busybee

And now it’s time for my traditional annual wrap-up post, and my hopes for next year.

Good video about how and why to establish boundaries with certain sorts of people, especially if you tend towards people-pleasing and rejection sensitivity.

Time for another proverbial cheese sandwich post¹ . Thinking about the end of the year and what’s coming up for me.

This isn’t my annual aspiration wrap-up post; that’ll come later.

1. Thou shalt prioritize belief in that which can be demonstrated empirically
2. Thou shalt not worship anyone, regardless of their social influence
3. Thou shalt strive to improve the situation for everyone, including yourself
4. Thou shalt allow yourself rest and hydration
5. Thou shalt leave yourself open to possibilities
6. Thou shalt not bring direct harm to others, and choose options which minimize indirect harm
7. Thou shalt respect the consent of others
8. Thou shalt not intentionally mislead
9. Thou shalt not treat the success of others as thine own failure
10. Thou shalt question everything, including these commandments

The ebike has been working great!

But it’s gotten super rainy, and it’s not always great to ride in this weather.

Also having an empty carport has turned my house into a theft target, and I’ve been locked in a battle with a dude who is absolutely determined to steal the bike at this point.

One of my ideals had been to go with an older shitbox car with a stick shift, and I happened to be checking Craigslist on my monthly search for a stickshift shitbox, and came across a 2008 Corolla which seemed to be in good shape, and which is basically the same innards and platform as the 2006 Matrix I loved so much.

Earlier today the seller was free and so we met up and I gave it a test drive, and I ended up buying it, somewhat impulsively but, hey, it wouldn’t be the worst car purchase decision I’ve made in the last few years…

Just as I thought, a stickshift is a lot more fun to drive, and doesn’t fill me with as much anxiety as a car that tries to do everything for me and makes me feel like I’m not in control. It’s a super basic car by today’s standards; no blind-spot monitoring, no automatic headlights, no backup camera. Heck, it still has its factory stereo which only has a 6-CD changer and no aux input. (The seller threw in his Bluetooth-to-FM converter thing.) There’s also a bunch of little things that need to be sorted out (I’ll probably be taking it to my neighborhood mechanic tomorrow to see what work they recommend). It’s also beige (which looks surprisingly nice compared to today’s bland sea of black/white/grey boringness) and the paint is peeling and it’s been in a few fender benders. It’s not much of a looker, and it doesn’t really need to be.

I ended up ordering a CarPlay head unit since I do want in-dash navigation and better music integration and such, and also since the car only came with a single key and no door remote I ordered some remotes (which are apparently very easy to program yourself) and found a local locksmith who will duplicate and program the key for not too much.

Anyway. I still wish I hadn’t gotten rid of the Mazda3 when I did, but overall this feels like the right spot for me: a car that I don’t feel guilty about not-driving, and which doesn’t make me so anxious to drive.