every time i pass the fortezza di basso on the bus, i am so grateful not to have a car. oh, the freedom, the joy, the lack of responsibility! the fortezza is in bad shape, and it's been that way ever since i got here in september two years ago, and probably a lot longer than that. florence traffic is a mess, and no intersection (i wonder if you can really call it that?) sums that up more succinctly and powerfully than the mess that is the old fortress.

i love not driving. i love not having to pay for gas or parking or insurance. i love not feeling guilty about the fact that most of the time i spend in my car, i spend there alone, polluting the universe. i love not being eligible for parking tickets, speeding tickets, or evil tickets from kensington police people who hit on you afterward and then screw you over for the next two years by making your life a paper trail of hell, complete with imbeciles at the richmond court house whose main purpose in life seems to be to make yours miserable. not that i am speaking from experience, or anything.

so, it is with all of this in mind, plus my naively optimistic view of AC transit along with my anticipation of getting back on a bike (and hopefully losing some of the three or four hundred pounds i've gained since i got to italy), that i say:

i am going to try my damnedest (huh?) to make it without a car in berk.

oh, yeah, my brother also sold my car (which i LENT him) for less than the price of its stereo and kept the money. this had a small impact of my decision, too.