Hello from chilly New York

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katydidmischief
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Hello from chilly New York

Post by katydidmischief »

My name's Katie. I learned to drive on a stick, age 15, and drove an '89 Sentra 4-speed manual until age 21 when I received a red '06 Matrix AWD Automatic as a college graduation gift. After 9 years, my baby met her end and I decided that in the new car, I wanted to go back to a manual. This past Thursday, I picked up my '16 Accent 6-speed.

I'm a little rusty after 9 years, though I'm finding that it's coming back fast and furious, and I found this board through a google search for tips to help me ease back onto the bike as it were. :)
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Rope-Pusher
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by Rope-Pusher »

That was a long Rumspringa, but hey, what the heck, welcome back to being Amish again!
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tankinbeans
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by tankinbeans »

Welcome, welcome.

We have cookies.
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potownrob
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by potownrob »

Welcome into the SS!!!! :D :mrgreen: :lol:
I take it you're from upstate New York if you think it's chilly already, nicht wahr?? :shock:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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AHTOXA
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by AHTOXA »

Welcome, Katie.

Bunch of us old, boring regulars on here, but folks here know their stuff. So don't hesitate to ask anything.
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Squint
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by Squint »

Welcome! Better late than never in coming back to the Amish side. It's totally more fun - though tankinbeans might be lying to you. I've been here for years and the only cookies I have are the virtual kind that don't taste that great...
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enniroc
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by enniroc »

Welcome! I'm just getting back into driving stick after several years away from it, too. Some old, old neurons are still expecting my new Nissan to shift like an old Jeep. Sorry, brain, no can do.

I'm envious you were able to learn on a manual. When I was learning to drive, my parents were dead-set against them and figured they'd be gone from the roads within a few years. A few years later, their income dropped, & they started buying manuals again. I had to just take one out on a back road & teach myself. *shrug*
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potownrob
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by potownrob »

enniroc wrote:When I was learning to drive, my parents were dead-set against them and figured they'd be gone from the roads within a few years. A few years later, their income dropped, & they started buying manuals again. I had to just take one out on a back road & teach myself. *shrug*
You done painted a pretty picture of your parents there. Do tell us more, please. :twisted:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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enniroc
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by enniroc »

potownrob wrote:
enniroc wrote:When I was learning to drive, my parents were dead-set against them and figured they'd be gone from the roads within a few years. A few years later, their income dropped, & they started buying manuals again. I had to just take one out on a back road & teach myself. *shrug*
You done painted a pretty picture of your parents there. Do tell us more, please. :twisted:
Apparently my dad used to drag race his truck against his friends' trucks in high school & his automatic beat everybody else's manuals, and that was that. My parents eschewed them for 20 years.

The weird part is, they're both *really* good at driving stick. I don't know why they wouldn't want to at least pass on their talent. My loss.
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theholycow
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by theholycow »

enniroc wrote:The weird part is, they're both *really* good at driving stick. I don't know why they wouldn't want to at least pass on their talent. My loss.
To eschew manuals, I can understand.

To not want to deal with having a manual in the family just for the sake of teaching the kids...I kinda kinda sorta maybe understand a little.

To not bother teaching the kids, making them learn on their own, after replacing all your own cars with manuals? That's weird. Well, at least you've got us for that!
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tankinbeans
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by tankinbeans »

Anything has got to be better than how my dad tried to "teach" me. We never made it into a vehicle; he's too paranoid to let me drive anything even though it's my brothers who destroyed his car TWICE.

His only instruction was to "ease off the clutch as you're easing on the gas." He never mentioned how to get the thing moving in the first place and he's a big proponent of the slow, steady release of the clutch during a downshift. I've learned more from these happy people than I ever learned from my dad.

Of course I had my friend who took the bull by the balls and had me drive his 5 speed Ion 2, which was nice. Later he had me driving his super loud, straight-piped Mustang GT. It was easy to tell when I mucked up in that.

Lately I've been trying to show my mom so she's comfortable enough to move my car if necessary. We have a 2 car driveway, but it's lengthwise. I always park nearest the street because I leave most frequently. Mom has the walk amd chew gum problem as it relates to manuals. Getting all of her feet and ands doing different things is nervewracking for her.
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enniroc
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by enniroc »

theholycow wrote:To not bother teaching the kids, making them learn on their own, after replacing all your own cars with manuals? That's weird. Well, at least you've got us for that!
Weird, I agree. The only thing I can figure is that it's such second nature for them, they figured we'd sort it out on our own. Which I guess we did.
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enniroc
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by enniroc »

tankinbeans wrote:Anything has got to be better than how my dad tried to "teach" me. We never made it into a vehicle; he's too paranoid to let me drive anything even though it's my brothers who destroyed his car TWICE.

His only instruction was to "ease off the clutch as you're easing on the gas." He never mentioned how to get the thing moving in the first place and he's a big proponent of the slow, steady release of the clutch during a downshift. I've learned more from these happy people than I ever learned from my dad.
My parents were always like, "Meh, they're just cars." So in high school, I alternated between a Franken-F150 (two tone, panels from other trucks, 4 unmatching tires, courtesy my dad) and a '94 Corvette (sorry, automatic, but hey! still!). That was before my parents converted back to stick shift en masse....

My mom & I had a few driving lessons together; all ended in screaming matches. She sent me to driver's ed instead. Probably for the best.
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Squint
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by Squint »

enniroc wrote:My mom & I had a few driving lessons together; all ended in screaming matches. She sent me to driver's ed instead. Probably for the best.
Seems like it. :lol: :lol:

I did drivers ed equivalent here to get the insurance discount. Most major companies offered like a 10-15% discount if you completed 5 driving lessons. My last one was after I had my license. I literally drove the instructor guy around town for like 30 minutes with no specific maneuvers or parallel parking or anything :lol: :lol:
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wannabe
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Re: Hello from chilly New York

Post by wannabe »

my mom figured she couldn't handle us girls while teaching us basic driving....so dad did it. in the empty church parking lot. learning to park between strangers cars and his 01 beetle (which is now dead....turns out rear-ending another car with a beetle causes 7k in damages, 4k in airbags, due to no crumple space)....scary. but i learned!
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