Robert C

I have an MBA and, frankly, if I could find a job that paid $15 dollars an hour in Salt Lake City, I would be there and not working in Kansas. As it is, I see my wife for winter and summer break.

Buffalo Buff

Saves $$. Mine expired. Sold my car and bought a bike. The lack of a drivers license hasn't negatively impacted my life in any way over the past 1.5 years, and I'm saving a bit of $$ and time by not bothering to renew it. That's not taking into consideration how it indirectly supports $$$ savings by encouraging me not to drive cars, since it would be against the law.

CbadRider

Minimum wage discussions are considered political. If you want to continue to discuss it, this will be moved to P&R.

Ty0604

Was the issue with carrying a gun to the gun range? Or an ID issue? Tell your wife 'thank you' for being mature enough to know when it's time to stop driving. I wish there were more responsible people like her! And kudos to your daughter!

Ty0604

I made $10/hour at my last hourly job and lived comfortably. But then again my roommate at the time made $17/hour and was always broke. It's all on how you spend your money. I grew up really poor (and homeless for a time) so I guess I know how to live on little to nothing. Even now I live really cheap just due to those circumstances.

To the administrator; sorry for continuing this topic. I felt the need to reply to it. Please don't move this topic. It can end here.

Roody

Thanks for the warning, instead of just moving it without any notice,

Walter S

I guess we're not expected to provide for our own needs. Having to to care for yourself and your family is apparently a form of slavery. "The Man" should not be curtailing our freedom like that.

Then there are the fools like me and you that can see a job as better than no job and call that a baseline to grow from.

Robert C

No, according to the letter of the law, when transporting a firearm in a vehicle the firearm, and ammunition, must be in separate, locked, compartments of the vehicle, other than the glove box, and inaccessible to the operator. There is no way to do that on a bicycle.

(for that matter, I cannot see how it can, really, be done in most autos)

Ty0604

I asked my brother, a sheriff in Washington, about this. He said rifles can be carried on a bike as long as it's unloaded and the ammunition is in a locked bag (like a pannier.) Handguns can be carried as well if they're in a locked bag (again like a pannier).

Not being one to like guns I didn't ask if that law varied by area.

Sorry for getting off topic though. Any one else license free?

kickstart

You might have misunderstood? Washington is an open carry state, and that extends to one riding bicycles or motorcycles, but one must have a concealed carry permit to possess a loaded firearm in a vehicle, or in a bag that's accessible while riding a bike or motorcycle.

I didn't get a licence until I was 22. Had no interest as I was into bikes, then enlisted in the Army less than 2 weeks after graduating. I was stationed in Germany for 4 years, they have excellent public transit, and I was still really into bikes.
I finally got my licence when I got out, but just so I could ride motorcycles. I've had cars or trucks when I had to, and had a car and motorcycle when I was in the Coast Guard just because, even though I didn't really need transportation. When I drove longhaul, I carried a bike just to explorer new places, and run errands. Most of my life its been its been a choice to use motorcycles or bikes for my primary transportation.

Its funny, the whole concept of being car "free", or licence "free" sounds pretentious, The vast majority of people who don't have a car or licence simply don't have them due to circumstance rather than as a goal, or affectation.

Ty0604

No, I didn't misunderstand. Locked panniers aren't considered "accessible." They're in the same department as the trunk of your car.

I grew up in Trotsberg, Bavaria due to my father being stationed there. Miss Germany a lot.

As for your license, is a motorcycle license different than a car license or do you first have to get a drivers license and then some additional license afterwards?

Ekdog

Aspiring to a simpler, cleaner, more respectful life based on walking, cycling and using public transport instead of driving sounds pretentious to you? You're looking at the world upside down.

How can you stand to participate in a subforum called Living Car Free?

kickstart

I had to get a regular drivers licence and add a motorcycle to it later. Taking the driving test was the first time I drove a car on a public road, but I did have driving experience from the military.

kickstart

It doesn't bother me at all, I don't get all hung up on the semantics, I just find it amusing.

Why not "no licence" or "no car" instead of the "free" moniker? The negative connotation of "free" is very obvious to the point of cliche. Why play innocent? We all want to feel superior in some way.

Roody

First of all it's part of the English language, to describe something you lack as the noun conjoined with the suffix "free". German and some other languages have a similar feature.

In the case of carfree, I think there was originally a play on the word "carefree" implied. If you don't have a car, you're free of the cares of owning one, such as the legal responsibility and the financial obligation.

As for that superiority stuff--not something that motivates or interests me or other carfree people I know. The total opposite, in fact. Not having a car gives you an inferior status in the eyes of a few people, including some on this forum. But I really don't care if people think less of me--I'm contented with my decision to be carfree and license-free.

Ty0604

Got it. Every one from the town I was living in (Eatonville) would go to Morton instead of Puyallup or Tacoma cause there was no traffic to fight with and I imagine it made new drivers less nervous than driving in one of the later places.

kickstart

Selective perception?

Not having a car or licence is a poor measure of an individuals "simpler, cleaner, more respectful life", and having a licence, or not makes absolutely no difference in that reguard.

Ekdog

I don't think I'd ever encountered the term before I came across this forum. I liked it immediately because it put not relying on a car in a positive light. This goes against everything we were taught in the United States: that car ownership is part and parcel of being "successful," that riding the bus is for "losers," that we men won't be attractive to the opposite sex if we don't have a nice car, and so on. Many of us have grown to see things differently, and changing the way we speak is an important part of this.

kickstart

I did the road test in Renton, that was amusing.

Ekdog

Driving leads to a dirtier environment. Car-free living is cleaner.

Living car-free can be a simpler way of living. No driving tests, less driving-related stress, less economic pressure to pay for the car, the insurance the gasoline, etc.

Thousands of human beings and other creatures are killed and maimed by cars every year. Car-free living is more respectful of life.

kickstart

There is no "free" ride, every option comes with baggage, but technology and expanding availability of viable options will substantially mitigate these issues, and we will need to find something else to pat ourselves on the back for.

wolfchild

The vast majority of LCF regulars on this forum are car-free or license free due to ideological and philosophical beliefs. They simply believe that not having a car and not having a license makes them morally and ethically superior to other human beings who need a DL because their circumstances in life make driving a necessity. LCF has become a religion to some people.

I-Like-To-Bike

I don't have a smartphone and am not tethered to a need for carrying it with me wherever I go, or making monthly payments for data plan, etc. Does that make me something special too, ya think? Or would that be just oh so precious?

Walter S

Maybe some people drive because they're concerned about overpopulating the planet.

Ekdog

Pat yourself on the back. All I'm doing is pointing out that there are already viable options.