The bike trips as well as the car trips were best thought through ahead of time. Real commuter bikers don't go home from work, have dinner, and then decide to go to the drugstore. They stop at the drugstore on the way home . I found that, conveniently, there was one of almost everything on the way home from my office. Once again, since I was forced to manage my time better, I didn't seem to have any less of it in the long run.
Gas is still cheap and our daily costs are minimal in terms of both time and money.
But these costs are deceptively low, part of a pleasant dream we'll eventually have to wake up from. Already, surrealistically long waits at red lights and incidents of road rage are causing us to turn uneasily in our sleep. AND NOW I have to include myself once again in that sorry picture. But after the accident, with many months in a full-leg cast ahead of me, either I had to get a car or depend on others for my mobility. I bought the car.