Freebees, trolleys and Ubers

I read this interesting article in the NY Times called "Owning a Car Will Soon Be As Quaint as Owning a Horse," about cars not being part of our future, or not being part of our possessions in the future. I've toyed with the idea, I'd like to use Freebee, the trolleys and Uber more often. 

For many years I leased my car and every three years I would have to turn it in, which I know would delight most people, you know, turning in your car and getting a new one, but I didn't like that. I would get attached to the car and not want to turn it in. I'm the same with electronics, I like my TVs and cell phones and other things, I'm not one of those people waiting in long lines to get the newest item. I get attached to mine and I guess that's why I don't like changes around the village - the new buildings and things like that, but that's another story. Back to the cars.

My last car, I purchased, and decided that I would keep it until I ran it into the ground. But since I don't put much mileage on it and service it at proper intervals, it's like new. Which is a good thing. I only put about 4500 miles a year on the car. About 20 years ago, I put maybe 100 or so miles a day on the car, that's over 36,000 miles a year - now I do that 36,000 miles in 8 years.

I have been using Freebee more often. The way parking is around the village, it seems like Freebee is the most sensible thing to do. I'm in NYC often and I take the subway there 99% of the time, I love Hoboken, NJ, which is one train stop away from Manhattan. When I go to Long Island I'll take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) or my cousins drive, when I go from NY to Connecticut I take AmTrak and when I spread out through New England from Boston, I take commuter rail, so I don't drive as much as I used to. When I am in Mahnahttan, I'll walk as much as 10 miles a day. I stop in between, but in a 10 hour day, according to my meter on the iphone, I'll do as much as 10 miles by foot in between the subways and ubers.

I like the concept of no car. My friends ride bikes, they do lots of long distance riding, I should get into that, but I don't. I get into Freebee and Uber instead.

I remember when digital cameras came out, I couldn't understand how we would use cameras and not have film as a backup. The same with the house phone, it took me years to finally get rid of my house phone, for 10 years, my house phone was forwarded to my cell phone, but yet, I could not in my head get rid of the house phone. Now my thing is cable tv, I want to cut the cable, but am slow at that.