As I am getting older, I find myself less able to do things on my own. I used to pride myself on "doing it myself" whether it was mowing the lawn, changing my own oil, or washing my own car. Hiring people to do your personal chores makes little sense - at least when you are young and ambulatory and have the energy to do these things.
As we get older, well, it becomes harder and harder to do manual labor. My Mother warned me of this at an early age. "Save your money," she said, "You'll need it when you get older and can't do things for yourself!"
Sadly, I see a lot of young people hiring lawn guys, maids, and whatnot, on the premise that since they are "so busy" with their careers, they don't have time to do these tasks themselves. Instead, they come home from work, order a pizza, and flop in front of the television for four or five hours. I did it. All my friends and neighbors did it. Then I woke up one day as if from a dream and wondered what the heck I was doing - going into credit card debt while paying a guy to mow my lawn and destroy my sprinkler heads. I made some changes.
That was 25 years ago, and time has gone by and I have changed for the worse. Mowing even just the front yard is an exhausting chore that leaves me wiped out and dizzy. Washing even the car is a monumental task - just coiling the hose is a problem with arthritis.
So, I thought I would check out the new car wash at the end of the St. Simons causeway. The hamster was filthy and with all these doctor's appointments, I wasn't sure when I would get the time to wash it. So I rolled into "Swifty" car wash, which as it turns out, is part of a larger chain of car washes with a dozen different names.
An employee bounces out to the check-in terminal and says, "Hey Boss!" - everyone calls you "Boss" there as I would find out. They had different levels of wash, and I chose the $30 "graphene" level which was one level below their ultimate wash. The attendant explained that for $30 I would have unlimited washes for a month, so I thought I would give it a try.
Well, the wash experience was good - the car look shiny new with "graphene" (whatever that is) and they have free vacuum bays with the most powerful vacuums known to man - they literally suck the floor mats out of the car. Speaking of which, they had a floor mat cleaner machine like they had in Ithaca, and it beats the dirt right out of the mats. They have stacks of microfiber towels for wiping and drying, along with paper and "cleaner" to do your windows.
I have used it a few times since then. I kind of feel guilty taking it there when it just has water spots on it from a light rain. But "unlimited" means unlimited, right?
I tried the "other" car wash - Foamy - with the truck, for a one-time wash. Similar deal, but they have no floor mat machine. Bummer. They also had a $30 "unlimited" wash, but after a month, it went up to $45 a month thereafter. Lots of fine print to check off as well. I declined.
It made me worry though, had I signed up for an auto-renew plan at Swifty? Indeed I had and the attendant failed to mention this. I logged onto their website and after entering the number on the sticker they attached to my windshield, I was able to set up my account and enter account information.
Turns out, you can only cancel the plan online, but it appears the cancellation is painless. They will even pro-rate a cancellation if you sell your car or move away. They do require seven days notice before auto-renewal, I guess because the billing system needs time to cancel auto-pay.
They also offer a "suspend" option, if you are going away for the summer (as we do) and I will investigate that. I am not sure how it works, but I wonder if some wily user would "suspend" his account on a weekly basis, so as to stretch out how long his $30 lasts. I suspect the owners have thought of that. Probably can only "suspend" for a month at a time.
I kind of kick myself for not realizing I had signed up for an auto-renew plan. But on the plus side, it only auto-renews at $30, not $45 like the "foamy" place did. So far, I have used it four times, or once a week, and that brings the cost-per-wash to $7.50 which is less than I would spent in quarters at a "do it yourself" wash bay.
It does still require effort - to vacuum the car, to wipe down excess water and clean windows and interior surfaces. However, the amount of effort decreases over time as once the car is clean, it is easier to keep it clean.
I will let it renew another month or so, and experiment with the "suspend" feature. If they try to make cancelling like a gym membership, I will report back.
As for oil changes, I have kind of given up on that messy business. The cost at the e-z lube place is not too astronomical compared to buying oil and filters. Plus, you have a written record of oil changes (file those receipts in a binder!) which helps with resale and warranty claims. So many cars today have 100,000 mile drivetrain warranties - provided you can prove the oil was changed regularly.
With each passing day, I am "doing it myself" less and less, and I'm OK with that. I worked hard for 40-some-odd years, it is time to relax!
