The Coffee House

sm4him · Feb 6, 2015

15ºF here this morning, but might hit 60º by tomorrow afternoon.
It's a wonder I haven't cracked from these drastic temperature changes around here…oh…wait… :lol:

limr · Feb 6, 2015

I learned to drive on a VW Rabbit, then had a 10-year-old hand-me-down Chevy Chevette as my first car when I went to college. Then I had a VW Fox. That also died prematurely when some piece of crap ran into me and messed up the frame. Car was totalled. I cried for days.

limr · Feb 6, 2015

It was 6F when I drove to work. It's quite invigorating.

Gary A. · Feb 6, 2015

limr said:
It was 6F when I drove to work. It's quite invigorating.

I imagine that at 6F, a lack of invigoration would equal death.

Gary A. · Feb 6, 2015

BTW Leo, I could see you driving a pick-up. Yippee ki-yay!!!

sm4him · Feb 6, 2015

I learned to drive, stick shift at least, on my brother's MG. If you've ever driven an MG, you know that the seat is pretty much just on the floor of the car, and your legs stick straight out toward the pedals. I couldn't really adjust the seat much (because the adjuster bar didn't work well) and my brother was about a foot taller than me. So…yeah…that was fun! But it did make learning to drive pretty much ANY other car a breeze.

My first car was a 1965 VW Beetle. My brothers taught me how to do pretty much any routine repair job on it myself. It was in pristine condition, and man, I loved that thing!!
Had it for several years before it lost control on a wet interstate off ramp (one of those where you end up doing a 360º about-face). It must have spun around about six times, hitting the guard rail in a different place with every spin, and dropping parts as it went. But thank God for guard rails, because on the other side of that rail was a nice 50- or 60-foot dropoff back down to the interstate below!
But after it finally stopped, I just sat there and cried. Not because I was hurt--neither my sister or I had so much as a single scratch!--but because I loved that little car.

limr · Feb 6, 2015

Gary A. said:
BTW Leo, I could see you driving a pick-up. Yippee ki-yay!!!

I've driven trucks. I wouldn't want one as a daily driver, though.

My first driving lesson was from the passenger seat. My father was driving me to school or work or something in the Rabbit. He turns to me and says, "You want to learn how to drive, huh?" I'd just turned 16. "Yes!" I said. "Good. I'll do the pedals and tell you when to shift." and then he took his hands off the wheel. I steered and shifted for about a mile or so before he took over again. "Not bad." was his only feedback.

My dad was a little nutty