I drove my mom's Nissan Sentra, with a MANUAL transmission, home from the airport today. She took off to San Luis Obispo, CA, for her Oscar party, and, as we know, my car is now in Boston. So, my options were: learn the stick shift, or get annoyed by taking the bus everywhere when I've been driving in this city for almost 7 years and therefore KNOW how much shorter my trip is if I can hop on the highway and bypass half the city. Guess which option I wanted. Yeah, that's right. Don't get me wrong, I'll use public transportation when it's the better option, Portland actually has really great public transportation, but let's face it, this is a Western city with a lot of "urban sprawl". So the combination makes it seem really easy to survive without a car...until you have one. Then you wonder how you ever got anywhere.
So anyway. I learned the stick shift. Yes, I killed the car a couple times on the way home. Yes, I peeled out once. The light turned green and I was on a slight hill. Portland is hilly. I can intentionally avoid the big hills, but that's about it.
I'll probably be a pro when my mom returns on Monday.
Anyway, time to relax for a bit before I try to take the car in some real traffic in order to make it to dinner at 6.
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2 comments:
Plus I bet the traffic is a little bit better there so not as much "pressure". The first day my friend ever tried a stick she came to a red light at the top of the hill. Took her 6 tries to make it & she ended up having to blow the light since it was the first time she got moving without stalling. lol. You go, go, go all over town girl!!
Yeah, there's less "pressure" for sure. Although I did try to drive it during the early part of rush hour yesterday. Not recommended in any city.
I'm getting better and better every time I go out in it though.
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