how many do you need?

As it turns out, the casing we had pinned our hopes on to make switching out the internal hard drive a breeze was an epic fail. My husband started transferring it as soon as the enclosure arrived sometime early in the afternoon. At our usual bedtime, he was still working on it. I already knew that any recording would have to wait, so it's not a big deal that the computer is still out of commission come this morning. Time to master something new!

Over the weekend though, I was reminded of why I never expect to be able to record anything on a Friday night, or anytime on Saturday or Sunday. I live in a community that is within a bustling commercial complex. People are out and about on the weekends. Sometimes there's live music. Sometimes, there's just... neighbors. 

One of the sounds that greeted me as I prepared for my Sunday morning walk was a backfiring engine. There would be no masking that, no matter what microphone or shield I used. It was a neighbor who had two motorcycles on his driveway. What he was doing, with the bike engines on, obscenely loud, I couldn't tell you. My best guess is that because he doesn't always take the bike out, he warms it up by repeatedly revving. What I can tell you for sure is that for however long that went on, I was upset. This is the same resident that a lot of neighbors talk about on the socials. He's been called names, not very polite ones, as it has been noted that he has about four cars, not just the motorcycle/s (not sure if the second one that morning was his too) and there simply isn't enough parking in the neighborhood to accommodate them all. At this rate, if every homeowner had just one extra vehicle that needed to be parked in the overflow parking spots, there already isn't enough space. The entire community is being asked to utilize their garage and driveway to park their cars so that the overflow can be used by visitors. So what do we do about a guy who doesn't park his cars in his garage and takes up four spaces?

Let's mull over the concept of the garage. When my husband and I bought our first home, I stipulated that I was going to keep my vehicle in the garage and I was not willing to negotiate. That suited us fine because inevitably, my husband would be the first one out and the last one in everyday and we had a large enough driveway that he could park his SUV there while leaving enough room for the minivan to come out of the garage and come back in anytime. 

In our current home, there are these corners and steps and things that made the entire space smaller so we decided to switch and I now park in the driveway. That took some getting used to and I am not ashamed to admit what a whiny baby I was in the first few weeks. My car is exposed to the elements! It's like an oven in here! The steering wheel is too cold! Most of these "problems" though, I can solve or lessen to some degree with a sunshade when it's hot or gloves when it's cold and I've managed to stop complaining, except when it rains. Nothing beats the convenience of having a roof over you as you walk to your car when it's raining. But I do appreciate that I no longer worry about scraping the side mirror against anything every time I take out the vehicle. My husband appreciates it even more, I'm sure.

I never understood why people seem to think that a garage is an extra room in the house. I asked my husband this question when he started talking about buying shelving and whatnots to put in there. He explained that it would be the place to store things that you don't want inside your house. "Like," I prod. I think the first thing he said was paint. Hmmm... ok. The three cans. There may have been mention of motor oil. I continue, "So the wall hangers are for..." "The bicycles," he says. Sure. But that still leaves plenty of room for the car and the trash bins that also have to be kept in there after trash collection.

As defined by Oxford, a garage is meant to house a motor vehicle or vehicles. That definition could well be referring to a building known as a parking garage, possibly a multi-story one, but the same definition applies to the garage that is a part of your home. Having a garage saves us from having to park on the street. New York, notorious for its parking problems, has so many rules when it comes to the street, parking, and your property. Breaking any of these can result in hefty fines, among other consequences. If you have a garage, best to park your car in there. And no, it's probably not the place to keep all the extra rolls of toilet paper that you hoarded during the pandemic.

The world has a problem. No sh*t. Ok, one of the problems we have today is that there are just way too many cars. The truth is, there is probably nobody in existence who would happily trade being able to drive their own vehicle for a ride on public transportation. It doesn't matter what you do to public transportation. People love their cars. For long haul trips, some can be convinced to take a train if the train can take their vehicle on too, so that they have something to drive when they get to their destination. But what about everyday destinations? Work. Grocery shopping. Unfortunately, there are people who don't see the car as something to merely take them from point A to point B. It's a status symbol or a fashion accessory. They treat the car like clothes. They have the one that they take to work (the suit) and the one they drive on weekends (athleisure). They have one that they drive on a regular basis (the uniform) and the one they take to car meets (the party dress). Or maybe they have 2 or 3 like that. 

How about this for a suggestion then? If you simply have too much money and would like to buy a second, third or 20th car, could you please make sure that you have the space to park all of these cars before buying? If you can't afford a property that has room for four cars, then you can't afford to have four cars. At the end of the day, this is all really about being considerate and being a good neighbor. While I'm on that subject, can we also keep the noise down?

I spy with my little eye... Netflix House

Playlist Recommendation: It's Too Late, Carole King