Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Feeling Trapped

First off, I just have to say that Stella got her pants off BY HERSELF! Be afraid. Be very afraid. Luckily so far she's left her diaper alone.

Secondly, Tim's work sucks. They made this big deal out of that once they moved to the new office they would only make him come in once a week and the rest of the time he could work from home. So we sold his car that never got used because he always rode the bus. Then they fired the boss that said that. So then they called him into the office and were like, "we don't want you to leave. We will pay for a taxi for you to come to work if it comes to that." Then I think that he got a new boss who said, "screw that. I want everyone in the office everyday." So after much back and forth, it was finally agreed that Tim would work from home two days a week, but would have to come into the office 3. But that they would pay for a car service for him to come into the office those three days. Then they actually moved and lo and behold, the boss said it was too expensive to pay for a car service and "we know your wife doesn't work, why does she need a car?" Yeah, because it's just fine to be trapped at the house with a toddler all day and no car. Who needs groceries or outings or doctor's appointments, etc.? Then it was, "we'll find a co-worker for you to carpool with." Shockingly, no co-worker was up to this. So now the latest compromise seems to be Tim saying, "I'll drive in two days a week and you pay for a taxi for the third." So I didn't have a car Monday, which meant no groceries were purchased and Stella kept saying, "car go" all day. Tuesday I had the car in the morning so groceries were purchased and we can eat again, "hip hip hooray!", then Tuesday afternoon Tim had a commitment, so no car, and then today no car again. I know this is hardly that big of a deal, but I do have certain errands I'd like to run, and I just don't like the thought that if I need a car I DON'T HAVE ONE! We are within walking distance of a park, so that's totally cool, but that's pretty much it. A convenience store and a Money Box are a little farther, if I stretch the meaning of "walking distance" a bit and brave "Mission Hill" a.k.a. crack house hill. (It's not really that bad, I'm exaggerating, but I would prefer not to walk down it with my child.) I should figure out the bus system, because really, although I'm tempted to buy a second car, that is a complete waste of money to have a car payment for something that almost never gets driven. And if Tim's work found out, maybe they'd force him to commute everyday and he'd be depressed and I'd be depressed and Stella would be depressed and that would suck. Plus I Hate Car Payments. So we're kind of in limbo right now. I'll just have to get used to it.

2 comments:

mamashine said...

I wholeheartedly agree on the trapped feeling. I'm completely without a car four days a week while Clay works in Austin. I have to rely on my mom to drive me somewhere in her standard car that I never learned to drive. It sucks bigtime.
At least Tim comes home at night. :)

Kate said...

Oh, HAIL NO! I want to come over there and crack some heads together. It's one thing to not accommodate you, but to say that you will and then renege, is not cool.

I agree that you shouldn't buy a car--the employer promised to accommodate your situation so unless they're going to give him a big fat raise to pay for another car... And I agree that he'd be miserable with all that commuting, too.

I would encourage you to venture onto the bus, especially now that Stella is getting bigger. It might help you feel less trapped.