What are you doing today!? :D

[LittleMe Jewell]

7 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Have fun! Anywhere nice?

Back in 2020, before the world was locked down, my stepson was planning a wedding out in the upper NE of the US.  My husband and I had booked a vacation of a full week before the wedding to explore that area of the US because we've never been there.  Well, the wedding and the trip were obviously cancelled. 

The wedding was already rescheduled and happened last year. This year my husband and I decided to go ahead and rebook our original vacation part of the trip.  So, we are flying in to Boston, Massachusetts, and spending 2 nights there.  We'll then drive a short bit up the coast and spend a couple of nights in Portland, Maine.  Then we'll drive inland to spend 3 nights in the mountain town of Conway, New Hampshire.  Then drive back to Boston for the flight back home.

[Rolig Loon]

22 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Have fun! Anywhere nice?

Nice would be nice. Take your niece. 😁

[Love Zhaoying]

26 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

It was OK thanks! Well...the first half was OK, I thought wow, I'm picking it up quickly! Then in the second half...my brain just went dead  I kept making silly mistakes and taking my foot off the clutch too quickly and stalling  The instructor said "You were doing it OK earlier" but it was like I suddenly forget everything from the entire first half...

He also said "You said in your emails you've never driven before... I can see that's true"  He is very patient though, which is cool. Hopefully I'll do better next week!

Congratulations! Oh no, learning on a stick shift / manual transmission? Wow!

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

Nice would be nice. Take your niece. 😁

Is she nice?

[Garnet Psaltery]

1 hour ago, Rat Luv said:

It was OK thanks! Well...the first half was OK, I thought wow, I'm picking it up quickly! Then in the second half...my brain just went dead  I kept making silly mistakes and taking my foot off the clutch too quickly and stalling  The instructor said "You were doing it OK earlier" but it was like I suddenly forget everything from the entire first half...

He also said "You said in your emails you've never driven before... I can see that's true"  He is very patient though, which is cool. Hopefully I'll do better next week!

Perhaps your brain was so fully occupied it couldn't take in any more.  You might be aware of more things than some other people are when they learn.  An old friend of mine was a nurse tutor, and she told me that while some picked up the basics quickly, and were happy with that, there were those who thought about it more, and so had more to absorb.  

[Nalates Urriah]

1 hour ago, Rat Luv said:

It was OK thanks! Well...the first half was OK, I thought wow, I'm picking it up quickly! Then in the second half...my brain just went dead  I kept making silly mistakes and taking my foot off the clutch too quickly and stalling  The instructor said "You were doing it OK earlier" but it was like I suddenly forget everything from the entire first half...

He also said "You said in your emails you've never driven before... I can see that's true"  He is very patient though, which is cool. Hopefully I'll do better next week!

Clutches are tough to learn. Learning to use them is a matter of muscle-memory training. So, lots of practice is required.

I would avoid using a car that requires manual shifting via a clutch. Too much other stuff happening.

[Cali Souther]

On 6/17/2017 at 7:25 AM, Madelaine McMasters said:

Look who I found on my (RL) walk to the beach this morning...

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww     The picture of innocence.  ♥♥♥

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by Cali Souther
Yes, I started at the beginning and necro posted LOL

[Cali Souther]

I'm busy at work.  😉

[Rolig Loon]

20 minutes ago, Nalates Urriah said:

I would avoid using a car that requires manual shifting via a clutch. Too much other stuff happening.

It would be hard to estimate how many millions of drivers -- some of them not terribly adept -- managed to learn to drive with a clutch.  It's not all that hard to learn, just mildly intimidating.  A little intimidation might be a good thing, of course. The roads might be less crowded and perhaps even safer now if millions of todays drivers could be scared off by having to manage a manual transmission.  

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Cali Souther said:

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww     The picture of innocence.  ♥♥♥

It's a deception, Cali.

That little troublemaker grew up to be a voracious landscape muncher and path-light destroyer. Over the last decade, the destruction they've caused has (I'm not kidding) exceeded the cost of my Miata. It looks like the only workable solution to my problem is to abandon nearly a half mile of beautiful illuminated forest pathways. My neighbor's dog has been chased into the house twice now, by deer that have jumped their backyard fence and attacked it.

Here's a recent little rascal, possibly a great grandchild of that earlier hellraiser...

Edited June 24, 2022 by Madelaine McMasters

[LittleMe Jewell]

Manual transmissions require enough concentration and both hands - at least in city driving with all the stops & starts - that it can decrease some of the 'texting while driving' stuff.  That's probably partly why so many people want an automatic transmission.

[Cali Souther]

22 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

It's a deception, Cali.

That little troublemaker grew up to be a voracious landscape muncher and path-light destroyer. Over the last decade, the destruction they've caused has (I'm not kidding) exceeded the cost of my Miata. It looks like the only workable solution to my problem is to abandon nearly a half mile of beautiful illuminated forest pathways. My neighbor's dog has been chased into the house twice now, by deer that have jumped their backyard fence and attacked it.

Here's recent little rascal, possibly a great grandchild of that earlier hellraiser...

I can imagine your frustration - though,  I've only had to deal with gophers.   

They are certainly good at looking sweet and innocent.  😉

 

[Cali Souther]

19 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Manual transmissions require enough concentration and both hands - at least in city driving with all the stops & starts - that it can decrease some of the 'texting while driving' stuff.  That's probably partly why so many people want an automatic transmission.

I had manual for years.   I don't text and drive,  but I do eat and drive and eventually got an automatic out of pure laziness.  It's a big deal if you have to drive in the traffic on the freeways...    stopping and starting with a manual gets old real fast!    

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

3 minutes ago, Cali Souther said:

I had manual for years.   I don't text and drive,  but I do eat and drive and eventually got an automatic out of pure laziness.  It's a big deal if you have to drive in the traffic on the freeways...    stopping and starting with a manual gets old real fast!    

The car I have now is the first I've had with an automatic transmission. The thing that finally convinced me was the waiting time and the extra cost for ordering a manual.  

I'm reminded of a short news item I read probably a decade ago.  Police foiled an attempted armored car hijack because the getaway driver was expecting an automatic transmission.

[Claireschen Hesten]

53 minutes ago, Nalates Urriah said:

Clutches are tough to learn. Learning to use them is a matter of muscle-memory training. So, lots of practice is required.

I would avoid using a car that requires manual shifting via a clutch. Too much other stuff happening.

In the UK learning to drive a manual car is the norm. You can learn to drive an automatic but once you pass your test you get a license that only allows you do drive an auto and these cars tend to cost more because they aren't common, if you pass in a manual you can also drive an automatic. I switched to an auto as my daily drive a few years ago and would be loathed to go back to manual
 

[Madelaine McMasters]

43 minutes ago, Cali Souther said:

They are certainly good at looking sweet and innocent.  😉

Remember that the next time you see me.

[Madelaine McMasters]

2 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

It would be hard to estimate how many millions of drivers -- some of them not terribly adept -- managed to learn to drive with a clutch.  It's not all that hard to learn, just mildly intimidating.  A little intimidation might be a good thing, of course. The roads might be less crowded and perhaps even safer now if millions of todays drivers could be scared off by having to manage a manual transmission.  

Until getting my SUV a couple years ago, I'd never owned a car with an automatic transmission. I'm wishing I'd never got it, both because it was designed by German idiots and because I can no longer claim to never have owned a car with an automatic transmission.

My future vehicles will be electric. I'll miss rowing gears.

[LittleMe Jewell]

39 minutes ago, Cali Souther said:

I had manual for years.   I don't text and drive,  but I do eat and drive and eventually got an automatic out of pure laziness.  It's a big deal if you have to drive in the traffic on the freeways...    stopping and starting with a manual gets old real fast!    

I only hate it when I get stuck in a traffic jam where I'm spending long periods of time just inching along in 1st & 2nd -- the clutch foot gets really tired.  My "normal" commutes never had that issue, so it isn't common for me at all. 

I love my manual and won't give it up willingly.

[Rat Luv]

2 hours ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

In the UK learning to drive a manual car is the norm. You can learn to drive an automatic but once you pass your test you get a license that only allows you do drive an auto and these cars tend to cost more because they aren't common, if you pass in a manual you can also drive an automatic.

I was going to ask if it was maybe a cultural UK thing, as I only saw one local instructor who teaches automatic!

[Claireschen Hesten]

1 hour ago, Rat Luv said:

I was going to ask if it was maybe a cultural UK thing, as I only saw one local instructor who teaches automatic!

I think comes down to a superiority complex that if you drive an auto you are seen as you can't drive properly plus they cost around £1500 more secondhand and at least used to be less economical on fuel. 

[Love Zhaoying]

Exploring the area around my new parcel!

Glad to see there is an LGBT-friendly club just down the road.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Much of today was spent preparing for and/or being at the opening of my new exhibit at Artsville. So many of my friends, many of them from here, showed up! It was lovely.

This is just a quicky snapshot taken near the end of the event, when the lag had receded sufficiently that I wasn't in danger of crashing.

[Ayeleeon]

I am sitting at home recovering from Covid. Today wil be 24 hours without symptoms, so my work will let me come back tomorrow. Not that I am looking forward to it. 

[Ayeleeon]

On 6/24/2022 at 3:07 PM, Cali Souther said:

I had manual for years.   I don't text and drive,  but I do eat and drive and eventually got an automatic out of pure laziness.  It's a big deal if you have to drive in the traffic on the freeways...    stopping and starting with a manual gets old real fast!    

 

 

I have owned my last manual transmission car. I had a VW Jetta that was manual, I traded it in because it was developing isses and i was concerned it was going to get expensive to keep going. At the time i had been having pain in my right armthat i couldnt figure out. the nes car was automatic and after driving that the pain went away. Apparantly the constant shifting was causing the pain.

[Cali Souther]

6 hours ago, Ayeleeon said:

I am sitting at home recovering from Covid. Today wil be 24 hours without symptoms, so my work will let me come back tomorrow. Not that I am looking forward to it. 

Hope you are feeling better!!!