my new managerial duties, it has become impossible to predict when I might be done and able to leave work on Tuesday nights now. Having the Dreadnought will keep me from singing the public transit blues on such occasions. And I'll admit, it is nice not to have to lug groceries home on the bus.
But there are also challenges, and some of these have become apparent in the last week. The biggest of these is the expense.
Being a UTA junkie, I have been rather naive about the cost of gasoline over the past year or so. Boy, what a wake-up call! I found gas prices ranging from $1.77 per gallon in Laramie, Wyoming, to $1.99 here in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City. And the Dreadnought uses a lot of gas. I filled the tank in Laramie (19+ gallons, $34.00) and again in Evanston (19+ gallons, $34.01), then topped off the tank in Salt Lake (3 gallons, $6.00). Result: on the drive back from Colorado, I spent almost $75.00 on gas and averaged about 17 miles per gallon.
Getting the Dreadnought here was only the beginning, though. I took it in and got the state safety and emissions inspection done on Monday, which was $42.00. Then I went to get license plates. In addition to the annual license fee, there was the one-time cost of the plates themselves, plus a fee to issue a Utah title to replace the one issued by the state of Colorado upon the sale of the vehicle. Total cost: $49.50. It will probably also need an oil change soon, and that typically runs about $30.00.
But wait, there's more. The Dreadnought, to its credit, behaved marvelously for most of the drive to Utah. It handled the show and the icy roads without much problem. However, on the drive down Parley's canyon, it became necessary to shift out of Drive down into second gear to accommodate the slow speed of traffic on the slick, 6% grade road. Unfortunately, it now will no longer shift up past second, even when it's in Drive. As a result, it's fine for driving around town at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, but essentially incapable of going any faster.
I checked the transmission fluid level, and found it to be a little low upon arrival in Salt Lake. I have since purchased and added more fluid ($2.39 per quart), but the behavior persists. I'm afraid that I'll have to take it in to a transmission shop. My roommate just had some tranny work done on his vehicle and is about $1800 lighter in the wallet for the experience. Ouch.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to have a car, and yes, I have heard the advice of Patrick F. McManus, Never Sniff a Gift Fish. Still, on the whole, I am reminded of the words of J.S. Bach, as quoted by Professor Peter Schickele in his 1989 composition Bach Portrait:
Most noble and most esteemed cousin, that you and your dear wife are still well, I am assured by the agreeable note I received from you yesterday, accompanying the excellent little cask of wine you sent me, for which I send you herewith the thanks I owe you. It is, however, greatly to be regretted that the little cask was damaged, either by being shaken up in the wagon, or in some other way; for when it was opened for the usual customs inspection here, it was almost two-thirds empty....Although my honored cousin kindly offers to oblige with more of the liqueur, I must decline his offer on account of the excessive expenses here. For, since the carriage charges cost sixteen groshen, the delivery man two groshen, the customs inspector two groshen, the inland duty five groshen three pfennig, and the general duty three groshen, my honored cousin can judge for himself that each quart costs me almost five groshen - which, for a present, is really too expensive.*
Ah, the joys of vehicle ownership.
--
* P.D.Q. Bach. "Bach Portrait." 1712 Overture & Other Musical Assaults. Telarc International Corporation, 1989.
Having it has already proven very helpful. For example, I have to leave work at a specific time (five minutes before the hour) in order to catch the train that puts me on the correct bus downtown to get me home at night. If I miss that train, I have to wait another hour, either at work or somewhere downtown. Getting out of work at the proper time is not a problem most nights, but with my new managerial duties, it has become impossible to predict when I might be done and able to leave work on Tuesday nights now. Having the Dreadnought will keep me from singing the public transit blues on such occasions. And I'll admit, it is nice not to have to lug groceries home on the bus.
But there are also challenges, and some of these have become apparent in the last week. The biggest of these is the expense.
Being a UTA junkie, I have been rather naive about the cost of gasoline over the past year or so. Boy, what a wake-up call! I found gas prices ranging from $1.77 per gallon in Laramie, Wyoming, to $1.99 here in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City. And the Dreadnought uses a lot of gas. I filled the tank in Laramie (19+ gallons, $34.00) and again in Evanston (19+ gallons, $34.01), then topped off the tank in Salt Lake (3 gallons, $6.00). Result: on the drive back from Colorado, I spent almost $75.00 on gas and averaged about 17 miles per gallon.
Getting the Dreadnought here was only the beginning, though. I took it in and got the state safety and emissions inspection done on Monday, which was $42.00. Then I went to get license plates. In addition to the annual license fee, there was the one-time cost of the plates themselves, plus a fee to issue a Utah title to replace the one issued by the state of Colorado upon the sale of the vehicle. Total cost: $49.50. It will probably also need an oil change soon, and that typically runs about $30.00.
But wait, there's more. The Dreadnought, to its credit, behaved marvelously for most of the drive to Utah. It handled the show and the icy roads without much problem. However, on the drive down Parley's canyon, it became necessary to shift out of Drive down into second gear to accommodate the slow speed of traffic on the slick, 6% grade road. Unfortunately, it now will no longer shift up past second, even when it's in Drive. As a result, it's fine for driving around town at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, but essentially incapable of going any faster.
I checked the transmission fluid level, and found it to be a little low upon arrival in Salt Lake. I have since purchased and added more fluid ($2.39 per quart), but the behavior persists. I'm afraid that I'll have to take it in to a transmission shop. My roommate just had some tranny work done on his vehicle and is about $1800 lighter in the wallet for the experience. Ouch.
Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to have a car, and yes, I have heard the advice of Patrick F. McManus, Never Sniff a Gift Fish. Still, on the whole, I am reminded of the words of J.S. Bach, as quoted by Professor Peter Schickele in his 1989 composition Bach Portrait:
Most noble and most esteemed cousin, that you and your dear wife are still well, I am assured by the agreeable note I received from you yesterday, accompanying the excellent little cask of wine you sent me, for which I send you herewith the thanks I owe you. It is, however, greatly to be regretted that the little cask was damaged, either by being shaken up in the wagon, or in some other way; for when it was opened for the usual customs inspection here, it was almost two-thirds empty....Although my honored cousin kindly offers to oblige with more of the liqueur, I must decline his offer on account of the excessive expenses here. For, since the carriage charges cost sixteen groshen, the delivery man two groshen, the customs inspector two groshen, the inland duty five groshen three pfennig, and the general duty three groshen, my honored cousin can judge for himself that each quart costs me almost five groshen - which, for a present, is really too expensive.*
Ah, the joys of vehicle ownership.
--
* P.D.Q. Bach. "Bach Portrait." 1712 Overture & Other Musical Assaults. Telarc International Corporation, 1989.
posted by Michael at
11:08 AM
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