"hethoughtofcars" (hethoughtofcars)
04/04/2014 at 19:01 • Filed to: Rants
1
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"hethoughtofcars" (hethoughtofcars)
04/04/2014 at 19:01 • Filed to: Rants | 1
| 8 |
I have a good brother-in-law: decent dude, always cheerful, great to my sister, kind of a jock (but then so is my sister, I guess) and alumnus and massive fan of my former university's arch-rival. Seriously if he has ever not worn some article of clothing pronouncing his devotion to the University of Oregon, I have not seen it.
Who wouldn't want to wear these colors all year round?
Anyway, he and my sister are in Norway teaching for the next couple years. Their leaving coincided with the lease on my Clubman being up, and since they didn't want to get rid of both of their cars, I was generously given custody of their (his) 2003 Corolla. The only instructions my brother-in-law gave me was that I'm not allowed to remove his U of O sticker from the back window. Hey, free car for awhile, so I can pay off the cars I no longer own! Nice!
Anyway, my sister and I both grew up in a household with manual transmission cars. We learned on them, bought our own stick shift cars. I've never even owned a car that you didn't have to row the gears yourself (and if you look at my avatar, you can probably tell I'm not planning on a slushbox anytime soon). A few years ago, in a reversal of pretty much all the logic of Oppo, my sister tried to teach him the art of driving a manual. He couldn't do it, and was not won over by my sister's claim's that it was "better" and that he should keep trying.
Thus his car is a 2003 4-speed auto. Hey, free car, I can't complain. Except:
I was sitting at a light, while my son in the back seat was demanding I tie his shoe. He's six and will only wear shoes with laces, despite the fact he hasn't quite got tying them all figured out.
Anyway, it's a long light so I turned around and started tying his shoe.....then, CRUNCH!
The Corolla had run into the back of the New Beetle Cabrio in front of it waiting at the light. I got out, the driver and his passenger (both guys) got out and I made sure everyone was ok and apologized profusely. Luckily there was no visible damage, and everyone was ok, so we drove away.
Still, I mean, how had I run into a car in front of me? I didn't have my foot anywhere near the accelerator (well, relatively). Oh yes, it must be because I'd let the pressure up on the brake slightly when I turned around. Since the car was in "D" it just decided to creep on forward. Amazingly , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! has not moved forward by itself on level ground. That's because when the clutch is engaged the engine is decoupled from the transmission, or you can just throw it in neutral and achieve essentially the same thing. The only circumstance that would cause it to roll forward in those instances, is...let me see, oh yeah, gravity . Since I wasn't on any sort of hill I didn't even consider it.
I'll get used to it, I'm sure. Again, free car, cannot complain. Just jarring having a accident when both cars were actually dead stopped for quite a bit before I rammed into a stationary car without ever touching the gas.
Thanks for reading, have a gated shifter for your trouble:
and a song!
BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
> hethoughtofcars
04/04/2014 at 19:12 |
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Ugh, yet another thing to pay attention to when driving automatics. Seriously, who came up with the idea that these are easier to use? Also:
dogisbadob
> hethoughtofcars
04/04/2014 at 19:15 |
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Why don't all manual transmissions have gated shifters?
If you had a manual at that light, you would've just rolled backwards instead of forwards.
Why not just wait a bit and then pull over after the light? And of course, put the car in P.
Even if I'm at a drive thru or anything that would require me to take my foot off the brake while still not moving, put the car in park.
The Corolla is an awesome car though, for the first 299999 miles. Then the odometer just stays at 299999.
camaroboy68ss
> hethoughtofcars
04/04/2014 at 19:42 |
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I love my ducks! I like both I root for both till the civil war game then its green and yellow all the way!
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hethoughtofcars
> camaroboy68ss
04/04/2014 at 19:45 |
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I'm the exact same way except the opposite!
thebigbossyboss
> dogisbadob
04/04/2014 at 20:11 |
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My dad's 1988 Toyota Corolla was the most reliable vehicle I have ever been around.
PatBateman
> hethoughtofcars
04/04/2014 at 20:25 |
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My first cousins are UO Royalty. I am not, however, a fan of their namesake's trippy ass basketball court. Pretty cool school, though.
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hethoughtofcars
> PatBateman
04/04/2014 at 22:20 |
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How did your cousins get to be "royalty"?
My whole family is Ducks and I grew up a big, big Ducks fan. I even got into U of O out of high school, but then I decided I wanted to work in Horticulture and so I went to the dreaded Ag school and became a Beaver. OSU was a blast though and I couldn't not root for my school. I find I root for both of them (and, let's face it, the Ducks football team is awesome to watch) and then I side with my Corvallis-brethren for the Civil War.
That design has actually grown on me, to tell the truth. Even "Lightening Yellow" is not the worst thing ever...
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PatBateman
> hethoughtofcars
04/04/2014 at 22:39 |
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My aunt married one of the brothers, then they had my three cousins. The family made their money from insurance companies in California. Phil Knight is a close personal friend of theirs.
The main brother (and inspirational namesake of the basketball floor) is actually a really nice guy. He was their Athletic Director for a couple of years and helped make the program what it is today.