Tag: driving

Love Languages ….

Warning : not for readers without sense of humour 😜😂

25/10/2016


Driving a manual car is  a little like love making.   There is a remarkable degree of sensitivity involved.   The left and right feet and indeed legs, need to work in harmony;  all senses have to be alert to the slightest change in vibration, sound or heaven forbid shudder.   

In the case of either of the first two, an immediate response is called for – but not a violent one mind you or you will jerk to an comfortable halt with all sorts of possible unpleasant consequences 😂😂 not the least of which is start again. (See what I mean about the similarity ?😢).   
No, it requires a subtle but timely back and forth, up and dfunny_looking_happy_guy_driving_a_little_cartoon_car_0521-1008-1314-5730_smuown movement with again all senses involved, hands included to negotiate an onward motion towards one’s destination.   

So it has been with my little white cars for the last two weeks.   Each looks pretty much the same; four wheels, steering wheel, in other words  all the working parts look pretty much the same but don’t let that fool you.   Just as I imagine 😜 in the case of ‘the lovers’  – all parts look like they should work the same way.   But there’s the catch – the subtle variations leave me floundering if, for one moment I ignore This particular car.    That one may have responded to a quick sharp change but don’t try that on this one – a slow duet, one foot waiting for the other to engage, and then again a different rhythm for the next white car 😂😂😂
Imagine my language issues with 5 cars in two weeks!!!! No wonder I find myself single 😳

At least though, I find myself still alive – because you see I have discovered I am not the only one with ‘Umweldt’
Luckily it would appear others on the road have been gifted too.   So that when my love language fails me and my car lurches violently forward (yup you got the idea) like when you’ve eaten something bad – it just keeps lurching again and again in a forward direction and I can only hang on and wait for it to stop, or when the robot (lights) change and all those behind me are ready to move forward – I find again I used the wrong language : well failed to use any language at all forgetting it wasn’t automatic and not noticing it had retreated into silent protest and I don’t move an inch.

So just as I imagine 😜 would be the case with ‘the lover’, there is first confusion, then disbelief that such a stupid thing could sabotage, then irritation, because there is after all only one person to blame (in this case me) and then the the deep breathe Begin again 🤔and give thanks for that Umweldt all around me as others anticipate my gymnastics –

how do we do it?
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120km/hr

120km/hr here is more an indication than a speed limit – it allows one to work out how long it will take to get, for example from Port Elizabeth to Port Alfred – 170km = 1.5 hours give or take.

It does not mean you don’t exceed 120 – rather if you get to 150/160 you may think of slowing down a little 😳

I am driving a little white car – looks very cute and has a radio, blue tooth and air conditioning but I’m not sure if it has a complete engine😂😂.

At 80km/hr I find myself clutching the steering wheel to hold it in place, at 85km/hr I feel as though the wheels may separate from the chassis and make for a very interesting story. ( as opposed perhaps to the current story )

Feeling a little like those elderly people behind the wheel of their snail paced cars, I crawled up every hill – and there were quite a few, and rolled down the others too. The only time I felt like I could hold my own on the road was when I drove through a klein dorp (small town) where the speed limit dropped to 60km 😂😂

Otherwise I obeyed the unwritten rule (is there such a thing?) of pulling into the left yellow lane; at which point the car behind me – and there always was one, and then another, would pass me with a gracious flash of hazard lights to thank me and I would offer an equally gracious dipping of my headlights to thank them for thanking me!!!

This passing I might add did not take into account any solid white lines – I was in the yellow- they passed, regardless of the road markings 😂😂

And so we navigated our way through the rules of the road to suit ourselves – and today at least – it worked.

With patience and lots of pedalling I made it to Port Alfred, which is at sea level, grateful I didn’t have this car in Johannesburg (6 000 ft above sea level) or I may still be driving back from the airport!

I wait with interest to see how my car and I relate on an equally long drive to Steytlerville

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Driving

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03/10/2016

Driving ….

Thankfully back on the left hand side and interestingly enough while the roads are chaotic – (took us over an hour to go 7 km this morning )- can’t imagine how one conducts business here 😜….

It kind of works- no one goes fast so even though we pass on a blind rise I soon stopped holding my breathe as I realised every one is slow and slows down further to allow whatever the other chooses to do 😂😂😂.

Cars inch in to the queue so tightly I can almost feel the drivers breathe on me, but no collision – we seem to be able to make room without any reaction from my driver

Trucks trucks and more trucks on roads that are reminiscent of Jan smuts avenue 😂 potted, cracked and crumbling

 

03/10/2016