Wednesday, June 19, 2019

With Apologies To Chuck Dickens… Personal Transit No More



Do you remember that scene from Dickens Christmas Carol,where Scrooge is visited by his late business partner Jacob Marley who is doomed to drag behind him the chains and vestiges of wealth he spent his life foraging for all the rest of eternity. The last couple of years I have felt this way living here at Plymouth View Apartments. I own a big white van with a wheelchair lift and hand controls. I no longer drive, I no longer have a license but yet I have this big white albatross hanging around my neck.

Y'all might remember that my ex-wife did not want this vehicle at the time of our split up and quite literally forced be to take the vehicle. I was kind of shocked when I found that she never liked the vehicle and hated the vehicle to drive “it's a big old truck!”. And you know what Dianne is absolutely right I cannot say that I blame her now. Anyway, I didn't want the vehicle. So I parked the vehicle in the back parking lot of the apartment complex. I've kept the vehicle registered all this time (our apartment complex will not allow an unregistered vehicle to take up space and appreciate and in many cases disintegrate in the back). Again they for readers will remember where I almost had the vehicle sold couple years ago and did not register the vehicle when it expired also letting my insurance lapse. So when I did register the vehicle I did not immediately re-ensure the vehicle and when I did I got thrown into the high risk pool ending up with a monthly insurance bill of more than $100! In the time I have been here I've only used the vehicle about five times. Three of those times for the family reunion and a couple other times when Mark and I went out. Do not drive the vehicle enough to keep the battery charged.

When Dana, my home health caregiver, left the agency to go to work at University Hospital her boss and business owner Joe provided a home healthcare until he could find the right person for me. Joe is a great guy. I'm glad that I found him when I desperately needed to find care. He is growing his company, I'm totally impressed, and has been sharing with me some of his ideas and what he's doing. He's been very patient listening to me go on about my issues and problems particularly related to owning a vehicle that is an albatross. Granted I am not ready for Medicaid at this point in time but he assures me when that time comes I will survive fairly well. In some ways better than now since I only have home healthcare three hours a week I came to the realization, in my discussions with Joe, that I really could get rid of the van and if I had the personal well and invested that hundred dollar plus a month payment into a “transportation”fund and continue to use public transit as I do now I would be developing a personal buffer financially both for transit medical and when the regular transit system isn't an option.

Of course I'd like to sell the vehicle for a couple thousand and start that buffer system but I don't know if that's logical or even realistic but I am going to give it a shot. If that does not work and going to donate it to other private nonprofits that's always crying to get a vehicle donated. Either way I'll shuffle off this mortal coil of personal transit ownership.

No comments: