06 March 2010

Thursday, 25 February

A couple of quiet days have passed. I've enjoyed mornings of barn work, pleasant rides on the Taters, a great couple of canters on the gallop yesterday, and a meeting at Willesley today. I finally have wheels!!!

OK, well, we can all laugh at my current vehicular status! Apparently, one of the ambulatory vets had a crash in her car that resulted in severe damage and extensive repairs. As a result, she is driving the spare car which was to be mine. So, the clinic is in the process of acquiring an additional vehicle that will become my vet mobile soon. In the meantime, at least I have wheels. So, it may be a tiny “hired” (i.e. rental) car provided by the insurance company that just might be periwinkle blue with 2 doors, a manual transmission, right hand drive, and an engine the size of a small lawn mower! Much of this was to be expected, the right hand drive and the manual transmission specifically, however, turning 3500 rpms going only 60 mph and in 5th gear worries me a bit; and without and engine temperature gauge (the dash only has a spedometer, rpm indicator, and fuel gauge), I'm clueless!



C'est la vie. Thank goodness it's a hired car that will take the abuse of my learning how to manage a manual transmission (only ever driven one a handful of times around the farm). I endeavored to only stall it twice on the way to the barn from the clinic and did save face at the clinic by successfully reversing, and getting to first gear without scattering pea gravel!

The roundabouts are great fun with an inexperienced American driver on the wrong side of the road driving a lawn mower with a manual transmission! I'll leave the rest to your imaginations!!!

4 comments:

  1. What a cute little car! I've heard European drivers are as insane as NY drivers. Is it true?? Sounds like you are doing great! Still loving the blog. ;)

    Kristen

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  2. Yep, they drive crazy here! I think I've become one, though, unfortunately as I had Emma grabbing for the oh sh*t handle this AM on the way back from the barn. Ooops! And she's from here!! Bad Kim, very, very bad!!!

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  3. 3500 RPM doesn't sound bad, your tachometer probably has a red line on it and it's likely around 7-8,000 RPM. Good practice for you driving a car with a manual transmission, too many automatics in the US.

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  4. Wow you sound all English! i am impressed. My experiences include stalling out a manual transmission a lot. Does it not include an up arrow in the corner of the instrument panel to tell you when to shift?

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