Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Jaguar vs. CARTA - Week One


Two days into using public transportation and all is well. Riding CARTA is an absolute pleasure. After years of isolation in our car, the morning rush hour now starts with a nice walk, just three minutes (timed) to the closest stop, then a leisurely read until being dropped off one minute from the office! Who knew?

On the ride home The Cosmopolitan Charlestonian was thinking, "why the hell didn't we do this sooner and invest all the money we have been dumping into a car all these years? What were we thinking?" Duhhhhh. Depreciating asset. How can something that depreciates be called an asset, anyway? This is one of those Econ 101 questions that continues to this day to stump us.

Do we miss the Jag? No. Not so much. Especially considering the following -
payment per month $350, insurance $90 per month, gasoline $125 per month, yearly taxes $23.33 per month, maintenance $30 per month. This all equates to a grand total of $618.33 per month. Were we seriously paying for this??? We will most certainly put this monthly total to a MUCH better use!

On a side note, a friend asked if we felt safe taking Charleston's public transportation system. We choose to answer this question with a question. How many people died in car accidents last year? And how many people got stabbed or shot on the bus going to work? Cursing the expansion of the Universe and consequential speeding up of time, we just don't have the spare moments to look these figures up. If anyone knows, please give a comment.

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