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I saw that article - it's just crazy. What he needs is a bike, not money to buy a car that he cannot afford to keep running. Of course if he really receives $135000, he can probably afford to move closer to work now.
Edited to add: the article says "He rides buses part-way but walks about 21 miles in round trips to a factory, unless his banker pal offers a lift." So it is 10.5 miles one way. |
Originally Posted by MichaelW
(Post 17525070)
"21 mile walk" is Journalese for round trip.
He walks 8 miles + bus into work and 12 miles return (no bus) Detroit SMART bus can take bicycles, so the ride is either 2x12 or 8+12. I used to ride 2x12 miles in London and it was quicker than transit (Tube). Detroit has a good not-for-profit bike hub. |
Originally Posted by treadtread
(Post 17525224)
I saw that article - it's just crazy. What he needs is a bike, not money to buy a bike that he cannot afford to keep running. Of course if he really receives $135000, he can probably afford to move closer to work now.
Edited to add: the article says "He rides buses part-way but walks about 21 miles in round trips to a factory, unless his banker pal offers a lift." So it is 10.5 miles one way. |
Originally Posted by bigbenaugust
(Post 17525040)
When do you sleep or eat if you're walking 42mi a day and working? even if he walks at 4mph, which is optimistic, that is 10 hours a day of walking.
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135 grand and a detroit car dealership just offered him any car off their lot.
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Originally Posted by spare_wheel
(Post 17525695)
135 grand and a detroit car dealership just offered him any car off their lot.
If I got that kind of offer, I'd retire on the spot. |
Originally Posted by MichaelW
(Post 17525070)
"21 mile walk" is Journalese for round trip.
He walks 8 miles + bus into work and 12 miles return (no bus) Detroit SMART bus can take bicycles, so the ride is either 2x12 or 8+12. I used to ride 2x12 miles in London and it was quicker than transit (Tube). Detroit has a good not-for-profit bike hub. If it was 21 miles total in a day... It would be tough, and could still take 4 hours a day of quite brisk walking. OH.... Now it is up to $227,000.(went up by a grand while I was typing this message). Is this insane or what? Let's see. $5,000 for a nice car. $20,000 for lifetime maintenance on said car. $20,000 for lifetime fuel for said car. Does the guy even have a driver's license? Perhaps one should collect enough to buy a limo, and hire a limo driver full-time... to take him to a minimum wage job. How much longer until he can buy a house in Florida, and live the rest of his life on the beach? |
Originally Posted by 79pmooney
(Post 17523469)
To get serious, getting into cycling at 42 miles per day every day in Michigan as a complete newbie making $10/hour is asking this guy to do a lot. And just how much spare time does he have to get acquainted with bike shops, hang out on forums, etc.? Now one of us could have done what this college student did to get this guy a bike, a shop to assist him and others to be "coaches". But we didn't. This college student did what he knew.
I don't live where the Free Press is to be had. Our local paper has been going downhill and I no longer subscribe so I would have missed it even if it were local news. Yes, I would like to see bikes being used, but I used to ride year 'round 40 miles from that story. (A measly 6 mile round trip as a student.) Asking a newbie to do that to the tune of 21 miles one way is asking a LOT!! Especially in winter! Ben |
Very bad case of not understanding opportunity cost
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$233K and counting. Plus a free car off the lot.
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One has to wonder...
Now over $235,000 Why don't they just close the donations with a "Thank You". At this point, their PROFIT from posting a hard-luck story is just insane. I have helped people out on occasion. I usually feel bad afterwards as most of them seem to be just running scams. How many "bus fares" don't go to buses? |
Just a little bit more and he can get one of these.
Ferrari 458 Reviews - Ferrari 458 Price, Photos, and Specs - CARandDRIVER |
From the Story
It's the life Robertson has led for the last decade, ever since his 1988 Honda Accord quit on him. [...] At the plant, coworkers feel odd seeing one of their team numbers always walking, says Charlie Hollis, 63, of Pontiac. "I keep telling him to get him a nice little car," says Hollis, also a machine operator. Echoes the plant manager Wilson, "We are very much trying to get James a vehicle." But Robertson has a routine now, and he seems to like it, his coworkers say. Many people commute by bike because they want to commute by bike. And, often choose housing that promotes one's desired lifestyle. It sounds like this guy just likes to walk (and take the bus). And he chooses to spend his money on other things than a fancy car or maintaining a savings account. I think I see the confusion on distances. I think it is 23 miles from home to work, but half of that is done via bus. so the RT distance turns out to be about 21 miles, unless he misses the bus. |
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...201755338.html
Well, he got a new car (a Taurus) and then took off for work because he didn't want to be late. |
Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
(Post 17525916)
Very bad case of not understanding opportunity cost
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Originally Posted by no motor?
(Post 17534600)
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...201755338.html
Well, he got a new car (a Taurus) and then took off for work because he didn't want to be late. Does he have a driver's license? I can foresee a "Driving Miss Daisy" moment on the horizon. |
Originally Posted by alan s
(Post 17526061)
Just a little bit more and he can get one of these.
Ferrari 458 Reviews - Ferrari 458 Price, Photos, and Specs - CARandDRIVER |
Originally Posted by CliffordK
(Post 17535419)
Odd... I think James Robertson was in the passenger seat when driving off towards work.
Does he have a driver's license? I can foresee a "Driving Miss Daisy" moment on the horizon. |
3 Attachment(s)
I first read about this story on this thread, and then replied to a companion thread on the Living Car Free Forum, "Carfree man gets $80k and a new car so he won't have to walk to work"
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
(Post 17536076)
Carfree man gets $80k and a new car so he won't have to walk to work
Originally Posted by fietsbob
(Post 17528415)
Its Detroit so of course the solution is get them into the car owners co dependency...
In the 1950's, The Ford Motor Company was looking for a name for a new, relatively classy car. The discussion came around to the name of Henry Ford’s only, then-deceased son, Edsel. Edsel Ford was well-known to the Company and City as a man of refinement and culture, having established the Detroit Institute of Arts, and would elegantly define this new car and honor his memory. Well, to the outside world, this car with the peculiar front end would besmirch the unusual name Edsel, as in “Edsel…Schmedsel.” BTW, my sister lives in Rochester Hills, the destination of James Robertson, and I have found it to be one of the most pleasant suburbs to cycle in, of the otherwise hazardous Northern suburbs of the Metro area. The next-door town of Rochester, MI itself is also a historic and beautiful town, and puts on this renowned annual Christmas display on Main Street. http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=432950http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=432949http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=432951 This story was also discussed on a Commuting Forum thread, “Anyone heard of bike commuting?,” mainly from the point of view of Commuting, but,
Originally Posted by acidfast7
(Post 17523379)
Detroit needs a (several) hero(es).
Be nice and let them enjoy the spotlight. Do they running water yet? The last I heard was that the Water Municipality was dissolved? The Detroit City Motto is the intrepid “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus,” (“We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes”) adopted after the Great Fire of 1805, and did eventuate in the Arsenal of Democracy in World War II; an apt and expectant adage for the history of the City and its future. |
Stupid people donated a car. What about the other expenses for owning a car? Who's gonna foot those?
I'd give him a bike. |
Originally Posted by DVC45
(Post 17536265)
Stupid people donated a car. What about the other expenses for owning a car? Who's gonna foot those?
I'd give him a bike. If he has been working for $10 per hour for 40 hrs/week for 52 weeks/yr for 10 years. That works out to be about $208,000. This donation is now 1 1/2 times his wages for that entire decade. Not a bad bonanza. He would be better off investing the money, selling the car, buying a nice bike, and living cheap and retiring. |
Originally Posted by bigbenaugust
(Post 17525192)
Put me squarely in the "something doesn't add up" camp here. Even if someone is off by a factor of 2 and he's actually walking 21mi, that's still 5-7 hours of walking a day at an above-average pace.
Granted, he isn't doing anything else at all with his life. |
Originally Posted by alan s
(Post 17523506)
True, but this has been going on for 10 years. After a couple days of walking that distance, I'd have to start thinking about faster ways to get to work. Riding a bike just isn't on the radar, I guess. Seems like such a simple solution.
Marc |
Wait until he (or the other folks involved) see what they owes in taxes. There aren't many bikes out there that hit the federal gift tax limit...
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According to the article,
James Robertson leaves his house at about 8 AM to get to work in time for the 2:00 shift, works till 10 PM, and arrives back home at 4 AM. Then he apparently sleeps for 2 hours, and wakes up at 6AM to get ready for the next day. Is that even possible to get only 2 hours a sleep a day for 5 days in a row? So, that is 6 hours of travelling each way including walking and buses. Apparently he gets to work an hour and a half early. That seems like a lot of extra time for a person that only gets 2 hours sleep, unless he can sleep in a break room until his shift starts. https://2dbdd5116ffa30a49aa8-c03f075...escription.jpg If he is walking for nearly 12 hours a day, he must have been passed many times by bicycles. I just can't imagine that he never thought that it might be a good idea. He should be able to take the bike on his buses, but even if he has to ride the whole 23 miles each direction, he should be able to do it in about 2 hours each direction, or about 4 hours total. It drops his commute down from a ridiculous 12 hours walking/riding the bus down to 4 hours of riding the bike. It is still a long commute, but very possible. |
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