the one about watson

the one about watson

Thursday, May 9, 2013

You know how some people name everything? Their phone, their laptop, their car, their favorite shirt, etc. I am not one of those people, with one exception: my car. (Note: I do not criticize those who name everything, I'm just not that creative.) Choosing a car name is an important ritual. It has to be a name that clearly defines the car, but doesn't reflect poorly on you.

I picked out Watson for my car. I like Sherlock Holmes--it's classy and makes you think, plus we all know my secret dream is to be British. Watson is the best sidekick in the world, and, thus, I paid homage to him.

My little Mazda 3 is a manual transmission. This makes for quite the adventure. I have driven stick before, but never for long periods of time. Mama Lo and I went to pick up the car yesterday and she politely asked, "Do you want to drive it home or should I?" Not wanting to seem like I wasn't sure what I was doing I said, "Oh, I can totally do it." The first few miles went great. I usually have a hard time getting out of first, but not today! Then it became time to turn into Trader Joe's. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but this Trader Joe's turn-off was on a hill. For anyone who gone through the painful process of becoming a manual transmission expert, you know that hills quickly become the bane of your existence.

So there I am, sitting on a hill and wondering if I will ever get to Trader Joe's. At this point I have rolled back 20 feet from my original position. This hadn't been a problem until a peppy 16-year-old pulled up behind me. I couldn't just sit at this intersection forever, a thought that had crossed my mind 100 times since I had been at this intersection. The time had come, I had to somehow get out of this intersection. I nursed the gas (all the way to 7000rpms, no big deal), squealed the tires like crazy, and eventually made it all the way to Trader Joe's. I'm pretty sure everyone in that intersection was embarrassed for me.

I would like to say that this was only squealling-tires-this-isn't-the-Fast-and-Furious moment of the day, but it wasn't. I am great everywhere but hills and when you live in North Carolina, they're everywhere! I have one week until my road trip commences--let's hope I get this hill thing figured out...