Who drives a car with a manual transmission? I do, and I still love it after all these years. My little red car was dubbed the Speedy Tomato by DH, and the name has stuck for 13 years so far. But, alas, the Tomato is nearing the end of its life with us.
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Yep, my girl has seen me through a lot of years, several trips from Tucson, Arizona to San Antonio, Texas, and three trips across the country. She's garnered a lot of attention for her bumper sticker (My cat is smarter than your honor student), mostly positive, and for the exotic Arizona license plate when we first arrived in Delaware.
But she's not my first stick shift.
My first was a Hyundai Excel hatchback (3 doors, not 5), rebranded as a Mitsubishi Precis. I had wanted something cooler, like a Honda CRX, but the Precis was the only one that, with my virtually empty credit report, I could get financed. I couldn't afford a two year sticker, much less an automatic transmission! The only problem was, I couldn't actually drive it, though I had had two very brief lessons in my life. So the salesman, who was a friend of my then-fiance (now husband), drove it home for me.
And then the fun began. You see, I had to buy a car quickly, because my carpool friend had gotten a new job, and she started the next Monday. I had a long weekend, and so had three days to learn to drive the car well enough to get to work and back relatively unscathed. Because there was a red light at the top of a hill on my route to work, I knew I needed to practice starting uphill. Especially since that particular light seemed to sense my presence and turn red in protest - or was it some traffic signal malevolence?
I spent countless hour slowly driving up a long hill to a local Catholic school after hours. Drive up a few feet, stop. Start, drive a few feet, stop. I did this until I got to the top of the hill, rolled back down, and did it all over again until I had the uphill start down cold. That three day weekend of practicing driving all over put more than 100 miles on my new car.
I learned to love the stick shift, though in the beginning I wanted a bumper sticker that read "Student On A Stick" and a license plate that read HIYOAG. I lived in terror of the people who wanted to be within inches of my bumper.
The old pile of bolts lasted for fourteen years before it was traded in on the Tomato. And the difference was amazing! I'm going to miss my Speedy Tomato. Her time is short.
On to the comments!
From The Marti:
Oh, this made me snort Pepsi through my nose!
This comment by Norwegian Chef in Neil Young to Trump - Don't Use My Song ... I Support Bernie
The whole thing is a hoot....but when you get both Der Donald taken down a few pegs for utter cluelessness, AND a great comment thread, AND a comment that makes you snort your beverage while laughing....what's not to like?
From
Belinda Ridgewood and
Portia Elm (great minds!):
n cdub24's diary wherein Neil Young smacks Donald Trump for stealing his song, Norwegian Chef discloses what Trump's real anthem is.
From
AllenMcW:
I would like to recommend the following for TOP comment:
http://www.dailykos.com/....
This commenter is talking about gun ownership responsibility and puts this in better perspective than almost anyone I've ever had the pleasure of reading a comment from!
Brilliant and well written comment is all I can say. Read for yourself, I think you will agree.
As I spent the day getting my aunt settled into her new residence (nursing home), I unfortunately have no nominations of my own. Thank you to those who found today's gems!
Top Mojo for June 16, 2015:
1) Water your golf course with your tears, bozo by DrTerwilliker +110
2) Sorry bud. by nosleep4u +94
3) So awesome D, I was so caught up in your stay i... by Penny GC +83
4) I thought these a-holes would get the message by We Shall Overcome +82
5) They're Aristocrats Not Narcissists. by Gooserock +76
6) The summation line by ThePhlebob +62
7) They're the ones who remember when it was illegal. by dkmich +60
8) Finally! I have never understood how the by cany +59
9) The ACLU should take this all the way to the by flitedocnm +58
10) I'm calling them aristocratic narcissists. by middleagedhousewife +57
11) Wadda thinks of those apples? by dakrle +56
11) And Hillary looked by gchaucer2 +56
13) He meant to say "close to fabulous". by Bob Love +55
14) Thing is, I think that Bernie Sanders will act by Chitown Kev +54
14) Kill the lawn. People don't need green lawns. by samanthab +54
14) 2 separate ones - sadly getting killed by Walker by Puddytat +54
17) O hai ((♥MarTiger and Friends♥)) by ericlewis0 +52
17) Wanted: Teachers! $7.25/hour! Be first in line! nt by Kansas Born +52
19) Made me laugh when I finally got it!! by Reetz +51
19) You can have a very nice 4 acres of... by Shockwave +51
19) You don't even have to by side pocket +51
22) Hi, sweetie! We iz doin' our stretchin' eggzersiz by The Marti +50
22) C'mon, wake up and play with me dammit! by jwinIL14 +50
22) Well my thread by LieparDestin +50
25) issues of race and bigotry by Laurence Lewis +49
25) LOL LOL Today is a good day for the giggles. by The Marti +49
25) Easy three-step plan: by here4tehbeer +49
25) #MRAssholes by Yohannon +49
25) Also an amazingly accurate description of the by here4tehbeer +49
30) It's incredible the amount of damage by Puddytat +48
30) Obama tried to pressure House Democrats by Mokurai +48
30) Creepy by MadScientist +48
And the ever-popular pootie ... er, Picture Quilt for June 16, 2015, courtesy of jotter: