November 29, 2009

I love to drive. I have been driving for over 40 years and still love it. When we had our first car we used to go out on weekends and just drive around. I told this to a friend of mine who already had a car. He was smiling. He said give it a few years and you would be fed up with it. But I still enjoy it.

Here are a few funny occurrences that involved cars.

In the 1960s we were in Europe. While there we rented a car. The car happened to be a Renault sedan. While driving it started to rain. Naturally, I turned on the windshield wipers. The wipers made one swoop then stopped. Later made another swoop and stopped again. It kept doing this the entire time while it rained.

I had no clue why it was doing this. I was convinced I got a car with a broken windshield wiper. At that time I never heard of intermittent wipers. At least I didn't have it on my car in the US. Fortunately it did not rain again so I never had to deal with those "broken" wipers.

Another time I rented an Opel at a European airport. The car was cool, all equipped and I really liked it. The trouble was I didn't know how to open the trunk (or boot). I tried everything with no success. I asked a nearby taxi driver thinking he might know. Had no clue. Jiggled the key back and forth and eventually it opened. Days later I read the manual and found out how easy it was.

Another time I rented a similar car. This car was with manual transmission which I really like. The funny thing with manual transmission is that Reverse is in different positions with different cars. Fortunately with this car we didn't have to go reverse because I couldn't find the correct position. Well, eventually I did find it on my own and we were able to park easily.

A few years ago on vacation we rented a small Toyota. Got to the hotel and found that I didn't know how to lock the car doors. They were not electronically lockable. I tried everything with no success. That night the car remained open.

Next day we went back to the rental place and sheepishly asked to be shown how to lock the doors. Once it was shown I realized I wasn't stupid. The way it worked couldn't be figured out by anybody who never drove a Toyota.

I used to drive cars equipped with manual transmission. I liked them. Heavy traffic never bothered me. It's interesting that in Europe a rental car with automatic transmission cost more than standard shift. Here in the US one has to look through a magnifying glass to find a car with standard shift.

Forget about renting one but even buying one is difficult. They charge extra for the automatic transmission but if you want the standard shift they look at you like you are having two heads.

There is nothing more embarrassing than stalling a car on the road for incorrect shifting and right behind is a little old lady blowing the horn impatiently.