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machine_dove at 10:36am on 07/09/2005
machine_dove at 10:36am on 07/09/2005Urg. Erik's car was apparently not fixed completely - Monday on his way to work, he started having transmission problems. He called me to have me pick him up, at which point I promptly locked myself out of the house. Nice. Rather than calling someone else to pick him up, he attempted to drive home in a car that stubbornly refused to kick over to the proper gear.
In the meantime, I vented on my cell phone (which I had grabbed instead of my keys) to my mother, who offered us the loan of my crazy sister's former car - she's decided that they don't need it at Nick's new posting, so she gave it back. One problem - it's a manual, and Erik can't drive manual. I've been trying to get him to learn for two years, with no luck.
He gets home, rants and roars, and finally calms down and decides that yes, getting that car is probably the best option for us at this time. So - we set out in the Mini to teach him to drive a manual.
*twitch* I'll gloss over that part. There are fingermarks in my passenger door, though. This is my Mini we're talking about. Actually, he didn't do half badly. Then - we drove the three hours down to my parent's house, getting there Very Late. Sleep was had by all.
We met mom for breakfast the next morning after she finished making the car all legal and happy. I thought that on the way back to the house, all of two miles, Erik should try again. Errrr...bad idea. He couldn't get the Mini out of the parking lot, kept stalling out. There was more Ranting and Roaring. I clarified a few things about how much gas, exactly, the car needs to keep from stalling out, which made him feel better.
Later in the day he finally worked up the nerve to take the Tercel out. We spent a few very confused minutes trying to figure out the gears - there isn't a fifth gear in the car. He managed fairly well - made it to the gas station (Rachel kindly left it with a bone-dry tank) and back without too much trouble. We had to stick around for dinner (and for traffic to clear out a bit), so it was nearly 9PM when we set out back home. We had some discussion about what route we should take home - Erik wanted to take deer-infested Rt 17 with its frequent traffic lights. I pointed out that it's Much Faster to get to I-64 from my parent's house, and that we wouldn't have to worry about things like stopping or downshifting for a few hours if we went that route.
After that it went pretty well - he had some rough spots starting out, but I think he's gotten the hang of it. The real test is going to be today when he has to drive up to northern VA to work without an escort. Urg...
Oh yea - there was much playing with baby Michael, who is all kinds of fun. He liked our dog Sara, and terrorized her quite amusingly. I have pictures. I also napped the Curtains of Neatness, which may or may not eventually become a court gown - or, at least, the bodice and underskirt of a court gown. I'm not sure how period-appropriate it is, since it has a printed design rather than a woven design. We're waiting to see how long it takes for Terry to notice that Something Has Changed - when you consider the fact that, unlike normal curtains, these covered the entire wall, leaving only the window exposed you'd think it would be blindingly obvious, but he hadn't noticed when we left. Of course, we sneakily took down the curtain hardware, so even a trained observer can be granted a few days grace. ^_^
In the meantime, I vented on my cell phone (which I had grabbed instead of my keys) to my mother, who offered us the loan of my crazy sister's former car - she's decided that they don't need it at Nick's new posting, so she gave it back. One problem - it's a manual, and Erik can't drive manual. I've been trying to get him to learn for two years, with no luck.
He gets home, rants and roars, and finally calms down and decides that yes, getting that car is probably the best option for us at this time. So - we set out in the Mini to teach him to drive a manual.
*twitch* I'll gloss over that part. There are fingermarks in my passenger door, though. This is my Mini we're talking about. Actually, he didn't do half badly. Then - we drove the three hours down to my parent's house, getting there Very Late. Sleep was had by all.
We met mom for breakfast the next morning after she finished making the car all legal and happy. I thought that on the way back to the house, all of two miles, Erik should try again. Errrr...bad idea. He couldn't get the Mini out of the parking lot, kept stalling out. There was more Ranting and Roaring. I clarified a few things about how much gas, exactly, the car needs to keep from stalling out, which made him feel better.
Later in the day he finally worked up the nerve to take the Tercel out. We spent a few very confused minutes trying to figure out the gears - there isn't a fifth gear in the car. He managed fairly well - made it to the gas station (Rachel kindly left it with a bone-dry tank) and back without too much trouble. We had to stick around for dinner (and for traffic to clear out a bit), so it was nearly 9PM when we set out back home. We had some discussion about what route we should take home - Erik wanted to take deer-infested Rt 17 with its frequent traffic lights. I pointed out that it's Much Faster to get to I-64 from my parent's house, and that we wouldn't have to worry about things like stopping or downshifting for a few hours if we went that route.
After that it went pretty well - he had some rough spots starting out, but I think he's gotten the hang of it. The real test is going to be today when he has to drive up to northern VA to work without an escort. Urg...
Oh yea - there was much playing with baby Michael, who is all kinds of fun. He liked our dog Sara, and terrorized her quite amusingly. I have pictures. I also napped the Curtains of Neatness, which may or may not eventually become a court gown - or, at least, the bodice and underskirt of a court gown. I'm not sure how period-appropriate it is, since it has a printed design rather than a woven design. We're waiting to see how long it takes for Terry to notice that Something Has Changed - when you consider the fact that, unlike normal curtains, these covered the entire wall, leaving only the window exposed you'd think it would be blindingly obvious, but he hadn't noticed when we left. Of course, we sneakily took down the curtain hardware, so even a trained observer can be granted a few days grace. ^_^
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