His name was Paul. He was a fugly, dark green '96 Honda Accord, but I enjoyed him. We paid 2.2K for him. Then he was stolen. I cracked up when my mom told me that Paul was gone. We both laughed, actually. He was such a piece of crap.
But, guess what? The insurance company gave us $3,700. Yup. Goodbye Paul, and hello much better car.
So, we got a rental car -- mom's been using mine since hers is still broken down -- and my dad, who is a master vehicle tradesman, spent those few weeks scouring the entirety of the Bay Area for the perfect new car.
Oh, how shocked I was when my parents surprised me with such a car.
Heavy sarcasm. Just to let you know.
Of course I knew what was going on when my mom said to me, "Your dad has to go get something in Danville, and he needs you to go with him and drive his truck back home."
GEE, I WONDER WHY DAD ISN'T GONNA COME HOME IN HIS OWN CAR.
But, I just smiled, nodded, agreed, and played dumb.
Anyway, though. This new car. Oh, lordy, he is a beaut.
2003 Mazda Protege 5 with an iPod hookup and a Bluetooth hands-free cellphone calling... thing. And he's got a Harvard graduate sticker on the rear window. Which I'm keeping. Yeah, I went to Harvard. No biggie.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT?
He's yellow.
His name is Tanner.
Dad likes him so much, that he actually threw in two-hundred dollars of his own money to pay for him. And that's really saying something. He's the kind of dad who makes you do shit on your own.
But, yeah, he's a five-speed. School starts in two weeks, but I'll be camping, the week before. So, if I want to drive myself to school -- which I will be doing, so I really haven't a choice -- then I have just this one week to get the clutch down.
I took him out for the first time, a little while ago. I went to 7-11 with my dad, which is just a three-minute drive from my house.
And, guys.
Driving. Stick. Is so. Difficult.
Like, holy shit.
Dad says that I actually did really well, though. Before we began, he said not to freak when the engine died, because it'd probably happen about five times while we were out.
But I only killed it twice! Awwww yissss.
God, it's terrifying, though. I have no idea how I'll get used to it, but it's got to happen, one way or another. It's just not fun to think about how easy it is to lose control and crash while learning. Just can't panic. Just gotta remember to put the clutch all the way down before hitting the breaks, and it's all good.
Wish Tanner and me luck.