RE: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
For us, life is too short to be spending it without a vehicle. My wife would be gone two hours longer each day if she had to find other transportation to go to and from work. Also, waiting for a cab around here can take an hour or so going and the same returning. I'd rather pay the cost of vehicle ownership than to waste hour after hour waiting for transportation and I certainly wouldn't burden my friends or relatives for a rides. Life is just too short. We have a van so anything we buy, including sheets of plywood or drywall can easily be transported in any weather. If no one in the house is sighted or can't drive for some other reason, that's another story. But, if someone can drive, why spend valuable time looking for and waiting for a way to get somewhere. Do you think we could get a half dozen sheets of drywall on a public bus? From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:blindhandy...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jim Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:09 PM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
RE: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Tom, I think you raise some excellent points. I guess each person or couple need to decide what is important and make decisions accordingly. I do think being without a vehicle is much easier if you live in a large metropolitan area. Where my wife and I reside it could be doable but would involve as you point out much waiting and some inconvenience on friends etc. If you have a modestly priced vehicle the costs are not exorbitant. Bottom line is whatever decision a family makes it comes with some cost Al -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:blindhandy...@yahoogroups.com]on Behalf Of Tom Hodges Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:32 AM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. For us, life is too short to be spending it without a vehicle. My wife would be gone two hours longer each day if she had to find other transportation to go to and from work. Also, waiting for a cab around here can take an hour or so going and the same returning. I'd rather pay the cost of vehicle ownership than to waste hour after hour waiting for transportation and I certainly wouldn't burden my friends or relatives for a rides. Life is just too short. We have a van so anything we buy, including sheets of plywood or drywall can easily be transported in any weather. If no one in the house is sighted or can't drive for some other reason, that's another story. But, if someone can drive, why spend valuable time looking for and waiting for a way to get somewhere. Do you think we could get a half dozen sheets of drywall on a public bus? From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:blindhandy...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jim Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:09 PM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
I think this is an issue that will be a bother for more communities, rural and urban, as the baby boomer generation ages. This is a generation of people who are used to having good mobility to come and go at will who will begin to loose the ability to drive safely. Of course many of them will continue to drive far past that safety point because they will believe they have no other choice. I to have a spouse who can drive and it is something that makes my life easier. I have also lived as an independent blind person for many years without such a spouse and am very aware of the hassle of getting larger items home from the store. Jennifer - Original Message - From: Tom Hodges To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 7:32 AM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. For us, life is too short to be spending it without a vehicle. My wife would be gone two hours longer each day if she had to find other transportation to go to and from work. Also, waiting for a cab around here can take an hour or so going and the same returning. I'd rather pay the cost of vehicle ownership than to waste hour after hour waiting for transportation and I certainly wouldn't burden my friends or relatives for a rides. Life is just too short. We have a van so anything we buy, including sheets of plywood or drywall can easily be transported in any weather. If no one in the house is sighted or can't drive for some other reason, that's another story. But, if someone can drive, why spend valuable time looking for and waiting for a way to get somewhere. Do you think we could get a half dozen sheets of drywall on a public bus? From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:blindhandy...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jim Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:09 PM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
RE: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Tom, That is a choice that you and your wife made, but it isn't one I am willing to make. I live in a city where need of a car is limited. I walk to work, or take the bus, and it takes me a lot less time to get to work than many of the people I work with who drive taking long commutes fighting their way through traffic. My wife and I own a vehicle, but it is a small fuel efficient vehicle. For the handful of times a year I need a large vehicle, it would be extremely wasteful to drive a large van around the rest of the time. Also, I utterly refuse to live somewhere, where as a blind person, I am trapped in my home without the ability to get anywhere other than by having someone else drive me there. I can easily walk to the grocery store, three blocks away, walk to coffee shops, pharmacies, liquor store, restaurants, blah blah blah, and I can do it without having to require a sighted person to drive me there. There are always trade-offs though. I live in a very small home. I have very little property. It is a town house so I have to be that much more respectful and tolerant of my neighbors. We do not have off street parking. I pay higher taxes. But for me personally, and it is my choice, and others will have made different choices, but for me, the fact that I can live my life independently, have a very short commute to and from work, make a fraction of an environmental impact do to driving so little, and living in a small house is much more important to me than the alternative. We are getting way outside of the topic for this list though, so I will say no more on the topic. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel:(412) 268-9081
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
we did not do it in Minnesota Jim but did further upstate ,NY with justa old wagon with two volkswagon care seats monted and a good mule of course now mule or horse feed is no longer cheap but she mowed the lawn, provided fertilizer as well as a job for the kids to do . and cannot think of his name who wrode from Bruke,NY next to the Canadian border by bujckboard wagon out to your neck of the oods. oh it was Almonzo wilder who ended up out there . Lee On Tue, Feb 02, 2010 at 09:08:59PM -0600, jim wrote: this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -- Let's organize this thing and take all the fun out of it.
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
My son spotted a sign the last time we were at Home depot about renting a truck from them. It was about $20 for a little over an hour. I will be asking about it the next time I need a load of something delivered from the home repair store. I thought it was a great idea. Jennifer - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Jennifer, Yes, I've also used the truck rental from Lowes or Home Depot, I forget which. You get it for 75 minutes, and it is $19.95 plus taxes and fees. The zip car concept seems a bit better for me because it offers a lot of other options and is cheaper, assuming I use it more than a couple of times a year. But the Home Depot truck is definitely a better deal than UHaul, and is pretty convenient if you can get the truck. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel:(412) 268-9081
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
I recently read a good audio book, called car free. Basically about a growing group of sighted folks, that are learning, that they actually can live with out a car, by using altermitive forms of transportation, such as buses cabs, from time to time, and renting a car are truck, once an a while, all so walking, and riding bikes. They are finally realizing how much money they can save very quickly with out a car payment, and all the insurance, and repairs, that go along with owning a car. This Zip car idea would be great for them. - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Dear Bob and all, I am very unhappy that this company won't rent me one of their vehicles, after they ask me for my driver licenses and all I could come up with was my 5 foot 6 inch white cane, plus my state ID card . I tried to explain, with a cane this long, I could and would feel the curb without problems, as long as the steering wheel was on the right hand side. They refused to accommodate my needs. Thinking of filing a ADA complaint. RJ - Original Message - From: clifford To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 19:55 Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Dan: I have never heard of this company, but I like the idea. The next logical step is to equip these vehicles, for a nominal fee of course, with a driver with suitable credentials, and I would be pleased to draw up those parameters. Yours Truly, Clifford Wilson - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
RJ, just drive on the left side of the road. earlier, RJ, wrote: Dear Bob and all, I am very unhappy that this company won't rent me one of their vehicles, after they ask me for my driver licenses and all I could come up with was my 5 foot 6 inch white cane, plus my state ID card . I tried to explain, with a cane this long, I could and would feel the curb without problems, as long as the steering wheel was on the right hand side. They refused to accommodate my needs. Thinking of filing a ADA complaint. RJ - Original Message - From: clifford To: mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.comblindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 19:55 Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Dan: I have never heard of this company, but I like the idea. The next logical step is to equip these vehicles, for a nominal fee of course, with a driver with suitable credentials, and I would be pleased to draw up those parameters. Yours Truly, Clifford Wilson - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: mailto:dr25%40andrew.cmu.edud...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.comhttp://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.comhttp://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] John Currently in Ocala, Florida Clear, 53°F Wind:N-350° at 5mph Age only matters if you're cheese. Created by Weather Signature v1.31 http://www.weathersig.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Can't think of the last time I saw a pick up truck with long white curb feelers. I'd be upset too. - Original Message - From: RJ To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:35 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Bob and all, I am very unhappy that this company won't rent me one of their vehicles, after they ask me for my driver licenses and all I could come up with was my 5 foot 6 inch white cane, plus my state ID card . I tried to explain, with a cane this long, I could and would feel the curb without problems, as long as the steering wheel was on the right hand side. They refused to accommodate my needs. Thinking of filing a ADA complaint. RJ - Original Message - From: clifford To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 19:55 Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Dan: I have never heard of this company, but I like the idea. The next logical step is to equip these vehicles, for a nominal fee of course, with a driver with suitable credentials, and I would be pleased to draw up those parameters. Yours Truly, Clifford Wilson - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Wow! aren't we showing our age? Curb Feelers! Guess you need a suicide knob as well. - Original Message - From: Bob Kennedy inthes...@att.net To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:46 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Can't think of the last time I saw a pick up truck with long white curb feelers. I'd be upset too. - Original Message - From: RJ To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:35 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Bob and all, I am very unhappy that this company won't rent me one of their vehicles, after they ask me for my driver licenses and all I could come up with was my 5 foot 6 inch white cane, plus my state ID card . I tried to explain, with a cane this long, I could and would feel the curb without problems, as long as the steering wheel was on the right hand side. They refused to accommodate my needs. Thinking of filing a ADA complaint. RJ - Original Message - From: clifford To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 19:55 Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Dear Dan: I have never heard of this company, but I like the idea. The next logical step is to equip these vehicles, for a nominal fee of course, with a driver with suitable credentials, and I would be pleased to draw up those parameters. Yours Truly, Clifford Wilson - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 11:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4829 (20100202) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Send any questions regarding list management to: blindhandyman-ow...@yahoogroups.com To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemasterPAGE_user_op
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
Aloha Don and all, I don't know if this is the same book, but on the NLS site I found: How to Live Well without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage out of Life Balish, Chris. Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 7 hours 30 minutes. Social Sciences Award-winning journalist offers a guide to a car-free lifestyle. Explains the financial, health, and ecological benefits of not owning an automobile and provides practical strategies for commuting, running errands, traveling, dating, and socializing using mass transit, bicycles, and ride-sharing. Includes testimonials from car-free consumers across America. 2006. Betsy At 10:58 AM 2/2/2010, you wrote: I recently read a good audio book, called car free. Basically about a growing group of sighted folks, that are learning, that they actually can live with out a car, by using altermitive forms of transportation, such as buses cabs, from time to time, and renting a car are truck, once an a while, all so walking, and riding bikes. They are finally realizing how much money they can save very quickly with out a car payment, and all the insurance, and repairs, that go along with owning a car. This Zip car idea would be great for them. - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: mailto:dr25%40andrew.cmu.edud...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
yes this seems to be the way to go. I'm really impressed with these services and Philadelphia has two companies that I've heard, are working now. On Tue, 2 Feb 2010, Dan Rossi wrote: This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
the last time i did a big job from Home Depot they wanted $35 to deliver anything they could get into a big truck. So unless there were other stops, or it was a little load; this doesn't work in that situation. especially if back and forth would take longer with a two truck load of stuff. But the zip car numbers nicely. On Tue, 2 Feb 2010, Dan Rossi wrote: Jennifer, Yes, I've also used the truck rental from Lowes or Home Depot, I forget which. You get it for 75 minutes, and it is $19.95 plus taxes and fees. The zip car concept seems a bit better for me because it offers a lot of other options and is cheaper, assuming I use it more than a couple of times a year. But the Home Depot truck is definitely a better deal than UHaul, and is pretty convenient if you can get the truck. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
I believe it started in NYcity where many folks go without cars. On Tue, 2 Feb 2010, Don wrote: I recently read a good audio book, called car free. Basically about a growing group of sighted folks, that are learning, that they actually can live with out a car, by using altermitive forms of transportation, such as buses cabs, from time to time, and renting a car are truck, once an a while, all so walking, and riding bikes. They are finally realizing how much money they can save very quickly with out a car payment, and all the insurance, and repairs, that go along with owning a car. This Zip car idea would be great for them. - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
This is it a fine interesting book. - Original Message - From: Betsy Whitney To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:29 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. Aloha Don and all, I don't know if this is the same book, but on the NLS site I found: How to Live Well without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage out of Life Balish, Chris. Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 7 hours 30 minutes. Social Sciences Award-winning journalist offers a guide to a car-free lifestyle. Explains the financial, health, and ecological benefits of not owning an automobile and provides practical strategies for commuting, running errands, traveling, dating, and socializing using mass transit, bicycles, and ride-sharing. Includes testimonials from car-free consumers across America. 2006. Betsy At 10:58 AM 2/2/2010, you wrote: I recently read a good audio book, called car free. Basically about a growing group of sighted folks, that are learning, that they actually can live with out a car, by using altermitive forms of transportation, such as buses cabs, from time to time, and renting a car are truck, once an a while, all so walking, and riding bikes. They are finally realizing how much money they can save very quickly with out a car payment, and all the insurance, and repairs, that go along with owning a car. This Zip car idea would be great for them. - Original Message - From: Dan Rossi To: Blind Handyman List Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:16 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. This is pretty tangentially related to handyman stuff, but follow me here. Many blind handymen don't own vehicles. Often we may not know someone who does own a proper vehicle, something useful like a pickup truck. But we do know sighted people who drive. Teresa and I have rented trucks in the past for hauling large items but it looks like this Zip Car concept, www.zipcar.com, has some pretty good benefits as well as being comparatively inexpensive. You pay a $50 annual fee. Then you can use any Zip Car anywhere in the world, they are pretty much only in major cities, for a reasonable hourly or daily rental fee. The rental fee includes gas, insurance, maintenance, and milage. The cars are parked at various locations around a city, and there are maps of where the various cars are located on the website. You can reserve online anywhere from a few hours, to a year in advance. You have a special ZIPCar card, with an RFID tag on it. The card will unlock only the specific car you reserved at the time you reserved it. It won't unlock it early, and it won't unlock a different car in another location. The keys are in the car, and there is a gas card that you can use to fill the tank. Don't ask me how they prevent you from using the gas card to fill your car, I haven't seen that answer yet. Technically, milage isn't unlimited, but you get 180 free miles whether you rent for an hour or a day. Vehicles rent for anywhere from 7 bucks an hour up to something in the teens for high end vehicles. They have a couple of Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks in Pittsburgh and those rent for about $11.50 an hour. Although, there are PA and PGH taxes and fees that make it more like $16.50 for the first hour, and $12.50 for each additional hour. There is a one hour minimum rental period, but after the first hour you can rent by the half hour. There are heavy penalties if you don't return the vehicle by the end of your rental period. You can extend your period by phone, but if the car has already been reserved right after your original period, you can't extend. I've spoken with a guy at work who uses the system mainly for the pickup truck as well. He says he never has an issue reserving the vehicle, especially if he does it a few days in advance. Overall, it sounds like a very flexible and affordable way to get one's hands on a vehicle from time to time. Less expensive than UHaul from my experience. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: mailto:dr25%40andrew.cmu.edud...@andrew.cmu.edu Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car.
I agree, definitely for folks, that live in the larger cities. - Original Message - From: jim To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 9:08 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Zip Car. this is funny living with out a car is not an option out here were i live12 miles from the nearest town. jim in minnesota [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
