Wheels

I'm trying to find a decent second-hand car. It's harder than I thought it would be, and I didn't expect it to be easy! I could spend the rest of this post giving the reasons why, and telling you how, it's been a pain, but I can't be assed, it's just too depressing.

My dad drove down from Singleton - a 6-hour drive -to help me look around, so I took the day off work and off we went. Part of me feels lame for needing my dad to help me out like this, but realistically I know that that older male presence carries weight. I had one bloke at a dealership (Geez I hate used car dealerships!) talking to me in baby talk before he saw I was accompanied by a man the same age as him. "We don't have any ummm cars, we've solded all the ummm cars alweady". Set my teeth on edges and made me want to tell him to fuck off then and there. We stood through the sales prattle, though. He had gone to all the trouble to peel his arse off his vinyl chair in his air-conditioned office after all, it seemed the least we could do.

I wish I didn't need a car. Mostly I ride my bike around, but there's times when you need a car - like lugging bales of pea straw or large pots from the garden centre, for example. And I can't help it, I love the freedom of just being able to go off for the weekend (or longer) on a camping adventure.

My other set of wheels is an old Raleigh mock-mountain bike. I say "mock" because it has a little sticker that reads THIS BICYCLE IS NOT DESIGNED FOR OFF-ROAD USE. Not that it's stopped me or the bike - we've done the Gibb River Road in WA together! My bike and I go way back - way back to the Year 2000, anyway. It was my main form of transport for a couple of years, until I got hit by a car in Sydney late 2002, after that I didn't ride much anymore. Not until I got to Tonga, and now I'm back on board in full swing - I even have lycra shorts!

I'm also contemplating a new set of different wheels - a pair of roller-skates! I'd like to give roller derby a go, but until I can stump up enough cash for a decent set of indoor quad skates I think I'll be stuck with the old Starfire 500's, the "artistic" white boot skate, complete with heel and glittery red wheels! I gave them a go last weekend, around Centennial Park with a friend, and geez it was fun! That night I went to sleep with the feel of tarmac rolling by under my feet.

So I guess I can make do with the wheels I've got - both 2-wheeled and 8-wheeled varieties - until something comes up that fits the bill with 4 wheels.