datlas 

Sadly, I was never able to get mrs datlas to drive a stick (which means she cannot drive the Saturn), so if/when she gets a Miata it will be automatic for the people.

Eric F

Understood. It will still be fun. There's also the significance of the "happy wife" factor at play.

Eric F

Wow. Your process is peculiar, but the net result is the same.

Trsnrtr

It took me all 6 tries.Wordle 219 6/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

genejockey 

You know how FB Marketplace throws in all sorts of stuff in addition to what the algorith tells it you're interested in? Well, a month or so ago, there was an old O'Keefe and Merritt stove, one of the big white ones from the 40s/50s, just like we had in our first place, a flat in The Richmond in SF. Ever since then, we keep seeing them on TV shows and we always say, "Look! Our stove!". So I clicked on it to show her.

For the next month, I got stoves. And more stoves.

Trsnrtr

My BIL is in Vancouver, WA

genejockey 

Elimination of letters.

genejockey 

I'd have gotten it in 4, but I made a bad assumption.

Trsnrtr

My wife and I have had headaches, burning noses, earaches, slight sore throats, etc. Nothing serious but annoying, especially the headaches. Yesterday, there was a government CV test handout locally so I picked up a couple tests and my wife and I both tested negative this morning. Since we both tested negative, we probably won't retest.

Eric F

I would have gotten it in 1, but I guessed all the wrong letters.

Mojo31

You married a smart one.

genejockey 

When Mrs. GJ got her Sienna back in 2001, she told me that since we now had a big family vehicle for ferrying everyone around, when it came time to replace MY car, I could get a Miata.

Turns out, she really didn't mean that.

big john

I think it should be a manual trans but it should have a/c. That said, I wanted to teach Mrs John to drive a manual when I had the S-10 but she wouldn't hear of it. Someone in her distant past tried to teach her and I guess it was traumatic so it has been ruled out.

A lot of the young people at work were unable to drive a stick. It surprised me at the time but now I see memes with a picture of a stickshift and the text says "millennial anti-theft device".

Eric F

Neither of my daughters have learned how to drive a stick. This is directly related to the fact that all the cars in our household are automatics. I would guess this is why most millennials don't learn stick.

The last time I owned a car that was a stick was in the early '90s.

datlas 

I think that's true. I did try to teach Daughter #1 stickshift on the Saturn, but it was epic fail. I did not even bother with daughter #2.

phrantic09

It was some time around 2007 for me. I learned to drive on stick.

Eric F

I did, too, because that was the car we had.

Jack Tone 

When I was eighteen, I got a job as a truck driver, driving a White Freightliner with two transmission, two sticks, and 16 speeds. I thought stick shifts were the way to go....until I drove in L.A. It's automatics for me, for my own cars, from then on.

Mojo31

Sticks are fun in a number of ways, but they can get tiring.

The new automatics, primarily the dual clutch systems, are fantastic and nothing like the old slush boxes. If you're looking for performance, especially in performance cars, in most cases you are better off with the auto. Ferrari hasn't offered a manual for ten years. Many others have followed suit. The makes that do do so to cater to die hard fans, and typically only do so in limited numbers.

Personally, I grew up saying I would never own a car with a motor larger than 4 cylinders, a manual transmission, or an American make. Lots changed in the last 50 years! Every time I say I won't, I find my self doing.

Eric F

For outright performance, you can't beat a modern automatic (or semi-auto) transmission. The need to actually push a clutch pedal is archaic and slow.

big john

One reason I liked the stickshift transmissions is that I could work on them myself. Of course, the last one was so bad I had to buy a rebuilt unit.

Mojo31

A few weeks ago I was talking to a guy working at the local Trek store that drives a 2007 911. He was lamenting the cost of a new clutch in his manual transmission car. Almost $8k. And, that was using an indy. Ouch.

big john

Seems like a lot but you can't have a 911 and expect cheap maintenance. I worked for a guy who did mods and service on 911s and 930s. I was astonished at the prices of things back then and that was in the 70s.

I looked at an on-line estimator and it says clutch replacement for that car should be no more than $3900.

Velo Vol 

No self-control.

genejockey 

I learned how to drive on an automatic, because that's what Mom's car had. Dad's car didn't have that, but didn't have a manual either. It had Citromatic!

No clutch, but you had to shift yourself. That stalk sticking out the top of the steering column.


When you're accelerating, you lift off the gas when you want to change gears, just like a manual, and simultaneously move the lever to the gear you want - see shift pattern below. It also incorporates the starter - from Neutral, you push the lever to the left to actuate the starter.


I learned how to drive stick by borrowing my sister's Pinto.