(2 Votes)

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Planning
Going to Düsseldorf by car was my idea. Gwen^[1] was telling me about visiting a friend in Düsseldorf, by train. As I had a similar experience two years ago, I proposed to rent a car and have some fun together. The best part is that I came only with the idea. Martin and Gwen handled the rest (renting a car, checking gas prices, mapping routes).

Issues
Till Friday all was done, except a little thing that slipped our mind: Gwen doesn’t know to drive a stick-shift. Imagine: in the U.S., they actually give you the driver license on an automatic shift.

So, I^[2] was teaching Gwen about the “extra” pedal called the clutch. Things started OK, on the first try Gwen actually started the windshield wipers^[3]. After a nice test ride in the city all was prepared. We went home to pack and started our journey.

Well … not quite, a few meters of the parking lot Gwen managed to place the car in the middle of the road and because being stressed and all she couldn’t manage the fine moves of the clutch and gas pedal required to get the car moving forwards. OK, we moved … in small steps, hick-ups, engine dying, engine start, car shaking, hick-ups engine dying. As this kind of movement was killing the engine, building a long queue behind us and was not getting measurable results, I^[2] had to take over and drive a few blocks to a parking area.

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1. Annual Report CEEDer. [»]
2. No driver license, failed my driving written exam 3 times. [»] [»]
3. In the U.S. some cars have gear shifting on the wheel. [»]