Stickin' to it!

[Ben_Who]

I'm not sure why my Dad opted out of teaching me to drive a stick shift, but that doesn't mean he didn't force me to drive one once in a while...

See, my old man is one of those people who recognizes when he's too tired to drive, and hands over the wheel accordingly. Once, we had some joint errand to run in a town 60 miles away, and took his car. On the way back, he handed me the keys, hopped into the passenger seat, and fell asleep.

That was a long, not-terribly-smooth ride home.

When it was over, I asked why in the world he'd hand me the car keys when he had about a fifty-fifty chance of getting home and not having any clutch to speak of. He said, "I may be too tired to drive, but I'll never be too tired to yell at you."

I have a stick shift now. (I did a test drive to make sure I remembered how before paying for it.) The stick shift is really the only part of it that I like; the rest of the car is such a piece of crap that I'm already trying to get rid of it. (It's an awful little car. It's like the GMC Whim.)

[Geek King]

For those who *know* how to drive a stick shift and live in snowy areas, you know what I mean - a stick shift is simply better in snow. It's easier to control the speed of the tires and cut down on slipping and sliding.

Also easy when its slick to amaze people with a front-tire-not-moving 180 turn.

Note: I did that in an empty parking lot as the only customer in a car I had been driving for ten years. And the manager bet me I couldn't. >.>

[wolfie]

Don't ever come to the UK then; automatics are nearly as rare as hen's teeth.

Every few years I read about a Yank who goes on vacation "across the pond", doesn't specify in their booking for the rental car that they want an automatic (in North America, all rentals have slushboxes), and wind up with a manual (which they don't know how to drive).

I rented a U-Haul, and the only thing they had was this piece of junk that must have been at least 20 years old

Sounds like you got one of their newer, better-condition vehicles.

[Argabarga]

Every few years I read about a Yank who goes on vacation "across the pond", doesn't specify in their booking for the rental car that they want an automatic (in North America, all rentals have slushboxes), and wind up with a manual (which they don't know how to drive).

It's just as well to keep my countrymen off their roads, your average Yank can barely abide by DOMESTIC rules, and you think it's a good idea to turn them loose, on the left side, and then throw the curveball of roundabouts at them?

The safest option is to give them a manual and let their tour of your highways begin, and end, in a parking lot.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

I'm heading to the UK in a couple of months, and looking at car rentals now. For three weeks, a manual car is over $300AU cheaper than an automatic in the same make/model.

Looks like I'll be doing all the driving - my travel companion hasn't driven a manual in over 30 years.

[AccountingDrone]

For those who *know* how to drive a stick shift and live in snowy areas, you know what I mean - a stick shift is simply better in snow. It's easier to control the speed of the tires and cut down on slipping and sliding. Especially here, where nobody seems to know how to drive in snow.
So I'm a stick shift junkie, and will drive one until I'm too feeble to operate the clutch.

Same!

I used to work an odd sort of shift when I was with a major alarm company in their call center in Hartford. It left me getting off work at about 3 am [I specialized in bank operations and that odd sort of time was to allow for cleaning crews to log in and out.]

There is something sensually thrilling to me to be driving at the dead hour of night with a light dusting of snow coming down on road with a few inches of snow covering them. You can pop in the clutch and drift in almost silence - a very etherial sensation. There is a very specific kinesthetic feel to the drifting along as well, abolutely nothing like it.

I really love driving late at night when nobody else is on the road

And when I showed up at the car rental agency in the Frankfurt airport and the lady on the desk saw my US drivers license [and copy of the international drivers license] she was worried because she didn't have any vehicles on hand that were automatic. I had to spend about 10 minutes assuring her that I was just fine with a manual.

[dalesys]

...I had to spend about 10 minutes assuring her that I was just fine with a manual.

It wasn't the "... eyes manic and ... snout ... contorted in a wild grin, making brrm-brmmm noises..." at all, was it Nym?

(Free at: baencd.thefifthimperium.com The Baltic War CD

[sms001]

my travel companion hasn't driven a manual in over 30 years.

What better time to re-learn than on a well-insured rental?

(Note: NOT serious!!! I do not advocate purposely damaging a rented item; the basis of the humor is the wide-spread notion that people often trash rent-a-cars.)

...eyes manic and ... snout ...
(Free at:The Baltic War CD)

ahh. So THAT'S what he's doing instead of carrying the central thread in the RoF. Dastard.

Your second link was farked. Missed 'the' at the front. Actual url here:

Second Link

(Don't fret, honest folk, fine print says

Baen Publishing Enterprises...they've given permission for their CDs to be freely distributed by interested third parties.

[pzychobitch]

I know what you mean. I've gone back and forth between stick and automatic all my life. I just got back from a trip with a friend; we took her car which is stick (she was really pleased not to have to do all the driving). When I got home and started driving my truck, my hand kept dropping down to the stick, and my left foot kept looking for the clutch for about a day

My first car was a stick.

My current car is an automatic.

I haven't driven said first car in years as it hasn't been owned by me since 2012.

I find myself doing that to this very day lol.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I've never driven stick, and barring my deciding to go into amateur rally racing or getting famous enough that I might conceivably become the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear, I don't see myself ever learning how to drive stick.

I've gotten so used to putting the parking brake on in my car, however, that when I drive Mom's car, I find myself automatically reaching for a parking brake that isn't there.

[mathnerd]

I said I'd drive a stick until I was too feeble to do so as well. Life decided to laugh at me on that one. As much as I didn't want to buy an automatic, I really needed a van to transport my youngest child and his wheelchair. I was managing okay in my old civic, but he's growing, and getting too big to manage the transfers comfortably on his bad days. Plus, his chairs are getting bigger, and I was running out of room in the trunk for the larger chair.

[Ironclad Alibi]

It wasn't the "... eyes manic and ... snout ... contorted in a wild grin, making brrm-brmmm noises..." at all, was it Nym?

(Free at: baencd.thefifthimperium.com The Baltic War CD

Thanks so much for posting those links. I read the first one and its sequel many years ago. I just spend a day and half downloading and sorting out about 230 Baen ebooks from the second link. I haven't done anything with another 186 titles in the Gutenburg file. Lots of good science fiction. If I can only make time to read all of them.

[mjr]

I learned to drive in an automatic, but the first vehicle I ever owned was a 5-speed Chevy S-10 pickup. Bought it without knowing how to drive a manual.

I had to get lessons from my mother, who fortunately knew how to drive a manual.

My problem at first was forgetting to shift back into 1st gear at stop signs and stop lights.

Once I got the hang of it, I would occasionally "bang shift" (no clutch) from 3rd to 4th gear.