The Stick Shift Experience

This post is long overdue as we have been driving here for three weeks now, or at least I (Rob) have been driving here. In the past three weeks we had two different vehicles, both having brought us to our knees in a heap of mass confusion and frustration. Our first task was conquering a black Opel station wagon owned by the GM himself. This, shall we say, was a very humbling experience. For those of you who have never driven stick before and have tried, you can relate to the feeling of being outwitted by something with no brain. I managed to lure one of my teammates on afternoon after practice to teach me the intricacies of the clutch and how to get the car from a dead stop to just rolling. In this process I stalled the car approximately fifty times before I could even attempt to get into second gear. After many stalls, the Opel groaned in defiance of how I handled it and started smoking like wet leaves on a fire. So here I was, third day in Denmark, totaling the GM's car. Needless to say, I was pretty embarrassed. Fortunately, we took a couple hour break and picked up Elizabeth to give it another shot. On our return to the car, Elizabeth, was a nervous wreck and hesitantly sat in the drivers seat with a deer in the headlights look. After she was through with her twenty point inspection making sure all the mirrors, seats, and locks were checked and ready to go(learned from Mr. Safety himself, Johnny Ballgame), she drove off on her first try like it was the Nissan Sentra she knows so well. I was stunned and driven further into my shell of embarrassment. After that magical night, Elizabeth has only driven one other time (another story below) and Rob has slowly become the zen master of the stick. Little did we know, we would only have the smooth driving Opel for one short week.

It soon became apparent, the GM wanted his car back, smoking and all. This is understandable and decided to replace it with a white two seater station wagon from somewhere in the 1980's. This thing has 160 thousand miles on it and purrs like a cat on it's ninth life. The car ran smoothly(if you want to call it that) for the first week, but has since started on a radical decent for the junkyard (similar to my truck at home). The main issue with the car is that the gears are very "sticky." Even when the clutch is jammed into the floor you have to have a good amount of force to move the stick between gears. Due to this major problem, I am the only one that can attempt to drive because I am the only one strong enough to shift into different gears. However, Elizabeth did try to be brave and test the waters on the open road while I was out of town. Here is her version of the tale:
I decided to drive Rob to the rink so then I could use the car while he was away. On the way to the rink, Rob at my side, coaching and encouraging me, I easily dropped him off feeling confident that I could master the road home. I had one minor incident on the way home, but felt strong enough to drive to the little soiree I was invited to with the other wives later that evening. I continued my hot streak and arrived at the gathering with no accidents or stalls. That is where I decided to pat myself on the back, but the celebration was premature. Leaving the event, I ran into some major problems. I reversed out of my parking spot but that is as far as I went because I could not muster the strength to shift into first gear. I started sweating and was left only with prayers that I could somehow get home. Fortunately, one of the wives was watching from the window, and came to aid in the effort to move the car forward. After ten minutes of fighting with the stick, the car finally obliged and moved into first. I left the parking lot and stalled at a light. With my hazards on, cars passing me and the light changing several times, I was back to sweating and prayer. I decided to try a different technique and use both hands to shove the stick into first gear. I was so afraid to move into a different gear that I rode the rest of the way home in first gear ignoring the engine scream at the high RPMs. Thus ended my driving experience in the white station wagon.

Currently we are waiting(as usual) on the edge of our seats for a new car. We are starting to get used to hearing the phrase "It will get done soon." Hopefully, this will not take as long as it has to get our phone and Internet up and running, which we still don't have. Look forward to a general update in the next couple days if we don't crash and burn by then.

Rob and Elizabeth