You know you're old when...

[Esteban]

^^ Good looking estate car.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Never did it myself but I've heard people say it's pretty easy getting used to driving on the other side, as well as the shifter and clutch on the other side and of course the other side of the road.

I found a bunch of YouTube vids of a driver's license test drive that covered most situations one would encounter. There were 6 vids in all, IIRC. Before we flew to the UK, I watched those vids over and over and even watched them again on the flight over. By the time I got there and picked up the car, I had a pretty good feel for driving on the left. I rented an automatic, though. Trying to shift with my left hand was a step too far. The hardest parts about driving in the UK were the narrow roads with hedges right up to the pavement and people parking on the side of the road, which forced you into the oncoming lane. Even when I had the right-of-way, the Brits would come barreling through anyway as if they were daring me to stand my ground and get hit. But I've made it through 4 or 5 trips where we rented a car and so far I've come through unscathed.

[Esteban]

Wonder if M5Rick has ever driven over here and if he found it easy to get used to driving on the other side of the car and the other side of the road. What say you, Rick?

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Steering wheel is on the wrong side.

No…the steering wheel is on the correct side

[Markr]

Haha, this is going to be an interesting debate. I would replace the word correct with the word right.

I have always found it useful to have the steering wheel on the drivers side!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Markr

Haha, this is going to be an interesting debate. I would replace the word correct with the word right.

I have always found it useful to have the steering wheel on the drivers side!

That is why above I say "the other side" because it depends on where you live. There is no wrong side if thought of that way.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I found a bunch of YouTube vids of a driver's license test drive that covered most situations one would encounter. There were 6 vids in all, IIRC. Before we flew to the UK, I watched those vids over and over and even watched them again on the flight over. By the time I got there and picked up the car, I had a pretty good feel for driving on the left. I rented an automatic, though. Trying to shift with my left hand was a step too far. The hardest parts about driving in the UK were the narrow roads with hedges right up to the pavement and people parking on the side of the road, which forced you into the oncoming lane. Even when I had the right-of-way, the Brits would come barreling through anyway as if they were daring me to stand my ground and get hit. But I've made it through 4 or 5 trips where we rented a car and so far I've come through unscathed.

I rent manual transmission cars when I travel to the UK. I find that having to shift with my left hand (which takes about 2 seconds to get used to for me), is a constant reminder that things are different. The one time I rented an automatic I was much more concerned about forgetting to stay on the left.

All the pedals are in the same spot. If they were backwards too I'd do a hard pass.

[Markr]

When I worked at Jaguar HQ in the UK in the mid-80’s, we had to go through an advanced driving test to drive Jags. There were 4 levels of permit and various checks you had to do before even starting the car (as they could be engineering vehicles) but ultimately as North America was the biggest market at the time, we had to go out in left hand drive manuals. I was in IT, but still had to do the same test as the engineers.

I have also driven right hand drive cars on the continent, and what a pain that was, as all the toll booths and car parks are geared up for left hand drive cars.

My learning is go abroad, hire a car - so much simpler.

However, if we were going to Ireland, or a family trip through France/Germany with at least 2 in the car, I would take the 7.

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Markr

Haha, this is going to be an interesting debate. I would replace the word correct with the word right.

I have always found it useful to have the steering wheel on the drivers side!

The reason for travelling on the left dates back to the middle ages, when you passed another traveller you would pass on the right keeping your sword arm free to engage the other traveller should you need to, hence the CORRECT side

[M_Six]

...when you spend 30 minutes trimming weeds and brush around the yard and it takes your arms 2 days to recover.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by 3798j

.

Jesus h ain't that the truth

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

The reason for travelling on the left dates back to the middle ages, when you passed another traveller you would pass on the right keeping your sword arm free to engage the other traveller should you need to, hence the CORRECT side

Keeping on theme, you know you are old when you refer to the Middle Ages and swords as a basis for your argument.

In addition to your fine point, it's also true that the steering wheel was first introduced by Panhard in 1894 in a racing car and then in regular production cars the following year. These steering wheels were on the right side of the car!

I know I'm old when I have the time to look all this crap up on The Google and post about it!

[vreihen16]

...when you wake up in the morning after sleeping a solid/uninterrupted eight hours straight the night before, and the first thing that you do is check the sheets to see if you wet the bed overnight.

Dry sheets, and the first time in months that I slept all night with no hourly visits to the driver's lounge.....

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

...when you wake up in the morning after sleeping a solid/uninterrupted eight hours straight the night before...

I wish I could concur but I never had solid/uninterrupted eight hours let alone a four hours for that mater

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by JJ 911SC

I wish I could concur but I never had solid/uninterrupted eight hours let alone a four hours for that mater

Never had a solid 8 either. Don't know what that feels like. Thought everybody got up at least once or twice.

PS - and I take a sleeping pill. 💊

[vreihen16]

My Apple Watch usually has 4-5 hours logged toward my daily 12 hour stand goal when I get up in the morning from my hourly bathroom trips after midnight. This was *totally* out of the realm of normal for me. The only thing that I can think of is that I must have crossed the line for dehydration, which judging by my aching muscles yesterday and today is probably the case. Better slam some Gatorade with an insulin chaser just to be sure.....

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

...when you wake up in the morning after sleeping a solid/uninterrupted eight hours straight the night before, and the first thing that you do is check the sheets to see if you wet the bed overnight.

Dry sheets, and the first time in months that I slept all night with no hourly visits to the driver's lounge.....

I haven't pissed the bed since grade school, but I know what you mean. I have to get up twice every night and head to the "little technician's room."

Having said that, I take 2 Advil PM two or three times a month when I really want to get an uninterrupted night's sleep. From what little I've read, the Advil reduces swelling, including the prostate, so the urge to pee goes way down. At least it does for me.

[M_Six]

Unless I had a few beers the evening before, I usually sleep through the night. But once I get up there had better not be anything between me and the bathroom.

Back in the day when we pulled border duty in Germany we had Reaction Force duty (Also known as Rat F**k). We slept in uniform, boots and all, with our M-16s. If the alert horn blew (think Volkswagen horn), you had to jump up and run to the vehicles, except for me, since I was the team leader. I had to run to the ops center to get the mission brief and then get to the vehicles (M-113s). We had to be rolling out the gate no more than 5 minutes after the horn blew. We usually made it in under 3 minutes. I'd need a good 30-40 minutes to be ready to roll these days.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Never had a solid 8 either. Don't know what that feels like. Thought everybody got up at least once or twice.

PS - and I take a sleeping pill. 💊

I will rephrase that. Don't THINK I've ever had a solid 8 hours of sleep. Don't remember if I did.

[sygazelle]

....when you use a back scratcher to not only scratch your back, but also to pick up clothes off the floor in
stead of having to bend over.

[3.0L]

You have lunch with your best friend since 2nd grade, and 2nd grade occurred in 1954.

I did that today and it was great!

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

You have lunch with your best friend since 2nd grade, and 2nd grade occurred in 1954.

I did that today and it was great!

Excellent!


You've got me beat by a couple of years. I've been life-long friends with two of the neighborhood kids when I was in Kindergarten. The "girl next door" is now a grandmother. My wife and I visit her and go to coffee. We also get our grand kids together for play dates at the park. Having life-long friends is special. Having them for this long is priceless.

Here's a shot of us the first day of school. She's still cute. Me, not so much!