Before the pandemic hit, I didn’t drive my car a lot. I did drive to my workouts and random things, but I didn’t have a long commute each day or put a lot of miles on my car. I add so little mileage each year on my car (typically around 8,000 miles a year) that my insurance needed proof because they didn’t believe I was driving so few miles. This is probably extra weird since I live in LA, where everything seems to require driving.
But since the pandemic hit, I have been driving even less. I don’t go to my workouts. I don’t meet up with friends or go out to do things. I have driven to Santa Barbara once and have done some random errands, but it’s still a fraction of what I used to do. I still am doing a lot of errands through deliveries (like groceries), so I’m not even going out to do that much. I can’t remember a time that I drove so infrequently since I got a driver’s license.
And with not driving that often, there is a new car-related issue that I have to keep in mind. I need to make sure that I don’t forget to drive every so often because I don’t want the battery to die. I know if it does die, I can call AAA and they can jump the battery, but I want to avoid needing to do that. I’m sure AAA has other issues to worry about that they should focus on, and I want to help limit the exposure the truck drivers have. I don’t necessarily want to test how long I can go without driving, so I’ve been looking online at how often I should drive. Most things say at least every 2-3 weeks. So I have tried to remember to drive at least once every other week. And if I am only driving to do a quick errand, I try to drive a little before the errand just to use my car a bit more.
This week, I was coming up on 2 weeks without driving my car. I didn’t have any errands that I had to drive to or anything that would require me needing to use my car. But I needed to drive to make sure the battery didn’t die. I had debated doing different things, but I couldn’t decide on where to go. Originally, I was thinking about driving to the beach again. But now that the beaches are open, I figured it would be harder to find parking. I realized if I tried to figure out where to go before I left, I probably would not get out that day. And since I wanted to get this task done, I didn’t want to put it off. So I just got in my car and started driving.
I drove the direction I often go to do different things. I had no plan in my head about where to go, but I just drove. I thought about maybe going to a fun neighborhood and looking at houses, but that didn’t seem like fun and I didn’t know how crowded some streets might be if everyone was parked (some streets aren’t really designed for people to be parked there plus driving). I thought maybe going to Hollywood to see how empty it looked by places I love, but that also felt a bit sad so I skipped that. Then I tried to think of places that make me happy and figured out a fun place to drive to.
I don’t have to go to my union’s national/local headquarters that often, but I do go there quite a bit. And the stuff that I’m able to do when I’m in that building does make me happy. I get to be a part of amazing things or watch the union in action. So driving to the union seemed to be the perfect place to go. Plus, it was a good distance for me to drive. Since there wasn’t a lot of traffic, I got there pretty quickly. I found some parking and decided to take a silly selfie to commemorate my random driving adventure.
And after taking the photo, I got back in my car and drove home. It was nice to see something familiar that makes me happy. I was a little sad thinking about all the things we haven’t been able to do because of this pandemic, but I was also reminded of the work we are doing so we can make sure we can get back to work as quickly as possible while still being safe. And knowing that my union is working hard for all of us is inspiring. When we are able to get back to work, I know we will all be grateful for what was done.
And hopefully, soon enough, I will be able to be back inside my union’s building and won’t just have to see if from afar.
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