Adventures in Driving

My wheels while I'm in Europe. It's a manual. Ugh.

So, this past weekend, I rented a car. I originally booked an automatic, because that's what I'm accustomed to driving. When I went to pick up said car, they didn't have an automatic, so I had to take a manual transmission. The last time I drove a manual, I was 16 years old and it was my Grandpa Bangerter's VW Rabbit. I stalled it out in an intersection twice and that basically did it for me. No more manuals.

Needless to say, I'm not entirely thrilled to be driving a manual over here. I do okay once I'm in gear and as long as the land is flat, but hills continue to be the bane of my existence. I stalled out and had to go through three light cycles to get into first the other day. It would be a gross understatement to say that rattled my nerves a bit. I'll get the hang of it, though. I have no choice, really.

That said, can someone please explain to me why, in the name of all that is holy, is a portion of the civilized world still driving manuals when we have technology that will do that work for us? Makes absolutely no sense to me, at all. None. But there you have it.

Photo copyright: Janet Kincaid, 06/09