My car broke down and it's now dead in the water. (A bad alternator? We're not sure yet. I'm getting a quote from my mechanic before I decide to fix or replace the car.) Since I work from home, it would be downright silly to rent a car when I would only need it once or twice a week. Almost everything I need (restaurants, a grocery store, my gym, and even Best Buy) is within a 10-minute walk.

I had some checks to deposit into my bank account, but my ATM is not quite as convenient. One of them is maybe a half-mile away up a hill. I decided to visit another one, in a grocery store I go to. It's about a mile and a half from my home - three miles round trip. It was a nice day and I was going to take a walk anyway, so why not walk the whole way? Fancy that - a woman in Los Angeles walking!

I felt so good when I got back (my legs were tingling). Then I wondered what sort of shape I'd be in if I walked or biked to run all my errands (except major trips to the grocery store). I do walk a lot already, but I think I could do even more.

We get so dependent on our cars, we forget that people used to live without them (and still do in much of the world) and get along just fine.