exsequar: (SN Impala extraordinary grace)
exsequar ([personal profile] exsequar) wrote2006-12-28 03:51 pm

(no subject)

*facepalm*

So I just had my first go at trying to drive a stick shift. I need to learn really really well by two weeks from now, since I'm supposed to drive myself back to school (four hours!) in this car.

It went okay, but by the end there was a lovely burned-something smell coming from the engine. Oops?

How about everyone shares their horrifying first-time-driving-stick stories so I feel better, mkay?

[identity profile] wendy.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never driven a stick. Ever.

Well that just SOUNDS dirty, doesn't it?

[identity profile] exsequar.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
That's because you're a dirty girl! *kiss*

[identity profile] affectingly.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Um, I almost ran my grandpa over because I released the clutch while it was still in first and it shot forward.... but after that I took to it pretty quickly. It really depends on the teacher, because my mom couldn't teach me how to do it to save her life, but my aunt got in the car with me and I had it in 5 minutes. So make sure it's someone who actually knows how to teach someone to drive a stick.. because even if you can drive one, you can't always teach others how to. :(

[identity profile] exsequar.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oops - I hope he was ok! I think I need to get my dad in the car with me, get him to teach me. My mom was doing okay, but she kept forgetting important things like needing to keep the clutch on if you stop while in gear. Stuff like that :P My dad taught me to drive an automatic, he's a great teacher, so hopefully I'll do better with him.

[identity profile] ignipes.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Awww, you'll get the hang of it before long. It just takes practice. When I was first learning I used to do this really dumb thing where I would think that I had stalled at a light or a stop sign, so I would try to start the car again, but it would turn out I hadn't stalled so it would make that horrible noise that cars make when you try to start them when they're already going, and it would scare me so much I would jump and take my foot off the clutch and actually stall.

Um. I don't think we need to share just how many times I did that.

(I wrote about Dean teaching Sammy from my memories of teaching my sister. Oh, those were fun times... *g*)

[identity profile] exsequar.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee! Oh dear! I remember once trying to start my dad's car when it was already going, just because I was being dumb and not paying attention - the sound was not pretty. :P

Eee, I need to read Dean teaching Sammy - maybe I'll be inspired! :D

[identity profile] glamorous-nymph.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
You mean like manual cars? I've never driven anything else.

I had issues with my mum's new car though. It liked to stay in first gear a little longer than our old one. So I'd be in second and it'd yell at me and slow down and I'd be like *accelerates* and it'd be like STOP THIS YOU CRAZY BITCH and then I figured out not to move up to second so soon.

[identity profile] exsequar.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
The car keeps saying STOP THIS YOU CRAZY BITCH in various ways - it's less than fun! *pouts* I hope I'll get the hang of it!

[identity profile] glamorous-nymph.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
You absolutely will :) it'll become so natural to you much sooner than you'll expect, I promise :)

[identity profile] offtheceiling.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I have never driven a stick shift. My best friend's dad has offered to teach me, but...meh, I'm not really that great a driver as it is.

[identity profile] bexone.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I had a panic attack and then waited six more years before I actually got my license (on an automatic) after the first time my mother decided that I had graduated from just driving around parking lots to actual streets with stop signs and traffic and all, does that count?

[identity profile] book-choco-loco.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I almost side-swipe a policeman.

facepalmheaddeskheaddeskheaddesk

[identity profile] alazysod.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
When I was thirteen or fourteen, my dad had this awesome Acura that was basically the sexiest car ever. It rivals the Impala - that's how sexy it was. :D We were moving something heavy - old firewood, maybe? (Hello, hick here!) - so we dropped it into the trunk, and I asked to drive. We weren't going anywhere, just down the driveway. Basically a fifteen, twenty second drive.

I stalled it twice. :/ Wonder why I still haven't gotten my learner's permit...

[identity profile] deirdre-c.livejournal.com 2006-12-28 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
My older brother worked his ass off at Burger King for over a year to buy himself this extremely cool old Honda Prelude for Christmas his Senior year of high school. By the end of the next summer, he'd lost his driver's license because of too many speeding tickets. On his way out the door to college, he hands me the keys (cruel, cruel world that it is) and says, "Don't fucking wreck it."

I had never driven stick. Why my mom didn't bother to teach me, I don't know. What I do know was that I drove my girlfriend and I to school for three weeks, THREE WEEKS before I could make the five mile trip without stalling. Oy, the poor transmission on the 'Lude. *winces as I recall the gears grind*

[identity profile] shotofjack.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
In college, my best friend had a BRAND NEW car and she taught me how to drive a stick on it. She was a brave soul because, when you learn, you are going to ride the clutch & make that terrible smell.

But, learned I did & have driven nothing but a stick for 2 decades (well, except when I rent a car, I guess).

You will learn and, even if you stall a bunch in the beginning, don't sweat it..... *smishes you*

[identity profile] concise.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
Anne, my definate one and only Supernatural source on my flist. I need your help. I just had time to rewatch a couple episodes of SPN because I felt like I was almost leaving the fandom (GASP) but never fear, I'm still deep in it. XD But I don't have any SPN comm's on my flist. Care to direct me to any pleassse? (Maybe some Jared and/or Jensen ones too?)

Eeee! Thanks!

[identity profile] exsequar.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Hee, sure! I'm not huge into comms, but I can get you started.

[livejournal.com profile] spnnewsletter is the daily fandom newsletter. Very thorough and helpful.
[livejournal.com profile] supernatural_tv is just a general comm for anything related to the show.
[livejournal.com profile] entirelyjensen is exactly what it sounds like. [livejournal.com profile] completelyjared is its companion.
[livejournal.com profile] supernatu_icons
[livejournal.com profile] spn_caps
[livejournal.com profile] super_graphics
[livejournal.com profile] sn_fic
[livejournal.com profile] spn_fridayfive
[livejournal.com profile] spnfic_podcast is awesome - I recommend downloading all the episodes so far :D

I hope that's good to get you started! Have fun!

[identity profile] concise.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
EEEE. YAY, Exactly what I was looking for! Thankies! xD

[identity profile] sevenfists.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Hahaha! I learned to drive on a stick, so a lot of the retarded things I did were just....not knowing how to drive. My advice: go easy on the clutch, keep an eye on the tachometer, and shift right at 3000 RPM. You'll get the hang of it. Oh, and on steep hills? Put on the parking brake, and then release it at the same time you start giving the car some gas. Works wonders.

[identity profile] theamyrlin.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, my dad taught me in a 1980-something Toyota pickup truck. I've never cried so hard learning something new.

[identity profile] torturedwriter7.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Jeezus. Awlright.

Well, the first time I tried to drive stick was, consequently, the first time I tried driving at all. Yeah. Bad idea. I killed the engine a total of seven times (*le sigh*), and when I did get moving, I couldn't get myself out of second gear and only went a total of maybe 10 feet during the entire ordeal. Needless to say, I ended up so frustrated that I started to cry, and my dad, embarrassed (he's such a guy, I swear) and sympathetic, patted me on the back and said I gave it a good try (*rolls eyes*).

I haven't tried stick again. Perhaps I will eventually, but...not in the near future so far as I can see.

[identity profile] mona1347.livejournal.com 2006-12-29 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, I cannot EVEN drive a stick-shift. Not even a tiny bit.

If I had to drive a standard transmission to get my freely bleeding self to the HOSPITAL, I would die b/c I cannot do it. I can either concentrate on operating the car and making it go forward without stalling out OR I can concentrate on the road and not killing us all. Never both at the same time.

*sighs*

[identity profile] nebulein.livejournal.com 2006-12-30 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know how often I stalled my dad's car when I first drove it. (It's a stickshift, obviously.) I felt so sorry for it. Still haven't driven it too many times afterwards. But really, if you go slow you can feel the point when to release the clutch and step on the gas, try it out a few times slowly to get a feel for it. When I drove with my driving instructor's car it went a lot easier than in the mercedes of my dad. so glad i have an automatic, tho. *g*