What type of car do you have?

You own a car??
How old are you? Or do you have a fulltime job? Or generous parents?

I do not have a car. My husband does (so yes, we have a car) but it's a leased car from his company and I can only use it in the weekends.

We are not talking about models here, right?

For real? Or another S-joke;)

Wow!

All I can think of is what other things one could do with that amount of money. I think I would only buy a car after doing all these other things first and if I still had some money left then of course.

So, this is how I feel about cars: On one hand I would really want one because I lose a lot of time and energy on the bus and bike every week. On the other hand, when I think of the costs, I can easily make a list of ten things I'd rather do with that amount of money...

I take it back, James!! I've just read your more recent post and...

You think I need it?? :she said while having another chocolate bar:




Yes, public transport and biking is healthy and better for environmental reasons of course. Plus, I read a lot on the bus! I'd miss that if I went by car. I actually enjoy going by bus.

But, I lose energy not in a healthy way but just... you know, when I go to my work by bus (and I work only 3 hours then!) it feels like I worked 8 hours when I come home. Exercise should make a person fit, not washed out.

http://users.auth.gr/~dichrist/kitt.jpg

heh

Students with cars... how on earth is that possible?! I am seriously confused here. Is driving a car more expensive in The Netherlands perhaps?

Nice picture, D!

My daddy is rich! (Though far from a spoilt brat I'll have you know. )

Toyota Aygo! Very cheap to run.

Lucky you!

I can't think of a better way to drive that than around the Alps

Can I be a passenger? I can take photos of all the great scenery you'll miss!

To do that I need to give a bit of my life story. So, here goes.

I graduated from university in 1999 with a third-class degree. Now, I don't know if the same classification applies around the world or if it's UK-specific, but a third-class degree is basically worthless - to get a graduate-level job you need an upper-second or first-class degree. I got a third-class degree not because I'm thick but because I didn't work properly while I was there. I realised that I had wasted three years of my life and determined at that point that I was going to get some sort of job, and work so hard at it that I'd be in a position to get promoted to a graduate-level job even though I didn't have a good enough degree. So this is what I did in my insurance job, basically for four years, studying for qualifications in my spare time, working a lot harder than I strictly needed to, and so on. At the end of all that my company agreed to sponsor my studies to become an actuary (few people will know what one of those is, but it's sufficient to say it's a professional in insurance, and it's a lengthy process of study and hard work to become one). And now finally, last December, I qualified as an actuary, and this car is my reward to myself.

When I was 18 I saw Goldeneye at the cinema and saw James Bond driving a BMW Z3. I wanted one. My Z4 is basically BMW's follow-up to the Z3, but has actually got far better reviews and I think looks even nicer. So from my way of thinking, this is my reward for nine years of excruciating hard work, proving people wrong and proving to myself that I was better than my degree indicated.

The trip to the Alps will involve another piece of wish-fulfilment. I still remember watching Goldfinger in my early youth and marvelling at his drive through the mountains near Geneva, and I'm going to find the same stretch of road and do the same drive!

Then you've just GOT to have Alpine Drive on there!

James; woah mate!

Yeah!
And with the proper tunning you can make it look better, like the recent addition of a pair of Xenon headlight bulbs. Man the light they provide is really amazing.