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[ankhtahr]

Alright. I just had my first (double) driving lesson. Damn, all that stuff is complicated. I had enough trouble keeping the distances to the right and to the left, but then all this starting and stopping with stick shift…

Well, I'll probably get used to that.

[Masterpiece]

You'll do fine. The first lesson is always the most frustrating one, and you'll soon notice that you're rapidly improving and getting a hang of it. After that it gets really fun to drive a car.

[ankhtahr]

It wasn't really frustrating, just complicated.

Driving that car (it's an Audi A4) felt like navigating a battleship. You have to turn the wheel so much, but the pedals are so incredibly sensitive. Keeping 30 km/h and keeping the distance was demanding. You don't want to damage the wheels by touching the sidewalk, and you don't want to drive into oncoming traffic. Also everybody is driving too fast.

[Akima]

I have ordered my shikibuton (so excited~ it's queen size and lovely!

Pleasant dreams! If it is traditional cotton, just remember to look after it properly, and it will look after you. I'm sure the vendor will provide you with instructions, but:

Keep air circulating around it as much as possible. This is key. It is important to keep a shikibuton dry.
Air it regularly, ideally daily, by storing it away from the bed surface. A slatted bed-base can help here if you're not going to do the traditional thing and fold it.
Rotate and flip it weekly to change the sleeping spot and prevent compression of the cotton filling. This is easily done when you change your bed-linen.
Air it out of doors in the sun if you can. Apartment living can make this difficult, I know.
Beat the mattress from time to time to break up any clumps that have formed.

[ankhtahr]

Alright, that is scary… I just now realise how exhausted I am from driving for 90 minutes. I must've been flooded with adrenaline.

[nekowafer]

I'm getting my second official driving lesson tonight. I don't have to deal with a stick shift, but I understand what you mean for sure. Getting practice time in makes a huge difference. There are still a lot of things I can't do. But basic driving - from my house to the store, or my dad's, and so on, is easy now. Hopefully today I will be taught how to parallel park and back up.

[GarandMarine]

I have ordered my shikibuton (so excited~ it's queen size and lovely!

Pleasant dreams! If it is traditional cotton, just remember to look after it properly, and it will look after you. I'm sure the vendor will provide you with instructions, but:

Keep air circulating around it as much as possible. This is key. It is important to keep a shikibuton dry.
Air it regularly, ideally daily, by storing it away from the bed surface. A slatted bed-base can help here if you're not going to do the traditional thing and fold it.
Rotate and flip it weekly to change the sleeping spot and prevent compression of the cotton filling. This is easily done when you change your bed-linen.
Air it out of doors in the sun if you can. Apartment living can make this difficult, I know.
Beat the mattress from time to time to break up any clumps that have formed.

It isn't traditional full cotton, it's actually an American production: https://www.tuftandneedle.com/shikibed
but all of the above most likely still applies. Keeping the fold up will help, and I thankfully have a balcony for beatings and sunning.

I really can't wait to make the switch, I promise I'm not trying to be a massive weeaboo here, but I absolutely fell in love with shikibuton while in Japan. Ye gods and little fishes there was actual support for my BACK! I got some of the best sleep I've ever had not counting being physically exhausted to the point of complete mental and physical shut down sleep.

Eventually I want to get some tatami floor mats for under the bed, but those are maddeningly expensive...

In other news I have, for the first time, come to covet art...

http://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Blossom-Original-Abstract-Painting/dp/B001SXGVEW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2DOT425KTAFSY&coliid=ICPPSU2W9V8OV

I gave the company name an odd look, but I love the painting and want it on a wall in my bedroom...

On a side note, hey look! It's my floor plan! With hastily drawn squares to represent furniture!

[Welu]

Speaking of driving, having my second test in a couple hours. Having a lesson first. Went to bed early, after getting up early yesterday morning so I could sleep. Body just refused to turn off before midnight and spent the first half of sleeping in and out of sleep paralysis.

Driving that car (it's an Audi A4) felt like navigating a battleship. [...] Also everybody is driving too fast.

That's a big car to be learning in though. My Da has an Audi A6 and it's awkward for an experienced driver just because of the size, it's also got a weird automatic handbrake. I don't know if the A4 has it but here you can't do your test with that kind of handbrake.
Also after a few lessons 30km will seem like crawling. People will still be driving too fast though.

[ankhtahr]

Yeah, second lesson in less than two hours.

Let's see how I manage the manual transmission this time.


But it's great that the Audi has a Start-Stop-System. If you manage to stop the motor (which happened twice yesterday,  because my teacher explained the usage of the clutch wrong) you just press the clutch pedal and the motor is running again.

It took me a few tries to get the car rolling without jumping forward a few meters. He told me to find the spot where the clutch starts applying friction, but failed to mention that i need to hold the pedal in that position for a moment. He just told me to slowly let go of the pedal.

[pwhodges]

Practice is the thing, though.  The more practice you can arrange with family or friends (subject to your local laws on age and experience of the supervising driver, of course, and suitable insurance) the better; otherwise you're paying an instructor to sit next to you while you practice!

I was lucky; I learnt clutch control in a field with a slope, letting the car inch forward and roll backward just by varying my pressure on the clutch pedal (and keeping the engine from stalling).  Sometimes an awareness of what's going on inside can help, as it did when I had a clutch cable break on a journey - I was able to continue for about 25 miles, ending up parking the car in a railway station car park, without using the clutch and, more to the point, without breaking the gearbox.  Almost as hard was when the throttle pedal broke; I attached a dog lead to the cable and drove home (50 miles) with manual throttle control.  Actually, I lie - that was harder than the clutchless journey.

[Akima]

I gave the company name an odd look, but I love the painting and want it on a wall in my bedroom...

Feng shui (pronounced fung-shway BTW) you mean? I am not sure how far geomancy applies to that painting, but maybe the painter is a practitioner. Or maybe it is just marketing chi-chi.

[ankhtahr]

pwhodges, in Germany driving on public roads without a certified driving teacher in a certified driving teaching car is illegal. There are so called "Verkehrsübungsplätze", which are private property on which you can train driving. I intend to visit one of these with my grandfather somewhere in the next week.

And driving without clutch? So you had to synchronise the speed of the new gear and the speed of the motor? Whew. (I know a bit about the function of Clutch, Motor and Transmission myself, just don't know how to operate them properly (yet))

Yeah. Second driving lesson finished.

High speeds are scary.

When it's the second time sitting behind the steering wheel, then driving with 100km/h (about 62 mph) makes you kinda nervous. At least I got better with changing gears. Starting is something I need to train more though. (Luckily the teaching cars are Diesel, so as soon as you lift your foot from the clutch the car starts going forward. No need to press the throttle pedal as well.)

Also I'm a bit afraid of tomorrow, as we're going to practise reversing and hill starting.

I had to do a hill start today already, but that was not on purpose by the teacher. A train crossed, so we had to stop, and then start at a slight hill. I stalled the car twice. Not great.

And Welu: Yes, these A4 have an automatic handbrake as well. We're not allowed to use them for hill starting, so that doesn't really matter. (It'd be too easy otherwise)

[pwhodges]

You'll get the clutch after a while - the whole process of learning to drive is building a new set of reflexes, really, and once you have them, they stay.

As for speed, when you are thinking in terms of dragging the car along the road (figuratively), yes it feels like hard work.  But after a while, you realise it's actually a projectile that you set into controlled motion and aim carefully - at least, that's how it feels to me when I drive.  Lastly, it's not bad to be a bit scared; if you're not scared, you're complacent, and that becomes a real danger.  I take care to remember even now how dangerous driving is!

Same on a bike; once you accept that the process of cycling is above all a matter of staying alive by actively avoiding situations that could kill you, it actually becomes easier I think.

[Masterpiece]

I just discovered the best thing ever

[ankhtahr]

Bah, Razer Black Widow Ultimate I assume?

Had some build quality issues afaik. Overpriced, because Razer. I can't watch the video right now, but Cherry MX Blue? Clicky?

Ducky Shine would be one of the alternatives if backlighting is necessary. Definitely try a Model M one day. Maybe Topre, but they're expensive. Post your experiences in the mechanical keyboards thread!

[Papersatan]

My father taught be to drive in a mini-van in winter on occupied streets.   he let me drive in a parking lot for 10 min to get used to the controls, but it was a strip mall parking lot on a Sat afternoon, so the driving was slow, but busy. 

Our first lesson:" You are a bout to operate a 5,000 pound piece of machinery, and if you make a mistake you could kill someone.  Ok, put your foot on the break and start the car."

I wanted to pee myself, but I think being aware of that made me be a better driver.  I know that learning in winter was a good idea.  Where I come from gets a ton of snow, and I know people who took their first lesson in spring and were licensed by fall and driving on their own the first time the roads were bad and didn't know how to handle it, where as I learned in winter and took my test in winter, and when I was driving on my own in spring everything seemed easy, and when next winter came I was a confident solo driver, and ready for the snow.  I know in other countries lessons are strictly regulated so its hard to get a lesson in without planning, but my serious advice is practice driving in shitty weather as much as you can.

[GarandMarine]

I gave the company name an odd look, but I love the painting and want it on a wall in my bedroom...

Feng shui (pronounced fung-shway BTW) you mean? I am not sure how far geomancy applies to that painting, but maybe the painter is a practitioner. Or maybe it is just marketing chi-chi.

Yeah I was thinking it's a marketing thing, which is why I gave it an odd look as I couldn't see the relation the company had to the practice.

I can't imagine learning how to drive as an adult. I mean I dunno I've been driving for close to a decade now, it's just something I do.

[ankhtahr]

Driving this big car always feels strange to me, but at that moment, driving at 100km/h on a street which is only wide enough for the car, it was a scary thought that if I just turned the wheel a little bit to the right, we'd crash into this big tree and probably die.

That makes being a passenger with my father a bit more difficult. He's doing a lot of driving on the Autobahn, so it's not uncommon for him to drive at 220km/h.

I'm a bit afraid of the first lesson on the Autobahn. But that'll take a lot of time till then. Also the suggested speed (Richtgeschwindigkeit) on the Autobahn (on non speed limited parts) is 130km/h, so not much higher than what I experienced today. But me not driving that fast doesn't mean that others won't drive that fast.

I can't help but see this when driving this car: xkcd

[nekowafer]

My driving lesson went really well. We went through the city, but I knew the area and had no problems. The instructor says I need to stop sooner and slower, but otherwise I'm great. Still no clue how to parallel park.

[Patrick]

I got an offer from a restaurant to have my band play a 3 hour set for $300. When I suggested it to Matt, he instantly got bitter and pissy and said he'd never play for a bunch of yuppies who "just don't get it." Dude needs to get the fuck over his own ego and shitty attitude and help finance the tour or the new album. Don't be a pretentious little hipster cunt and discriminate against people for looking or acting different. We don't need any more of that bullshit in this fucking world, and I don't need the miserable, insufferable attitude.

[Welu]

Didn't pass. Did a silly major fault that if I didn't do I would have passed. I would have passed with the maximum number of faults allowed but that's still a pass. Already booked in again. Gutted.

[Lines]

Pat - Eating is more important than being pretentious. Slap some sense into him.

[Papersatan]

Just had a job interview.  I think it went well, and I think I would both love the position and be able to make a real difference for them.  It sounds like they want the position to continue through fall, which is even better... like amazingly better. 

Fingers crossed.  I hear back in a week. 

Off to write some thank you cards.

[Jace]

I did a thing

[Patrick]

Pat - Eating is more important than being pretentious. Slap some sense into him.

yeah, here's hoping I can sweettalk it into him instead, and I'm pretty confident I can. shit though. the ones you hold most dear are the ones who can get under your skin the most. I've cooled off considerably since I posted that and I didn't get into a pissing match in the process, so I'll count this one a success.

[Carl-E]

Oooh!  Driving stories! 

My first time was when I was 11, on a friend's dairy farm, in an old jeep with no roof or doors that they used to go check on the herd.  I was big for 11, so the pedals weren't a problem.  Off road means you don't need to worry about things like traffic, curbs, signs... anything other than big rocks and trees.  Oh, and cows. 

When I turned 16, my father started teaching me how to use a clutch and drive his '68 bug, which I was to take my test in. 



At the same time, I was taking driver's ed at the school in a '78 Ford Granada. 



Basically, a land-locked cruise ship.  The Granada had an extra brake pedal on the passenger side for the instructor, one Mr. Kurasciewicz, or "Krazy K".  The course ran through the winter in Buffalo, and there was an intersection near the school that always iced up.  He'd slam on the brakes in the middle of the intersection, and after you spun about a bit, say "OK, now get us out of here."  Great training, really. 

My father had raced cars (that's how he and my mother met, she did too).  He taught me how to speed shift once I got the hang of the clutch.  Best advice was "nurse it".  You need to use both feet, accelerate gently as the clutch grips. 

More stories another time... gotta go and do an oil change! 

[nekowafer]

This is what I've been driving for the most part and I really like it.



I've also driven the ex's car, which I hate:



The driving school has basic little sedans that I won't get to drive much. I think I really want one of these, when I finally get my own...

[Pilchard123]

A post. I'll let other people decide which part I mean.

Context is everything.

[lepetitfromage]

Neko, is that a Fit? I love those!


First thing I ever drove was one of these honkin' things-



Not easy, but definitely fun to drive!

I did most of my learning (and took my driver's test) in Nick's old Saturn. Nice and small, great for parallel parking.


Now, if and when I drive, I drive his new(ish) car-


But....I'm a sucker for silly little hatchbacks. I would drive a Fit in a heartbeat but I reaaaaaaaaaally want a Yaris or an Accent. (Fun fact- my dream car as a teenager was a silver bug.)


Gah. Look at how freakin' cute!

It would be like driving around in a little pea.

[nekowafer]

Yup, it's a Fit. I love little hatchbacks too!! But I want a 4 door. Part of why I like the Fiat 500 L. And I call all little cars like that beans. Beany cars.

[lepetitfromage]

Teehee, I love that. I want a bean! If I got a 4 door bean, I think it'd be the Yaris. For whatever reason, the more "bubbly" the bean, the happier it makes me.


That is possibly the most bizarre sentence I have ever typed.

[Patrick]

I want the shit out of that little 4 door Fiat.

[GarandMarine]

...I just want a small toyota pick up truck >.>;

[nekowafer]

Get a TOYBOATA!

[GarandMarine]

A what now?

[celticgeek]

This is what I drive: 

[Masterpiece]

The way you used the tag would have worked on URLs but not with the img tag.

[celticgeek]

Fixed.

I should have added this.

[nekowafer]

Fancy, CG! GM, check out the British Top Gear episodes about turning cars into boats. Jeremy Clarkson makes a Toyboata both times, I believe.

[jwhouk]

My first car:


Got into an accident with it four months later; right front wheel fell off as they were pulling it off the curb.

[KingOfIreland]

Driving this big car always feels strange to me, but at that moment, driving at 100km/h on a street which is only wide enough for the car, it was a scary thought that if I just turned the wheel a little bit to the right, we'd crash into this big tree and probably die.

That makes being a passenger with my father a bit more difficult. He's doing a lot of driving on the Autobahn, so it's not uncommon for him to drive at 220km/h.

I'm a bit afraid of the first lesson on the Autobahn. But that'll take a lot of time till then. Also the suggested speed (Richtgeschwindigkeit) on the Autobahn (on non speed limited parts) is 130km/h, so not much higher than what I experienced today. But me not driving that fast doesn't mean that others won't drive that fast.
It'd get from 0-60 in about ten seconds though, so that made up for it.

I can't help but see this when driving this car: xkcd

JESUS CHRIST. My first car, a peugeot 205 which was pretty nippy in its own way only got to about 140 without blowing up.
The car I drive most now, my dad's dacia logan, I once hit 160 in going downhill.

I cannot imagine doing 220km/h, even in the slightest.

First car pic:

Mine had red accents, but that's the way I maintained it; Muddy from my wannabe rallying jaunts.
Thing had 84hp or something like that and weighed 650Kg, so approximately 1300lbs. Went like stink, loved corners. I'll miss you old pug.

Oh yeah and it went through petrol like a rabid woodpecker goes through trees.

[Patrick]

Fancy, CG! GM, check out the British Top Gear episodes about turning cars into boats. Jeremy Clarkson makes a Toyboata both times, I believe.

In fact, he uses the same exact Toyota Hilux for both episodes.

[ankhtahr]

Yeah, my father has a BMW 5 series as company car, and he's allowed to use it for private purposes. It's kinda scary how not scary it is going 220 in that thing.

[Patrick]

For the record, Ankh is talking in kilometers. There ain't a BMW made that goes 220mph.

[ankhtahr]

By the way, if anyone is interested in it here's a documentation about the Autobahn. Just skip the part about the Nazis, because half of that is wrong. At one point they explain that the Autobahn used to be officially called "Straßen Adolf Hitlers" (Adolph Hitler's streets), and to make their point they show something which has it written on it. What they apparently didn't realise is that "Straßen Adolf Hitlers" is just the title of the book, and the official name was "Reichsautobahn". Just skip from 12:40 to 25:17 and it's fine.

[Masterpiece]

Huh.

I never realized how weird the Autobahn must be for foreigners.

[Lines]

Speaking of cars, I'm gonna start car shopping this weekend. All of the ones I'm looking at will be hatchbacks. Because egg cars (eggs, beans, same thing) are the bestest. There are a few that are less cars and more crossovers/small suvs/whatever the fuck they are, but I don't want anything too big and I don't want a regular compact anymore.

(click to show/hide)

Toyota Rav-4
Toyota Matrix
Hyundai Elantra GT
Hyundai Santa Fe
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Forester
Subaru Outback

The Outback and Santa Fe are the least likely candidates because of price, but I'm still gonna look. Especially if I can find one at the dealership that is a year or two old.

[nekowafer]

Uh yeah the fastest I've ever driven is 80 mph, about 128 kph. And that was rather scary.

[GarandMarine]

If by weird you mean fucking awesome. I've pushed 120mph+ in a small car and would love to go faster. I have gone faster then that, but aircraft don't count.

In other news my idiot moving company fucked up their dispatch, apparently the truck in this area got filled up already today. So I have to wait till tomorrow. The crew will allegedly be here at 0800, but I'll believe that when I see it.

[bainidhe_dub]

I learned to drive in a Ford Taurus station wagon like so (dat ass).

Currently I have a Honda Accord, affectionately know as The Busted-Ass Honda.

But now I'm in the process of buying my husband's stepsister's Volkswagen Passat and I'm very excited, because its ass is significantly less busted.

In other news my idiot moving company fucked up their dispatch, apparently the truck in this area got filled up already today. So I have to wait till tomorrow. The crew will allegedly be here at 0800, but I'll believe that when I see it.

That right there is some fucking bullshit, sir.