Thread: Got to love it

Oh boy, all that sounds familiar.

Bob

My wife gets aggrevated with me. Her car has more gadgets than a Swiss army knife. I say, "that'll be expensive to fix WHEN it breaks." When I got a new van for work I got one as plain Jane as they come: manual locks, manual windows, manual seats, hell, I'd have gotten manual transmission if they made it.
I'll.tell you what scares me to death is self driving cars. People love to talk about human error. Ever catch yourself drifting out of your lane? What happens? You quick yank it back to right. When machines screw up they keep screwing up. I'll drive the dad blame car by myself thank you very much.

Manual transmission.... You forgot about the manual choke, and pumping the peddle a few times before you try starting it.

Good post, Bob.!

I remember my first car, had to pull out the choke and it really started to run rough if i forgot to put it in quickly enough.

Both the women I have tried to teach how to drive a stick shift just did not want get it and so did not. Just could not get the clutch and gas pedal coordination to avoid bunny hopping starts, when to up/down shift and their eyes glazed over when they were told how to use the parking brake when stopped on a hill to avoid rolling back when the light changed. OTOH all my female family members in Germany handle a stick shift with aplomb as you hand to earn your drivers licence on a stick shift.

When I met the boss she had a Hyundai Pony with a manual pull out choke. I hated that car but to it's credit even if you did not plug in the block heater at -35c it would grunt out half a turn and fire up. At the time there was no guarantee that a North American car with an automatic choke would start under the same conditions. We have come a long way since then though.

Bob

Having grown up with the plastic rotary dials, I remember discovering that the earlier, metal rotary dials were easier and more comfortable to use.

Also curious about the driver's permit situation in Britain as mentioned. If one passes the test with a standard (manual) transmission, is one allowed to drive an automatic transmission without needing to have a specific license for it?

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Also curious about the driver's permit situation in Britain as mentioned. If one passes the test with a standard (manual) transmission, is one allowed to drive an automatic transmission without needing to have a specific license for it?

I'd be interested to know also. One would think that you would not need to re-qualify on an automatic. The automatic does all the work for you therefore anyone, some say idiot, can drive one.

Bob

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Having grown up with the plastic rotary dials, I remember discovering that the earlier, metal rotary dials were easier and more comfortable to use.

I have a dial phone hanging on my wall. People still think that it's functioning.



Back in the day they would use J A instead of 5 and 2 to start the prefix.



Before the advent of cell phone everything here in Walla Walla was 525, 529, 522 etc. When a crew would come from the Seattle area and would want my phone number I'd tell them the (5) and then the last four of the number forgetting that they weren't from here so then I'd have to go back and tell then it was 525-????.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I have a dial phone hanging on my wall. People still think that it's functioning.



Back in the day they would use J A instead of 5 and 2 to start the prefix.



Before the advent of cell phone everything here in Walla Walla was 525, 529, 522 etc. When a crew would come from the Seattle area and would want my phone number I'd tell them the (5) and then the last four of the number forgetting that they weren't from here so then I'd have to go back and tell then it was 525-????.

My dad has one in his basement. Must be 50 years old. Back then if the phone broke they sent someone to the house to fix it. Needless to say they were built very well as their motivation was to not have to repair them. As opposed to creating a product that will last until the second hand passes 12 midnight on the 366th day. Wait a minute? They don't have them on modern clocks anymore. Probably too complicated for modern engineers.

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

Having grown up with the plastic rotary dials, I remember discovering that the earlier, metal rotary dials were easier and more comfortable to use.

Also curious about the driver's permit situation in Britain as mentioned. If one passes the test with a standard (manual) transmission, is one allowed to drive an automatic transmission without needing to have a specific license for it?

Yes if a person passes the driving test in a manual they can drive either but if they take the test in an automatic, that's all they can drive.

My ex wife couldn't get her head around the clutch so she passed in an auto and we had all sorts of trouble trying to find a small enough auto for her.

At one stage she wanted a smart car but she couldn't get one because apparently they can be driven in non auto mode so need a standard license.