An Exercise in Economy

[wendyzski]

I-Go cars are not charged for use between midnight and 6am. I assume this is to encourage people to use them for the evening and not to rush them back.

I know of two 24-hour grocery stores and a 24-hour Walgreens reasonably nearby.

Thus a plan was born. Since I am staying up late anyway (for lack of any reason to get up at any particular time right now) why not do my shopping when the car was free to use?

The car nearest me was booked so I got the Scion from Gateway Center - 5-6 blocks or so away. Headed over to Walgreens at Howard & Western and then to the Jewel/Osco near Howard & McCormick. Spent about $140 on stuff I needed as well as stocking up the cabinets and getting more ink and photo paper for the mass demo mailing. Came back home and double-parked with the flashers (since I've still not gotten the replacement key to the back gate yet). Got everything up in 2 loads, and took back down my big bag of library books. Dropped them off on the way to return the car - a rather more exciting event than anticipated because of an open hydrant at Clark and Farwell turning everything into icy slush and puddles. Of course, I ended up with one leg in the muck, which meant that after I dropped the car off I had to squelch my way home and then peel my jeans from my frozen sock. Lucky for me it's up to 18 tonight!

Verdict - it's certainly a viable option, though it would have been MUCH easier if I had use of both the back gate and the closer car. I will keep this in mind for future possibility.