You don't need a car in Boston

At least that's what they tell me. I am about to find out if it's true.

My car, a Mercury Sable (American car. 'Nuff said.) failed the Massachusetts state inspection. See inspection information here. The mechanic said something about the windshield wipers and the fantastic chunk of rust over the back tire. It looks like this:




Yes, that is a LEAF stuck in the hole.

The mechanic was very sweet. He asked me why I wanted an inspection in August when it wasn't due until October (I didn't). "We won't do an inspection then but I have to tell you that it failed."

My stomach dropped. Every year since I've moved to the state I've worried that my car would fail. This year, though, Massachusetts instituted new regulations, and a rust hole violates the safety standards. I had the option of getting body work done on the rust for around $400-$500 (I asked about just cutting off the rust, but that's apparently a WORSE violation because of the sharp edges). My 16-year-old car is only worth $500. At least it was, until it failed the inspection. I'm not inclined to have $500 worth of work done on it. Plus, my used-car-principles require me not to have body work completed on a 16-year-old, $500 car.

So I'm getting rid of it.

It's been a great car for me, carrying me around in Detroit, Colorado, and Massachusetts for eight years. But nothing lasts forever and that's especially true for American cars. (I'm not unpatriotic and I'm loyal to the Motor City, but if I'm going to spend thousands of dollars on an automobile I want it to be reliable and to stand up to the driving test. Also the state inspection test.)

I'm living and going to school in Boston, home of the oldest subway system in the nation. I live a block from the green line, which takes me straight into the center of Boston and to school. Which takes me to the blue line, which arrives at the airport. Which takes me to the red line, which runs from the South Shore (Braintree, Quincy, UMass Boston) through Cambridge and into Alewife. Which takes me to the orange line, which runs through Chinatown. I won't even delve into the fantastic bus system.

So I'm getting rid of the Sable. This relieves me of the stress of city parking, the expense of car insurance, and the worry that any minute my automobile is going to break down and require another expensive repair. As I've previously posted, I'm getting rid of stuff and this item is the most expensive thing to go. (It turns out that in the previous post I also wrote about the stress of owning a car in the city. Problem solved.) I'm about to test the adage that 'you don't need a car in the city.'

I'll keep you updated.


Please see my original post here: http://lauramcwilliams.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/you-dont-need-a-car-in-boston/

Can you IMAGINE?

Really? Law?
I, too, can hardly believe it.

If you had asked me four years ago, or even two years ago, I never would've answered "law school." No, up until a year and a half ago I was planning to study painting in graduate school. Useless degrees be damned!

Then I started to look at my past, which led me to thinking about my future. My list of jobs since graduating college with a BFA in painting and drawing include:

• office temp
• college bookstore temp (Colorado State University)
  
• Home Depot customer service associate
• art and frame store cashier and custom framing designer
• college bookstore temp (Northeastern University)
• college bookstore temp/cashier (MIT Coop)
• support staff at the MIT Libraries

In six years I've worked at over half a dozen jobs and none of them paid me enough to maintain a decent savings account. Only the library job was at times intellectually challenging. At only one of them did I spend more than a year (my library job--three and a half years and counting).

So then I started to think about my future and deducted that with an M.F.A. in painting I would be setting myself up for more of the same. I started thinking about preparing for a career, which, I suppose, was a big step toward growing up.

I studied for the LSAT (do it; buy a book and spend at least a couple of months preparing for the test. You DO NOT want to have to take it again). I took the LSAT; I passed the LSAT; I applied to some schools; I was accepted; I won two full-tuition scholarships; I paid my deposit to Suffolk University; I registered for classes.

Now here I am, preparing to buy my books and pose for my ID photo. I have a class schedule and student health insurance (oh, beautiful liberal Massachusetts, your health insurance reform makes my heart go all pitter-pattery).

I'm excited and scared and thrilled and petrified. I have a sense that law school is going to be harder than I can even imagine (see my previous post) but I'm looking forward to the adventure. I just wish some compassionate law student out there would tell me what it's really going to be like.
Anyone?