Is this a goofy-ass dog, or what?
She sleeps like that all the time, with her eyes partially open, her tongue hanging out and snoring like a band-saw. She has an active dream life; quite frequently she’ll start twitching her paws, then begin to flail around wildly, kicking pillows off the sofa and raking any creature within reach with her claws. Stop disturbing the peace, Patsy!
Here’s a story from Gawker (I know, I know) about a failed carjacking. Summary: A group of teenage boys took a 71-year-old woman’s car keys at gunpoint but could not make a getaway because the jacked vehicle had a manual transmission and the stupid shits didn’t know how to drive a stick. They were forced to flee on foot instead.
I learned to drive on a stick and taught my 15-year-old to drive on a stick too. Recently, I traded in my manual transmission car, and the salesperson tried to ding me on the trade-in value by saying he had trouble unloading sticks, which may be the case, but that ain’t my problem.
Anyhoo, my daughter’s first car, a family hand-me-down, will also be a stick, and it gladdens my heart to know that her dumb little friends probably won’t know how to drive it, nor would dim-witted thieves know how to steal it. One less thing!
Please feel free to discuss whatever.
Morzer
Shortstop
Ours does all that, too — tongue, open eyes, active dreaming. Then she wakes up, notices her tongue has dried out and starts lapping furiously to get it wet again. We laugh.
schrodinger's cat
My first car was also a stick and I was always deathly afraid that it would stall at one particular intersection that was uphill. They are more fun to drive, though the learning curve is steeper.
jeffreyw
Kittehs. Discuss.
Elizabelle
That is a Ralph Kramden face. On Miss Patsy.
Good the sprout can drive stick. All for any skills a kid can learn. Never know when they’ll come in handy.
I learned to drive in a red 1966 VW beetle with a Blaupunkt radio.
schrodinger's cat
My Yogi Kitteh has an active dream life too. He twitches and flails when he catnaps. Once after what must have been a particularly harrowing dream he woke up with a start and his tail went all bottle brush.
It was too funny.
schrodinger's cat
@jeffreyw: Well dressed kittehs you have there.
Morzer
On the subject of critters with big-ass teeth:
FIFA has charged Luis Suarez with biting.
bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28011936
SiubhanDuinne
Is this the same dog that looked like a seal in that picture you posted the other day? Somehow, she looks less . . . um . . . spiritual . . . with her tongue hanging out. Cute pup, though.
I’m off in a while to plow through stacks of papers for my elderly cousin. She was widowed last summer and somehow I managed to get the job of bringing some order to the chaos of paperwork that ensued. I’m far from the best person to do this, for a whole lot of reasons, but it seems to have fallen to me, so off I go. Going to treat myself to a late breakfast at J. Christopher’s on the way, though!
schrodinger's cat
@SiubhanDuinne: I think seal dog was a different pup.
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: Nope, it’s the same dog. The many faces of Patsy Marie!
catclub
@schrodinger’s cat:
My pet peeve. A steep learning curve _should_ imply that learning is rapid, not that it is difficult.
A shallow learning curve _should_ imply something that takes a long time to learn and master.
Thus, the ‘intuitive’ Mac has a STEEP learning curve, while non-intuitive Unix has a shallow learning curve.
Next we can discuss plateaus in learning curves. A short, steep learning curve that gets you to limited abilities may not be as useful as a long shallow learning curve that takes you to greater heights of usefulness.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Patsy is clearly a hoot. Layla has a very active dream life as well. And clearly a happy one, as she’s been known to wake us up thumping her tail loudly. On carpet. When she does that on the hardwood I believe she wakes the neighbors.
@jeffreyw: Adorable. That’s the sum of my discussion; thanks for reading.
gussie
You should see the kids these days try to operate my cabriolet.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: Cute face though, in all its different manifestations.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good luck with the papers.
Have you seen Roz Chast’s latest? Copies for me and my sister just arrived this morning.
Can’t We Talk about Something more Pleasant? Guardian article with excerpt from book.
Morzer
Interesting discussion of why athletes like Suarez bite:
washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/25/why-do-some-athletes-bite-like-uruguays-luis-suare…
Nicole
Good parenting. I really regret I never learned to drive stick.
Or maybe I should say, haven’t learned yet.
schrodinger's cat
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Is Layla a dog or a kitteh. Tail thumper kittehs usually has a huge mad.
low-tech cyclist
I didn’t drive a stick until I was 33, when a friend from church had a great used truck he was selling at a great price that was perfect in every way, except that it was a stick.
I bought it anyway, taught myself to drive it over the course of the next few days (good thing this was in Newport News, VA, which is flat as a pancake), and have never looked back. I’ll let go of my stick shift when I trade it in for a self-driving car.
And if it had been my car that those kids had tried to carjack, I’d be so doubled over with laughter.
ETA: Nicole, as my story illustrates, there’s plenty of time to learn.
SiubhanDuinne
@gussie:
What’s the problem? All they need is a decent corkscrew.
Oh wait.
Elizabelle
I’m still a little amazed that we were awaiting last night, with bated breath, the results of the Republican Senate primary in Mississippi. And rooting for the longtime incumbent.
Strange days.
schrodinger's cat
@catclub: Going uphill on a steep gradient is hard, so it makes sense that a steeper learning curve is something that is harder to climb. You are going against gravity or inertia in the case of learning something new.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Can’t wait to read it! Heard an interview with her the other day on NPR (might have been Bob Edwards’ Weekend) and ordered a copy of the book on the strength of (1) the interview and (b) being insanely crazy about Roz Chast.
Amir Khalid
@Morzer:
I keep saying, they should require Suarez to play in a muzzle.
Lee
My oldest is 17 and her first car is a stick. It took a really long time finding a used car in good condition that has a manual transmission.
I’m dreading it for my second who is 14.
Svensker
I learned to drive a stick in S.F. in the hills. Adrenaline and total-ass fear are a help to learning.
Hadn’t driven a stick in 20 years until we rented a car in France. Since I was the only one with a valid license it was my chance for a really steep re-learning curve. Negotiating a double-lane roundabout with crazed French truck drivers while trying to remember how to shift and change lanes at 70 mph… Let’s just say I didn’t need to do kegels for a couple weeks.
muddy
I taught my son to drive stick when he was 10 and was physically big enough (not on public roads). We lived way out in East Bumfuck, and my concern was that I would be injured or something and he would need to do it.
He never got it out of 2nd that first year, but that was good enough for my purposes. I said to him that in case of emergency, damage to the car was not my main concern. We stepped it up as years went by, and by the time he could get his permit he was already a good driver.
Really I think I was able to teach him better when he was 10 – 12. By the time they are 15 they can scarcely hear Mother’s voice, it’s like the wind blowing.
Morzer
@Amir Khalid:
You are the Master of Fate for soccer. Can’t you just mandate it, O Divine Hammer?
Kay (not the front-pager)
My dad made a point of only having manual transmission cars when his kids were learning to drive (either that or he figured he might as well have cheaper cars for his kids to scratch up). He said it was easy to learn an automatic once you knew how to shift, but really hard to learn a stick once you were used to an auto. We followed the same path with my kids, who both prefer a manual transmission now.
Fun story: When my nephew was a college student he lived in a less-than-desirable neighborhood near D.C. He drove a souped-up 25 year old trans-am he’d bought from his uncle. Late one night, as he was unlocking his apartment door, he felt something cold against his head – a shotgun. The thief demanded his money (not much), his cell phone (still valuable enough to steal back then), and the keys to his car, the only thing of value he owned. As you can imagine, he was terrified and handed everything over with alacrity. And then watched with amusement as the thief struggled and bitched about not being able to get the car started. With neighbors pouring out of their apartments, and sirens approaching, the thief cursed my nephew and fled on foot.
Come to think of it, I bet my nephew doesn’t think that’s such a fun story at all. But at least he didn’t lose his beloved car.
Gin & Tonic
I taught my (now) wife to drive a manual transmission when we were still dating, and I taught both my daughters while they were still in high school. There are men, apparently now also including my son-in-law, who like a woman who is self-confident and knows how to drive a manual-transmission car.
WereBear
@jeffreyw: Thank goodness I have a kitten at home already.
Morzer
@Gin & Tonic:
Madame Morzer longs to get her own pick-up truck, although she’s made no mention of a gun-rack. Put me down as one of those men who likes confident women. I might even have to get a “Real Men Are Not Afraid Of The Big Bad Hillary” sticker.
Amir Khalid
In other news, Seth Rogen causes an international incident. Years ago, there was a bit of fuss about Zoolander, which featured an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of Malaysia, a country name Ben Stiller probably picked out of an atlas. Needless to say, our PM Dr Mahathir was not impressed, which is why Zoolander has only ever been seen here on bootleg DVDs.
ant
People that don’t know how to drive a manual trans car shouldn’t be afraid to get one, and learn how.
Getting started in first gear is the hardest part. Some practice in a parking lot will get you there.
After that, the rest is nothing that some miles won’t iron right out. After a while, it becomes just like second nature, and you won’t even have to think about it.
I think that a manual trans is a great technology. I gives you better control over the power train of the car, and is useful in small underpowered cars like a Honda Fit for example.
schrodinger's cat
@Amir Khalid: Hasn’t he been the Prime Minister forever?
Morzer
@Amir Khalid:
Great. Six weeks before Madame Morzer and I relocate to South Korea and the lunatics over the border are going teabagger on us.
schrodinger's cat
@Morzer: We should have a New England BJ meetup before you guys leave.
ETA: Are you going to be on a sabbatical?
WereBear
I learned how to shift on a motorcycle, and while I can drive stick, the learning did not transfer that well, and my passengers fear for the clutch.
Now, living in the land of a million steep drives with lights at the peak, I don’t even consider it.
Larv
I’ve never owned an automatic; driving one feels weird to me, like I’m only half in control of it. You don’t actually drive an automatic, you just steer it.
Morzer
@schrodinger’s cat:
No, it is a full-time move to Seoul. Madame Morzer’s parents are of the elderly persuasion and she wants to be near them. I am looking forward to experiencing a new city and culture, although I shall miss many things about Somerville.
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: My old Subaru had a hill holder which would stop it from sliding backwards on a steep gradient.
WaterGirl
@Morzer: I was excited when I saw that, but the article at the link only says they have “opened disciplinary proceedings”. Maybe they edited the article? Has he actually been charged? (really hoping the answer is yes)
Mnemosyne
I started to learn how to drive a manual transmission when I was in driver’s ed, but the instructor made me pull over and get out about five minutes into the lesson because he was afraid I was going to strip the gears. Doing several actions simultaneously is not my forte.
I can parallel park like a champ, though.
Amir Khalid
@Morzer:
As a rule, deities should refrain from interfering in the affairs of men, except when there’s some fun to be had.
moderateindy
I get why someone that has a sports car would like a manual transmission. Other than that, I view driving a stick the same way I do when people use chopsticks to eat Chinese food……you know they invented this thing called a fork……….
Mnemosyne
@jeffreyw:
That kitten looks almost exactly like our Mr. Charm and Personality (aka Keaton), right down to the slightly worried look.
Gin & Tonic
In other news, SCOTUS has killed Aereo. It went 6-3, Breyer writing for the majority and Fat Tony in dissent, but my Gogle-fu is not strong enough this morning to tell me who was where. This was not an ideologically “clean” case.
Lymie
Another advantage of a young driver using a car with a stick shift – hard to text at the same time! Yay! And friends can’t borrow it (mostly).
Valdivia
Learned to drive on a stuck but haven’t driven in do many years I’m sure I’d have to refresh all the instincts.
Valdivia
Gah. Learned to drive on a stick. I’ll stop commenting now for shame of typos.
Isua
I have a stick shift Honda Fit, and I got it for just that reason, Ant! Back in 2007, when they were still relatively new, I think I had to wait an extra month to get a stick instead of an automatic, but I figured in a car powered by hamsterwheels I would want that extra control, and I still love it seven years later.
Mnemosyne
@Morzer:
Good luck — moving to a new country can be a rough road. My co-worker’s wife tried to move from England to California and had a really hard time adjusting to the culture shock. (She also had children/grandchildren still in England and missed them even more than she thought she would.) But everyone I know who’s visited South Korea really liked the cities and the people, so you have that going for you.
And since Cracked has an article for every occasion:
The 6 Strangest Things About Life in Korea
shelley
Even more goofening…NewsMax headline
Yes, oh yes,please.
WaterGirl
@Morzer: Is that ever a creepy photo of Suarez. Ugh. shivers
tjmn
I learned to drive a stick in Duluth, MN. My hubby spent a lot of time hanging out the passenger side window to wave other drivers around our car. It seemed like EVERY intersection had a steep incline. Hills do not intimidate me now.
Elizabelle
@Valdivia:
Hello! You wuz missed at our recent meetup. How goes it with you?
Morzer
@WaterGirl:
I believe that he has, to all intents and purposes, been charged and Uruguay have been given a deadline by which to respond.
aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/06/suarez-charged-fifa-over-world-cup-biting-20146255223893642.html
Suarez seems to be claiming that Chiellini attacked his mouth with his shoulder, incredible as that might seem.
catclub
@schrodinger’s cat: yes, but if the x-axis is time ( or effort)
and the y-axis is skill level, my explanation makes sense.
What set of axes would explain having a steep learning curve for something that is hard?
y-axis of effort-per-skill explains steep learning curve, not sure what that makes the x-axis
Morzer
@WaterGirl:
The really creepy ones are those taken just after Suarez has done (or gotten away with) something heinous and is grinning to himself like a particularly malevolent child.
NorthLeft12
I learned to drive stick while in University [Co-op jobs in industry] and have been buying stick shifts ever since. Taught both of my daughters to drive stick and they became the envy of their friends. My wife knew how to drive stick before I met her.
Funny story about stick shift saleability; back in the day [1986 or so] I ordered a stick Eurosport station wagon [married with two young kids] under the GM employee purchase plan [my brother worked for GM] and when the local dealer refused to give me the vehicle at the proper price I laughed in the salesman’s face and said “Good luck selling that car to anyone else.” The next day after everyone cooled off and my brother got GM Canada to intervene and explain how the system worked to my local dealer, I got my car at the proper price.
It was a pretty good car and lasted until about 1998 with +250KMs on it.
Gin & Tonic
@Morzer: I am looking forward to your first post after you move, settle in and eat this.
catclub
@moderateindy: Yeah, modern automatics are just about as efficient as a good manual driver, and sometimes more efficient. Nonetheless, we have two manuals at our house – a bad experience with replacement costs of an automatic did it. Also, in spite of the fact that a manual has to be special ordered, they still are listed as cheaper.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Parents started me driving when I was about 8 or so. Back roads only, of course. Could drive stick when I was 12.
Had mandatory driver’s ed, back when the schools used to offer it for free (stickshift mandatory back then). Five days, three kids and a teacher who assuredly wasn’t getting paid enough. I got fifteen minutes behind the wheel, teacher pulled me off the road and said “you’re fine, the next four days are going to be pretty boring for you, bring a book.”
Hard to read when your head is getting slammed back and forth by newbie drivers.
Nowadays the driver’s ed is all privatized, and most of the companies providing it use automatic transmissions only. If the parents aren’t teaching them, they are not learning stick.
Dean
@Elizabelle: “I don’t think “rooting” is really the right word. Although it was good to see another batsh*t tea-partier bite the dust and go all bitter over it, Lol. Now I can actually root for the Democrat, which is a long shot in ‘chickens for Colonel Sanders’ Miss….
Roger Moore
@moderateindy:
I think your analogy is better than you realize. Like a manual transmission, chopsticks take some practice to get good with, but once you have that practice they’re really handy. Eating with chopsticks is a lot like eating with your fingers, but more sanitary.
Betty Cracker
@muddy:
I think that’s absolutely true. The kids in our family have always been allowed to drive tractors, boats, and vehicles on country roads before legal driving age, and we’re better drivers for it. My kid already knew the basic shit before she got her learner’s permit, which meant we could focus on teaching her to drive in traffic. And yes, she has had to be reminded that no, you DON’T know everything, so quit rolling your eyes and listen to me or forget about driving…
Morzer
@Gin & Tonic:
I think I might stick to bibimbap. Dearly as I love y’all, my willingness to sacrifice my digestive tract for your curiosity is quite limited.
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
The World Cup 2014 disciplinary committee is investigating. They’ve asked broadcasters for video, and ordered Suarez and the Uruguayan FA to give their side of the story. If they determine that he did bite Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder, they can suspend him for up to 24 matches (probably just Uruguay internationals) or two years.
Morzer
@Amir Khalid:
I hope FIFA remember that he’s had 17 games’ worth of suspensions for biting already, plus another 8 for racism.
Gin & Tonic
@Morzer: Oh, come on. What doesn’t sound delightful about raw fish fermented in its own urine?
Morzer
@Gin & Tonic:
Shall I send you a packet and you can report back to the rest of us?
schrodinger's cat
@Morzer: Good luck, that’s going to challenging in more ways than one.
raven
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Here’s my dad with the brand new 56 Chevy driver training car. I learned on his lap about the same time as you.
WaterGirl
@Morzer: Couldn’t happen to a
nicercreepier guy.Gin & Tonic
@Morzer: I appreciate it, but I suspect it doesn’t travel well. And probably has some difficulty clearing international borders.
hoodie
Got my son driving a manual Honda Fit after he managed to wreck our old Pilot by getting distracted at a four way stop. It may be wishful thinking, but I think the stick makes him pay more attention to what the hell he’s doing and gives more feel for driving dynamics. The Pilot was too big and gave crappy road feedback. He needs to be in a smaller vehicle, and the stick makes the Fit feel more peppy than the underpowered lawn tractor experience you get with an automatic in such a small vehicle. The Fit feels like it’s a bat out of hell when you’re only going 30 mph, so he can feel all sporty while he’s really driving like Grandma. After seeing what happened to him, it scares the hell out of me seeing teens driving mom’s old Suburban or some other behemoth that they really don’t know how to drive and in which they have no feel for actual speed (they should have a GVWR limit on new drivers). Added bonus is the comedy value of watching him cram his 6’5″ frame into that Fit.
WaterGirl
@Morzer: That photo seriously creeped me out. I don’t think I can look at any others. What a creep. I hope they apply the strongest possible sanctions.
Seriously, that photo felt creepier to me than any vampire movie or TV preview I have even seen. I need brain bleach.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: That car would be worth big dollars today.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: SCOTUSblog is the best place to start. I am on my phone or I would link. Good 4th Amendment news in the Riley case – cell phone content (info on stored on the phone itself) is generally protected from searches without a warrant.
Amir Khalid
@Morzer:
Which should be an aggravating factor when the committee decides his punishment, which should be for more than ten Uruguay matches. Amazingly, he was team captain at Ajax Amsterdam at the time of his offence there.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: Can you imagine! Of course my pickup is only 10 years older.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: @muddy: I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 21. It did not work for my mother and I to be in the car together. It was totally her fault, at least that’s the way I remember it. :-)
Valdivia
@Elizabelle: hi! I only heard about the meetup after the fact. :( I was enjoying my first vacation in a long long time cavorting all over Scandinavia. All is good, and you? we should finally try and have our own meetup of two :)
Morzer
@WaterGirl:
Just wait until you see the promotional materials for:
Luis Suarez’ Italian Kitchen
raven
@WaterGirl: I got mine at 16. The old man let me have a motorcycle because, as he so elegantly put it, “I’d only kill myself and one other person”. Of course, he was right.
WaterGirl
@Morzer: I am going to pretend I never read that.
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: I don’t understand why behavior like that is tolerated on a repeat basis — repeatedly biting people should land a player in a dog pound. Seriously, what an idiot. Most people learn not to bite in preschool.
Valdivia
@Morzer:
Good luck with the move. We will be here waiting to hear all about it! :)
burnspbesq
Well, the Supremes have decided (unanimously!) that in most cases cops need a warrant to search the contents of a cell phone seized during an arrest of the owner. This was obviously the right answer, but I wonder how much reassurance can really be taken from the unanimity.
supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-132_8l9c.pdf
ericblair
@Roger Moore:
Yep. Most of the rest of the world drives it, so if you have any chance of going outside North America and needing to drive, learning it while maneuvering out of an airport parking lot in a strange car while jetlagged and trying to read the road signs is not the best idea.
I prefer a stick, but IMO if you need to drive in congested North American traffic it’s a pain. Everybody else is driving an automatic, where you creep forward by taking your foot off the brake. This is a really bad speed for someone driving a stick, since you’re not quite in first gear usually and are constantly working the clutch. If everybody else is driving a stick the overall speed tends to work out better. I’ve come out of hour-long traffic jams with my left leg burning.
WaterGirl
@raven: Did you clash with your dad like crazy when you were a teenager? Seems like you must have, to have gotten into some trouble. I love your old photos, you’ve got some great ones.
Morzer
FIFA sound to me as if they’ve decided already that they want Suarez gone:
theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/25/luis-suarez-fifa-decision-biting-chiellini
SFAW
@Morzer:
What part of Korea? Seoul? Pusan (a/k/a Busan?) Sokcho? Jinju? Third Infiltration Tunnel?
Morzer
@SFAW:
Seoul. Although the Third Infiltration Tunnel sounds like a rather cool address to have.
burnspbesq
Don’t get your hopes up re a big hammer falling on Hannibal Suarez. The longest suspension FIFA has ever handed out for bad conduct in a World Cup match is eight matches, and that was for a kick in the nuts.
The maximum possible suspension is 24 competitive internationals, which would take Suarez out of the next Copa America and almost all of qualifying for 2018. I’m hoping for 15 and expecting 10.
raven
@WaterGirl: Oh god, clash! I could tell you stories that would curl your hair. It was a difficult time but he did the best he could given who he was. I got it together with him and my mom before they died, that’s what counts.
raven
@Morzer: It was less cool when we didn’t know where they were and the NK “infiltrators” would pop up outside our wire.
Scuffletuffle
@Valdivia: YOU KILLED STUCK, DAMN YOU!!
Amir Khalid
@schrodinger’s cat:
He retired in 2002 after two decades as Umno party president, Barisan Nasional coalition leader, and PM. He was succeeded by his deputy PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, then by the current PM, Mohamad Najib Abdul Razak. But while Dr M was there, it certainly felt like forever.
SFAW
@Morzer:
Well, it is, in a literal sense, i.e., a light jacket on a hot day. But unless you’re shorter than Danny DeVito, it’s not a good walking-around place.
Maybe you could find the fifth Infiltration Tunnel, get them to build it bigger? (I’m assuming you’re of at least average height.)
MomDoc
I learned to drive on an automatic but my dad decided that my first car should be a manual. I think I had expressed an interest in learning how to drive a manual so that probably played a role.
I had a manual Civic during my last 3 years in college and when I finished medical school, I bought a manual Camaro. My now-husband thought it was sexy that I could drive a stick. Sadly, I now drive a Pilot but I miss the fun of shifting gears — it definitely makes driving itself more fun! My sons are early teens and I want them to learn on a stick as well so we will have to find something for them to learn on.
raven
@Scuffletuffle: I remember when I was “stuck” here at BJ!
Morzer
@SFAW:
6’5″. I think I qualify for average height in the NBA, although I am not so sure about Seoul.
burnspbesq
I can drive a stick, and spouse strongly prefers sticks, but a modern auto with paddle shifters is far more competent than I am, so that’s my preference. I had an auto (with buttons on the steering wheel instead of paddles, alas) on my Boxster. If it’s good enough for F1, it’s good enough for me.
The one obsolete technology I’m holding onto is vinyl.
Svensker
@Morzer:
Wow, that’s a big move. Hope it all goes well for you. We expect many reports.
SFAW
@raven:
I thought you were in ‘Nam. Korea also? Or was I wrong about ‘Nam?
raven
@SFAW: The first one’s they found you could drive a 3/4 through, right?
hoodie
@raven: I learned on a motorcycle, too. I lived in the country outside of Dahlonega, so it wasn’t like riding in Atlanta. Besides, you could get a permit at a younger age back then, gas was cheaper and you didn’t have to have liability insurance. Sucked when it rained, however. Made it much easier to learn how to drive a stick when I started driving cars. Best day in my mom’s life is when my bike was stolen down by Tech. Never rode again.
WaterGirl
@raven: I’m glad to hear that you worked things out with your parents before you lost them, that really is what counts. My hair gets pretty straight in the winter once the humidity drops, I could use some hair curling stories then!
SFAW
@Morzer:
Nah, in Seoul, you’ll fit right in.
Morzer
@SFAW:
I’ll try and do things Gangnam Style.
SFAW
@raven:
Don’t know about that. The Third isn’t big enough for that, and Teh Intertoobz says the First is 1.2 m high by 0.9 wide. Allegedly they could get 30,000 per hour through the Third, but that seems a little high.
LanceThruster
When I bought my first car, I did not know how to drive a manual transmission, and my first test was to drive it out of the underground parking up a steep ramp onto a busy street. Fun times. Thank Glob for the hand brake.
raven
@SFAW: Both, Korea 67-68 (just in time for the Pueblo and Blue House Raid) and Nan 68-69. I was sent to Korea because I was only 17. I was reassigned to Lewis and could not hack the stateside bullshit so I wrangled orders into a unit that shipped in Oct 68. Mensa I was not.
SFAW
@Morzer:
I’m sure that will endear you to your in-laws in ways you can’t imagine.
raven
@hoodie: My last bike in Athens I sold the day school started at UGA and those idiots tried to kill me.
raven
@SFAW: Here’s a 30 minute video of my unit that I got from the Bn CO about 10 years ago. We were just south on Munsani looking over the river with Charlie Block behind us. All city now.
artem1s
@hoodie:
@Isua:
I bought my Fit in 2007 mostly because they didn’t have a hybrid with a stick at that time. It’s my third car with a stick (1987 Civic hatchback; 1994 civic coupe) and planning on my next to be the CRZ 6 speed. I was so pleased to see this article about the woman in her 70s still using manual transmission. I’m never giving mine up as long as I have the option. I hate that dealers and designers keep pushing consumers toward an all automatic world. boring! My only beef is with other drivers who pull up right on my tail on a hill. But that’s annoying even if you are driving an automatic.
when my nieces and nephews started driving I tried to encourage my sibs to teaching them to drive manuals. My reasoning was they would never have to worry about their kids friends getting behind the wheel. And I have always felt it was easier to manage driving in the snow when I have control over when the wheels are engaged. I agree that manual drivers are more attentive drivers.
raven
North Korean Infiltration Tunnels Under the DMZ
SFAW
@Morzer:
Yeah, proximity to Malden and Meffa is a big selling point.
And re: bibimbap: would you have your Korean friends (present or future) come here and only eat at McDonald’s? I mean, I like it too, but it’s not the Korean version of haute cuisine. Although I hear Jinju bibimbap is pretty good.
muddy
@Betty Cracker: @WaterGirl: One of my sisters did not learn to drive until she was 30. She thinks she is much better because she learned “as a proper grown-up”. OMG so not true! It just does not come naturally at all to her and it’s terrifying to be in the car with her. Back and forth in the lane, gesturing with the car, faster and slower in jerks. Best of all is the constant rolling and jerking while driving stick.
She insists she must have the stick because of gas mileage. I said it’s not more efficient if you do it wrong.
SFAW
@raven:
I was focused on the First and Third, completely overlooked #2. No brain, no pain. Thanks.
raven
@SFAW: I just remember how shocked I was when the started finding them. We could never figure out how that 31 man team got right in our backyard.
SFAW
@raven:
I didn’t know anything about them until the day before we visited #3. Kind of stunning (both the tunnel, and not knowing about it.)
raven
@SFAW: Yea, it was stunning for me to remember that we had 6 rounds per tube for our 105’s and 40 rounds of small arms ammo and they could have jumped us with a couple of divisions in a matter of minutes. Xin Loi to mix metaphors!
schrodinger's cat
@catclub: time vs. effort.
Lyrebird
@artem1s: I envy you! But the Fit is set to drive at such high RPMs, I am not sure I can persuade myself to buy a car where I’m changing into 4th gear before I’m fully finished w/a left turn.
Southern Beale
Saw this church near my house doing some overt politicking — thought that was against IRS rules? Anyone?
moderateindy
@ericblair: I live in Chicago, like you said, spend a week in rush hour traffic, and the idea of driving stick would rate right up there with “cutting rich people’s taxes will increase revenue” for moronic ideas.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Lucky am I who gets to drive the car I wanted for such a while. The car is a 2006 Subaru Forester, 5 spd and loaded (Look, Ma, I finally have a sunroof!) with less than 70K miles. Owned a 1998 5 spd that was demolished in a rear ender and for years I kept meaning to get another square-rigged Forester before they all disappeared. A friend of mine owned this car and he spared no expense. The stereo alone is worth more than the combined price of the first three cars I ever owned. My friend moved to Hawaii and left the car. When he finally concluded that he wasn’t coming back to the mainland he sold the Soob to me this year. I can get close to 30mpg in freeway driving thanks to the tall 5th gear. I’ve used it to haul everything from groceries to lumber. I wouldn’t trade the boxy little sucker for a Maserati.
burnspbesq
@Southern Beale:
Probably OK. A 501(c)(3) isn’t allowed to devote “more than an insubstantial part” of its activities to influencing legislation. That sign looks pretty insubstantial to me. YMMV. In any event, restrictions on political speech are (and IMV ought to be) generally disfavored. The answer to bad speech is good speech, not suppression of bad speech.
Southern Beale
@burnspbesq:
Regardless of what you or I think, my question is, does this violate IRS rules. It’s on a very busy street. I’ve never seen a church do this before, both endorsing a specific candidate for office and endorsing a specific position on a ballot measure. I thought this was against the rules.
Valdivia
@Scuffletuffle: dying of laughter.
Poopyman
Dropping in way late (comments TL:DR right now) to say that manuals rock, especially if you have a marginally-powered car, although I think I’d prefer them in every case. I have a pickemup with automatic, and that just requires too much diddling with the throttle to get the thing running where you want it. Give me a stick any day.
Also too, band saws are pretty quiet. She probably snores more like a chainsaw.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@raven:
We didn’t have 05 guns, though I did get to fire them (With beehive rounds!) on those occasions when we filled in for the Army so that guys in real pissholes could get back to Can Tho, get cleaned up, and do some drinking and whoring. As far as my outfit, we were armed to the teeth. We had a few M16s but we’d decided to use the M14 as our shoulder arm so we had thousands of rounds of 7.62 NATO both loose and belted. The M16, in 71-72, had a shitty record for reliability its .223 ammo was not the best if you were trying to penetrate heavy cover.
SiubhanDuinne
Federal judges have struck down same-sex marriage bans in INDIANA and UTAH!!!
Morzer
@SFAW:
For me the library and proximity to Market Basket and Sav Mor are pretty high on the list of good things about Somerville. I am not really a haute cuisine kinda guy, possibly because we do our own cooking rather than eating out.
Morzer
@SiubhanDuinne:
What with this and Thad Cockroach triumphing, I imagine Erick bin Erick’s cardiologist must be on speed dial.
WaterGirl
@muddy: It is terrifying to be driving with someone who is not a good driver, and it’s even worse if you’re on the highway, I think. On the plus side, you tell a good story, and I laughed out loud at your last line.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Morzer:
Cochran won? Okay, is the media taking this as the beginning of the demise of the Tea Party? I think that would be wrong.
Gian
@Amir Khalid:
If he played hockey there’s a decent chance he’d play in dentures
Morzer
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Yup, by about 1%, with all sorts of hooting and hollering about how he relied on votes from those people.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Morzer:
My modest understanding was that it would come down to around 2,000 votes. Despite Republican chaos I don’t hold up much hope that Childers will take the seat for the Dems. It’s Mississippi, Jake.
shortstop
@SiubhanDuinne: The Utah decision is especially important. This is the first federal appellate decision in the string of cases currently making their way through the courts. That it came from the 10th Circuit (unofficially known as the Hobby Lobby enabler) is particularly heartening.
raven
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: 14’s all the way!
Paul in KY
@catclub: I think ‘steep’ is used in the same manner that a steep mountain is hard to climb.
Paul in KY
@moderateindy: I’m with you. Driving can be dangerous & I like having less stuff to distract me when I’m driving.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@tjmn:
I learned to drive in Duluth too! (Central, class of 1986)
muddy
@Paul in KY: I took a road trip with the dog a couple years ago, and I found I loved a lot of automation so all I had to do was drive. It was the first time I traveled with a GPS and for a stereo I had an iPod Shuffle plugged in.
I loaded the Shuffle with good driving songs. I never had to make a choice, but all choices were pleasing. I liked the GPS because I am apt to miss signs when I am dealing with traffic, or a truck is in the way of seeing. I end up having to backtrack. This just piped up periodically when necessary. I downloaded a charming Irish accent so it didn’t seem so bossy.
I only had to mind the traffic, and the scenery. It was the best lone driving experience of my life.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: I would think his teammates & Uruguayans in general are pretty pissed at him right now.
Paul in KY
@Morzer: Need to work on that dance.
Paul in KY
@muddy: I have 1788 of the best songs loaded into my ipod, generally only play it on shuffle. Like the radio, without commercials or DJs!
Glad you had a great (and safe) time!
Morzer
talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sarah-palin-chris-mcdaniel-thad-cochran-mississippi-runoff-voting
The Mama Pissily of the Alaskan Independence Party hath opened her yap once more:
StringOnAStick
I went on a hike in the foothills behind our house yesterday with a biologist friend who specializes in native plants. It was eye-opening, and I’m a serious, sometimes-get-paid-to-advise-people xeriscape gardener. We saw a whole hillside of native white-flowered mondarda; it only blooms when it has been a wetter than usual spring (wetter is relative here; 18″/year is the norm).
We both talked about how crazy it has been lately; scary thunderstorms, localized deluges, and plenty of “seek substantial cover now” warnings, tornado warnings all around Denver and the eastern plains. Plus hail, lots and lots of it. It reminds me of the late season monsoonal flow that caused the serious flooding here last September. It’s like a new pattern set up last year and it is still hanging around; I think it is also how we ended up with 200% of the normal snowpack in the drainages most affected by the rains that caused that flooding. Neither of us are meteorologists or know any, but something seems odd to a couple of people who have spent their entire lives outdoors in Colorado. Are we both just seeing patterns that aren’t really there because we accept global climate change science, or is it actually becoming noticeable now?
StringOnAStick
@Morzer: Princess Snowbilly read that from a statement/teleprompter, right? It doesn’t contain enough veggies to qualify as her usual word salad.
Oh, but I agree with Caribou Barbie; a nasty, damaging, recriminations-filled recount is most certainly called for!
Steeplejack
@ericblair:
This. I learned to drive on a stick, and I always had manual-transmission cars until the last couple, when I finally admitted that I was doing way too much rush-hour highway and not enough weekend-getaway twisty byways.
That said, my last two cars have had automatic transmissions with that faux-manual option to shift up or down with the paddle, which I have used occasionally. But I’m not sure whether it’s really a useful thing or just a placebo.
Morzer
@StringOnAStick:
Really ought to be a Balloon-Juice tag.
muddy
@StringOnAStick: The weather is certainly different in Vermont than it was 20-30 years ago. Lake Champlain doesn’t freeze over every year anymore, we don’t have the season-long snowpack either. I can remember -40 with -80 windchill. Now -20 is a big deal. The snow was like a blanket, the cold effects the plants more now. Mud Season is no longer any big thing on account of that as well. Used to be when the ground unfroze and the snow melted it was a lot, and all at once. The autumn color is earlier, and I’m given to understand that maple habitat is moving north in New England as well.
Morzer
@StringOnAStick:
Summer rainstorms here in Massachusetts seem more violent to me than I remember them being. They really are monsoon-like in their intensity.
schrodinger's cat
@LanceThruster: How many times did you stall?
muddy
There was a saying in VT that there were actually 5 seasons. The usual 4 plus Mud Season. One friend used to say that there were really only 3. Mud Season, Winterofcourse, and 4th of July. I remember a joke about a man who sees a hat going along the top of the muddy road in front of his house. He lifts the hat and sees his neighbor is beneath it. Damn, you’re in it deep! Guy in the road says, You should see the horse beneath me.
You never hear these kind of jokes anymore, they do not ring any chimes now. And it’s not because of the horse.
Tone In DC
@Svensker:
LULz.
bmcchgo
I have a Honda Civic ’92 with manual drive and I will run the damn into the ground, god willing. But I am hearing that nowdays cars primarily come in automatic only. (It’s been 24 years since I’ve been on a car lot).
Is that true? Can you get a new car with stick these days? Is that extra?
schrodinger's cat
Open thread needs a moment of Zen
Warning: No has kitteh.
muddy
@schrodinger’s cat: Beautiful!
StringOnAStick
@bmcchgo: You can get sticks, but it is harder to find. We gave up and finally got an automatic Outback after realized that we both had problems with our left knees, and using the clutch just made it worse. One year later, and both of us are having fewer knee problems.
@muddy: we have a good friend in Vermont who is a field biologist (bugs, and birds sometimes) and he says the same thing. Winters are shorter, not as cold, and not as snowy. Here in the Denver area we don’t get the extreme lows anymore, and while it was snowpocalypse in the mountains, it was thin down here in the city all winter. It seems like the range of events has widened, with the temps sliding over into a higher range, and that higher range provides more heat energy to drive bigger storms. I’m watching a scary one get it’s big vertical growth mode on right now, and I just put my hail covers on my garden.
schrodinger's cat
@muddy: Thanks!
Trollhattan
@StringOnAStick:
Had a lengthy response that WP eated for NO reason, so won’t try to repeat it.
Just that my season’s first backpacking trip in the northern Sierra last weekend was in an area that should still be under several feet of snow. It’s bascially mid-August in June. Winters here are also shorter and warmer. Vertical extinctions are observable throughout the range, as species run out of mountain up which to migrate.
Our drought is part natural cycle and part us, spinning the cyclical wheel faster and harder.
Good times ahead.
Trollhattan
@bmcchgo:
Select models only, and frequently only so long as you’re willing to order them and pay full price–dealers won’t stock them on spec.
Always drove sticks until about 2000, when the car and drivetrain I wanted was simply not available w/o an auto. My left foot feels neglected. (Although I was murder on master cylinders because I like to double-clutch.)
muddy
I know a Bircher. Back in the 80’s he had some conspiracy theory about global warming. That it was true, but it was caused by the government, who were trying to raise land values in Canada. He was unclear about whose government was instigating and benefiting, probably all of them in concert.
I thought of it the other day when a friend in the south was saying she could never live here because it was too cold. Not for long! Yay for global warming raising my property value???
kabiddle
Except for one vehicle I’ve always had a manual transmission — I just love them. My daughter used to deride me for driving with them (not cool or something) but once she learned how to drive and we got through the sometimes harrowing learning phase, she understood that they are much more responsive and fun! And I do think you are correct that it discourages car thieves — I had experienced a home invasion at one point and in desperation to get the asshole out of my house I gave him my car keys, but he couldn’t drive a stick. Though I ended up having to drive him before I called the cops, I got to keep my car and a semblence of my dignity. Must say though that as I am getting older and looking for a new car to replace my 1999 Honda CRV manual, I am thinking about an automatic. The hills from a dead stop and long-distance driving in traffic jams with a manual are beginning to fray my nerves a bit.
Sibelius
I never learned a stick. I had an old Nissan Sentra which lacked power shall we say and I used the automatic to get going sometimes when I needed a boost. When I was shopping for new cars a couple of years ago I almost settled on a new Honda CRV. It had adequate power for most driving, but there is a left turn I have to make and I need POWER or I’ll be sitting there forever with cars backing up behind me. Went for a last test drive before purchasing and it just couldn’t handle it. It didn’t have paddle or “manu matic” shifting capabilities and the location of the transmission was HORRIBLE, so I couldn’t even use it like my old Sentra when I needed a little extra torque to get going in a hurry. Walked away to the Acura dealer and bought more or less the same car but with a V6 and paddle shifters! The thing is it doesn’t need the shifters because of the engine, while the CRV needs one or the other. Of course Honda got my money either way. Love my car, don’t get to drive it anymore since all I do is chauffeur my girls a few miles to school and back so my wife gets to commute to Palo Alto in it now. I’m “stuck” with the old Mercedes C280 with a simply brilliant engine transmission system. Same thing, manu matic which it never needs and super power to weight ratio. I miss my RDX though, great car. Anyone looking for a CUV should look carefully at that one. Best thing I drove, not too expensive, and really comforatble.
PST
Way back in the late 80s, I visited the UK on business and decided to take a short driving holiday afterwards from London to Bath and back. In those days, cars with automatic transmissions commanded a big premium from rental companies there, although I had never seen anything but automatics at Hertz or Avis in the US and had never driven a stick myself. I was very cheap and so I taught myself to drive on the wrong side of the street and to shift gears all at the same time. It was a bad idea but I lived to tell the tale.
schrodinger's cat
@PST: You are a brave person.
Abo gato
Learned to drive on a 68 VW that was orange. Lot of fun! When our son was learning to drive we got a stick sedan for 1200 and taught him to drive on that. Once he was done, we sold it for 1200. Money well spent and returned.
SFAW
@raven:
Reminded me of a scene from Little Big Man. Where’d all them Injuns come from?
Ruckus
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Never even saw an M16 when I was in, 69-73. We carried Springfields in boot camp, qualified on the range with 22s. Tin can I was on 71-73 had BAR, Thomson, Garand, 1911 for small arms.