Cars

I have posted twice about driving. Once I talked about not really wanting to drive, but having to get my license for the dairy. The other post was on the car troubles that I had my first time out of the house without a parent (just what I need, right?!).

Well, now I am going to talk about driving a stick shift and our car troubles we are currently having.

First about driving a standard (or stick shift).....Well, I have known for ages that the car that I was going to learn to drive on was a stick shift and truth be told I was happy about that and it looked way to fun to pass up! (Plus, being able to drive something that some of my family members couldn't drive added some pleasure, but that was/is pride so that's another post.) But when the time came I was not taught to drive a stick shift, I went back and forth between the big 15 passenger van and our little 4 seater geo!

The main reason being, that the geo was what dad drove to work and since I was 'working' in close to the same area as he was, we drove together (or else I didn't work) and the 15 passenger is what our family drove to church. Also, dad didn't want to risk spilling coffee or breakfast on himself while I tried to learn how to drive with a clutch in the Houston morning traffic. lol

And another reason I never really drove a stick shift was I could never really grasp how it was done. I would stall out six times in as many feet, give you whip lash once I got us going and never got higher then 2nd gear! We couldn't figure it out, but necessity made it necessary that I learn to drive one as that is what I had to take to markets.

One day while I was talking with mom about it and she was telling me how she learned to drive a stick shift, all off a sudden we understood why I couldn't drive one...Dad was in the car with me! Now I love my dad dearly and if it weren't for him a TON would be missing from my life, but again, that is another post. Most times I can get over the pressure of having him watch me do something; I did it for keeping score at a ballgame, shooting a gun, pasteurizing milk, typing posts, making soap, etc. But driving a stick shift was a whole 'nother matter.

So, mom suggested I try it without him in the car, I had a license why didn't I run to the local tea house a couple days and maybe once to the library and see how things went from there. Well in those runs I stalled the car out a grand total of twice! And on my first trip to the market without parents I stalled it out four times in 70 miles! Now, I am sure that there were a few people who laughed at me while I jerked into first, but at least I got there and back home safely.

After that first week I had it down pat and like I thought I would, I LOVED it!! I drive my little geo everywhere I can and love it, I drive it every Saturday to markets, sometimes to church, to run errands, etc. All the time!

Now, for our car troubles....

If you have been in Sunday school with me the past few weeks it's been almost comical the way my prayer request have been...Week #1 "We have three markets all at least 50 miles from our house and one of cars is acting up and we need it to keep driving safely for us."

Week #2 "Well, we still have our three markets, but two cars that drive properly and the third one still drives but not any faster than 45 MPH, we would appreciate prayer that "princess" (that nick name for this one van) would act properly. Thanks!"

Week #3 "Well, we are down to two cars, for good. But one of those two has to go into the shop because it won't start, we are praying that it is an easy fix, prayer that it would be an easy fix and that we can get a larger car so we won't have to borrow a friend’s car for markets would be greatly appreciated!"

Well, this week it's going to be even better! The car that we thought might be an easy fix, was beyond easy, I could have fixed it with some coke (but don't tell my machine that I said! lol) So, we were up to two cars, our big blue 15 passenger and my little 5 seater geo.

On the way to market Tuesday afternoon our 15 passenger van blew a spark plug, something my dad never knew you could do. Thanks to some friends from church we were able to get to market, and thanks to some friends from the market, who were able to take some of our stuff home for us we were able to make market and back home with all that we needed, as well as visit with our friends from church. :D

Now, God has blessed us wonderfully and we have been able to get a station wagon (my dream car!) for one of our markets, but we will have to skip one market this week due to lack of car space and hopefully we will be able to get our old truck that used to belong to our uncle fixed for next weekend.

Now how does this all relate? Driving a stick shift and our car troubles? Well, the two working cars that we have, plus the truck that we are hopefully going to get fixed are ALL standards! I guess it's a good thing that I was forced to learn how to drive a standard!