One thing that I am proud of is my impeccable driving record. Never have I received a ticket for speeding.Accidents have been mere fender benders with nothing significant to report. I’m not going to talk about parking tickets because those occur when the car is stationary and have nothing to do with my driving ability. With my 10 almost 11 years of driving experience, I have only had to worry about driving my car with an occasional maintenance of a wash on a warm summer day and a quick vacuum after beach season. However, for the first time in my life I now have to actually think about taking care of my car, which is quite unfortunate because I know nothing about cars.
My dear father has been gracious enough all these years to take care of every light that pops on indicating that something is wrong. All I had to do was communicate the problem to him. He would faithfully take care of the oil level, the coolant and all those other silly fluids a car needs to run properly, but now it is up to me! AHHH!! Luckily, my car is not the nicest car. It is already full of bumps, bruises and keyings from previous owners, so worrying about the cars appearance is far from my mind, but with the various noises echoing from the hood I thought it would be good to ask for help and make sure Juao, the name of my car, is running correctly. Thankfully, God has placed me on a team with several capable and helpful men to assist me with the assessment of said noises.
My teammate Zac and I took my car to the local gas station yesterday. We filled the tires with 35psi of air according to Zac’s recommendation, where as I would have blown my tires up with what I thought should be pumped in. Then we checked those silly fluids: the oil, the coolant, the washer fluid, and the power steering fluid. (No, I was not stupid enough to ask where the blinker fluid was located.) Come to find out, the disturbing noises as I cranked on my steering wheel occurred because the power steering fluid was almost half way gone. After driving the car to a local auto parts store, we were able to purchase the “olio de direcao” or power steering fluid, and wouldn’t you know, I no longer get an arm work out any time I have to do an illegal u-turn. I think my car is happy with me now, well at least in some respects. I think Juao still becomes aggravated with me when I stall out on hills and especially when I down shift to the wrong gear, but little by little I am becoming more masterful at the stick shift. Driving is still stressful in this foreign context but my driving record still stands “flawless” even on the other side of the Atlantic!
One thing that I am proud of is my impeccable driving record. Never have I received a ticket for speeding.Accidents have been mere fender benders with nothing significant to report. I’m not going to talk about parking tickets because those occur when the car is stationary and have nothing to do with my driving ability. With my 10 almost 11 years of driving experience, I have only had to worry about driving my car with an occasional maintenance of a wash on a warm summer day and a quick vacuum after beach season. However, for the first time in my life I now have to actually think about taking care of my car, which is quite unfortunate because I know nothing about cars. 
My dear father has been gracious enough all these years to take care of every light that pops on indicating that something is wrong. All I had to do was communicate the problem to him. He would faithfully take care of the oil level, the coolant and all those other silly fluids a car needs to run properly, but now it is up to me! AHHH!! Luckily, my car is not the nicest car. It is already full of bumps, bruises and keyings from previous owners, so worrying about the cars appearance is far from my mind, but with the various noises echoing from the hood I thought it would be good to ask for help and make sure Juao, the name of my car, is running correctly. Thankfully, God has placed me on a team with several capable and helpful men to assist me with the assessment of said noises. 
My teammate Zac and I took my car to the local gas station yesterday. We filled the tires with 35psi of air according to Zac’s recommendation, where as I would have blown my tires up with what I thought should be pumped in. Then we checked those silly fluids: the oil, the coolant, the washer fluid, and the power steering fluid. (No, I was not stupid enough to ask where the blinker fluid was located.) Come to find out, the disturbing noises as I cranked on my steering wheel occurred because the power steering fluid was almost half way gone. After driving the car to a local auto parts store, we were able to purchase the “olio de direcao” or power steering fluid, and wouldn’t you know, I no longer get an arm work out any time I have to do an illegal u-turn. I think my car is happy with me now, well at least in some respects. I think Juao still becomes aggravated with me when I stall out on hills and especially when I down shift to the wrong gear, but little by little I am becoming more masterful at the stick shift. Driving is still stressful in this foreign context but my driving record still stands “flawless” even on the other side of the Atlantic!
If I remember correctly, didn't you get into an accident in Dorr while we were camping when you were like 17? I hate to burst everyone's perception of your perfect driving record, but I remember distinctly you were pretty shook up about it but also kind of enjoyed it because the guy in the other car was cute and you got in your first accident with a cute guy.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how you described your "perfect" driving and then closed your post talking about your illegal u-turns. O sister dear...
Well, Cody let the record stand that I did not say that I had no accidents, merely minor fender benders which never were reported by the police and which were NEVER my fault. Also the guy was not attractive, and he was the one hitting on me. Gross.
ReplyDeleteAlso perfect refers to never getting caught doing illegal moves which is not what I can say is true for my older supposedly more responsible brother. Hmmm.... truth hurts! :)
like you, i can also claim a perfect driving record. the only thing that ever needed to be reported wasn't my fault. smart guy backed into me. didn't see me cause he was in a navigator and i was in a camry. poor cam...hood got all dented up. tons of damage. sad times. but yes, my record. ZERO moving violations, thank you very much.
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