Smarter than your average...
Was in bed all day yesterday with a headache. Booooo...
Felt better this morning. Ian asked me to come out with him to Langley today. His Porche was in the shop and he was working today so he needed me to drive him down to Langley to give his folks money so that they could pick up the car and drive it to where he was working. He was going to drive the Porsche home and he wanted me to take the Smart car home for the evening. Still with me? The plan was actually a lot simpler than it sounds.
The Smart car, as it turns out, has quite a different driving mechanism. I had assumed it was just a regular manual transmission but it was in fact a clutchless manual transmission. For those of you that have some experience driving standards, you basically still had to shift but you didn't need to hit the clutch. Instead at the appropriate intervals you pushed up on the shifter to gear up and back to gear down. It took a little getting used to as, out of habit, I kept trying to gear down when I was shifting into second, fourth and sixth gear (yes, it has six gears although not a true six gear transmission). Eventually, I resorted to the paddle shifters on the steering wheel which worked far better for me. It was an unusual car to drive as it's wheel base is so short. Fun little car. I think I would still prefer a Mini Cooper S given the option but it was interesting as I had always wondered how it handled. It also cost very little to fill it up. Just over $18 and Ian said it would last for about 400kms whereas the equivalent for the Porsche would be closer to $70.
We saw Ian's mom. It was nice to see her again. It's been a little while since I had seen her. Just as I remember her. Nice little Irish lady. We went for Dim Sum in Langley which was quite lovely and then I dropped off Ian at work. He encouraged me to drive a round a little while I had the opportunity but the only place I really went was to Save-on to get some groceries. I had some things to do today anyways after not getting anything done yesterday.
Reason to smile today: I've always really loved the Irish and Scottish accents so seeing Mrs. Burns today was really great.
Something I learned today: How to drive a clutchless manual transmission. Very interesting experience.
Was in bed all day yesterday with a headache. Booooo...
Felt better this morning. Ian asked me to come out with him to Langley today. His Porche was in the shop and he was working today so he needed me to drive him down to Langley to give his folks money so that they could pick up the car and drive it to where he was working. He was going to drive the Porsche home and he wanted me to take the Smart car home for the evening. Still with me? The plan was actually a lot simpler than it sounds.
We saw Ian's mom. It was nice to see her again. It's been a little while since I had seen her. Just as I remember her. Nice little Irish lady. We went for Dim Sum in Langley which was quite lovely and then I dropped off Ian at work. He encouraged me to drive a round a little while I had the opportunity but the only place I really went was to Save-on to get some groceries. I had some things to do today anyways after not getting anything done yesterday.
Reason to smile today: I've always really loved the Irish and Scottish accents so seeing Mrs. Burns today was really great.
Something I learned today: How to drive a clutchless manual transmission. Very interesting experience.
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