Occasional musings from a Left-coast Canadian ExPat in Oxford.
First, let’s clear something up – it’s not the wrong side of the road. In fact, some would adamantly state it’s the correct side, and the other 70% of the world is wrong! But it is the other side of the road, and driving on it is the least confusing part of this whole process, … Continue reading Baby, you can drive my car
Since so many people have asked about our experience with the Cooperative Auto Network (CAN), I figured I’d post a few of the positive and negatives we’ve encountered through our nearly 3-year membership. This one’s a doozie, so if you’re not really interested in how CAN works for car-sharing, you may want to skip this … Continue reading The CANs and the CAN-Nots
The catalyst for it all was my new job in an area that’s highly inconvenient to get to by public transit. But really, Neil and I have been thinking about re-joining the ranks of the car-owners for quite a while. Combine that with neighbours who were leaving the country and had to sell their car … Continue reading End of an Era
One thing that generally comes with moving is the learning of a new route to work. For those of us who commute by transit, that’s learning a new bus route. Of the very few things I’m missing about the old place (along with being mere steps from Tatlows, the Naam and the Flying Tiger) is … Continue reading Bus-ted?
I received an unexpected message in my inbox the other day, from a Province reporter, looking for someone to interview for a story about CAN. I’m guessing my kitslinao.ca entry on car-sharing showed up in her google search. In any case, it turns out that the Cooperative Auto Network has just been audited, and is … Continue reading CAN-ned
Oh gentle readers, I am stymied! Neil and I are heading off on a canoeing trip next week, and are trying to figure out exactly how we’re going to get from Point A to Point B with as little hassle and expense as possible. I’m convinced there must be a reasonable way to execute the … Continue reading Transportation Situation
I’m sure many of you have heard of or seen the new car-sharing cars around town. Zipcar has moved into the city, offering up some competition to the homegrown Cooperative Auto Network (CAN). I think competition in any industry is a great thing, though I think comparing a co-op to a for-profit service is a … Continue reading New Car on the Block
In addition to sharing a car, I’m also sharing the posting love with Kitsilano.ca. Check out my post about the Co-operative Auto Network over there. Continue reading Car-Sharing
It’s the end of an era people. J’Lo has officially moved on to greener pastures. Or Coquitlam. Whatever. The important thing is that she’s no longer my problem. Hooray! Those of you who’ve been playing along at home for a little while will realize that this leaves the Wiederick/Watkiss household carless! Except not quite. We … Continue reading Vroom Vroom go Bye Bye
Effing hell, I nearly forgot to blog today! NaBloPoMo almost got me, but lo, I’ve made it nearly halfway! Not that I have anything interesting to say mind you – but according to the rules, I have to put something here, so here you have it. Since I don’t really have anything of substance to … Continue reading Filler
I want to give you a good car-life, I really, really do! I got you inspected before buying you a little over a year ago, and other than that seemingly small pulley issue that the dealership said they’d fixed, you checked out A-ok. Well today marked the day I paid more in repairs for you, … Continue reading Piece of Shit Car
Thanks to an early birthday present from the lovely (and shiny!) Ellis, my car is suddenly lovely (and shiny!) again herself! While I slaved away at work for the day yesterday, J’Lo was pampered and primped at the Yaletown Auto Spa, getting a scrubdown inside and out. More pictures on flickr of course. I don’t … Continue reading Booty-licious!
That’s the car’s new name. She’s been upgraded from J’Lo. Because she’s just THAT demanding. Now that I am a little over $900 poorer the car seems to be running well. The mechanic is so convinced his work is going to hold (he refused to say one way or the other before it was done) … Continue reading The Diva
Why is it that the first day my car’s outta commission and I can’t work from home so I have to take the peasant wagon (read: mass transit) to work it starts to rain and doens’t look like it’ll stop any time soon? Three point five more days until eleven off. P.S. I’m not actually … Continue reading Drip Drip Drop
Merry Christmas, my car is a lemon. What do you do when life hands you lemons? Blog about it. Apparently, the underlying issue that’s been causing my car to need constant attention is that the crankshaft is damaged. Fixing that requires a rebuild of the engine. Goodbye $1500! I didn’t need that vacation anyway. But … Continue reading Hosed.