Saturday, September 10, 2011
Becoming a Cliche
One of the first things that I was asked after I announced a move to the country "Are you going to buy a pickup truck?" I scoffed at the notion. My Santa Fe held everything we'd ever need to get, right? And it wasn't like we were running a farm or anything?
Well, the first time we stopped to buy bales of hay and got straw all over the car, I started to reconsider. My parents lent us their truck "Big Red" and it was great. We got the rototiller and the sod cutter rentals and could just zoom quickly here or there not worrying about how to fit something into the Santa Fe.
But the 'rents truck had it's issues. It was a 6 foot bed, a low rider, and had an extended cab. We came to realization that it would be nice to have a truck but a truck better suited to our needs. Something cheap, something we could pile full of garbage for a dump run, or pile up with hay or mulch. Something we could hose out if it got too gross. It might need to make the occasional trip to town for pickups or errands, but it would mostly live in the garage. It didn't have to be pretty or fancy, just functional.
We found it on Craigslist. A former municipal truck, used to drive the same 32 mile stretch in northern Illinois. Only 61K. The tires were worn, but the brakes worked, the engine was smooth and it was the right price. $2200.
I was told, as a teen, that cars are horrible investments. I've never forgotten that advice, but nothing really prepares you for how horrible of an investment it is. Let's see...$279 in fees and licensing. $149 for 6 months of insurance.
And then we look over one day and see a flat tire. Not a little flat either. Big horrible flat. We knew the tires would need to be replaced, but it went from "someday" to "right away".
We didn't have an air compressor, and J knew someone who had one for sale, so we waited for that to come to fruition. His friend delivered it to our house on Wednesday, and on Thursday we visited Menards for air compressor parts. Total $67.
Today we got the tires filled with air and made the decision that, if we wanted to use this car until it died, we might was well have decent tires on it, and that
meant buying a set of new ones. The best place for that was 24 miles away. I had J follow me in the truck, me watching nervously at all of the tires, looking for bulges. (J later chided me for driving so slow.)
$576 later, we have 4 new tires. (And while we were waiting, we found a flea market, and J got a new toy to play with.)
All of this means that...if you live in sufficiently remote place with enough land, trust me, the purchase of some sort of truck is likely in your future, and said purchase promises to be a money pit. You will become the cliche. ¶ 3:52 PM
One of the first things that I was asked after I announced a move to the country "Are you going to buy a pickup truck?" I scoffed at the notion. My Santa Fe held everything we'd ever need to get, right? And it wasn't like we were running a farm or anything?Well, the first time we stopped to buy bales of hay and got straw all over the car, I started to reconsider. My parents lent us their truck "Big Red" and it was great. We got the rototiller and the sod cutter rentals and could just zoom quickly here or there not worrying about how to fit something into the Santa Fe.
But the 'rents truck had it's issues. It was a 6 foot bed, a low rider, and had an extended cab. We came to realization that it would be nice to have a truck but a truck better suited to our needs. Something cheap, something we could pile full of garbage for a dump run, or pile up with hay or mulch. Something we could hose out if it got too gross. It might need to make the occasional trip to town for pickups or errands, but it would mostly live in the garage. It didn't have to be pretty or fancy, just functional.
We found it on Craigslist. A former municipal truck, used to drive the same 32 mile stretch in northern Illinois. Only 61K. The tires were worn, but the brakes worked, the engine was smooth and it was the right price. $2200.
I was told, as a teen, that cars are horrible investments. I've never forgotten that advice, but nothing really prepares you for how horrible of an investment it is. Let's see...$279 in fees and licensing. $149 for 6 months of insurance.
And then we look over one day and see a flat tire. Not a little flat either. Big horrible flat. We knew the tires would need to be replaced, but it went from "someday" to "right away".
We didn't have an air compressor, and J knew someone who had one for sale, so we waited for that to come to fruition. His friend delivered it to our house on Wednesday, and on Thursday we visited Menards for air compressor parts. Total $67.
Today we got the tires filled with air and made the decision that, if we wanted to use this car until it died, we might was well have decent tires on it, and that
meant buying a set of new ones. The best place for that was 24 miles away. I had J follow me in the truck, me watching nervously at all of the tires, looking for bulges. (J later chided me for driving so slow.)$576 later, we have 4 new tires. (And while we were waiting, we found a flea market, and J got a new toy to play with.)
All of this means that...if you live in sufficiently remote place with enough land, trust me, the purchase of some sort of truck is likely in your future, and said purchase promises to be a money pit. You will become the cliche. ¶ 3:52 PM
