@sundogplanets i have a hard time seeing the car* dependence of living in a rural area changing

*Before it was a car it was horses etc, which of course had different costs associated with them.

@sundogplanets
First thing I did when I bought my new-to-me car was order a spare tyre kit. Fuck waiting for breakdown service when I can fix it myself in less than ten minutes.

@sundogplanets horses are more expensive and less reliable than cars.

@sundogplanets yes that’s what you need to drive up your expenses, after all vet bills are so reasonable, as is the farrier and oh wait, my gelding had metabolic syndrome, which meant I went sampling hay every year to get the right mix of protein and feed value with low sugar. But the horse manure is great for gardens.

@sundogplanets was it completely flat?

@sundogplanets A category two (the one that can do 50km/h) e-bike!

@sundogplanets I am not sure that a horse is much faster than a bicycle, if the roads are in good condition. An e-bike can provide much of the energy.

@sundogplanets horse even more likely to break down, both emotionally and physically. Perhaps a nice donkey.

@sundogplanets After using public transit in more rural areas of Spain and Japan it's pretty obvious it doesn't have to be this way. Hakone for example has better public transportation than most places in the US/CA despite having only a fairly dispersed ~10k residents. It might be supercharged as a tourist destination connected to Tokyo but it still boggles my mind.

@sundogplanets The Amish buggy is probably the closest thing to horse-powered car alternatives.

Priced like a car, too. Horse not included: https://amishamerica.com/another-amish-buggy-for-fifteen-thousand-dollars/

@sundogplanets
+1 horse 😀