Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Imposter!

Where's the R on my gear shift??

I stop to park my nice 'new' car on our street. I reach for the (mandatory) gear shift, push down and push upward toward my knee.

Nothing happens.

I try again.

Nothing happens. The stick doesn't go down, either. I look in confusion at the top of the stick shift. I see:

1 3 5

2 4 R


?? WFT ???

How do they call it a Volkswagen if the Reverse gear is where everyone else puts it???

I suppose having cruise control makes up for it. If it doesn't, the heated seats assuredly do.

Mine is even the same color as the one above.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I did not plan on buying yet another Volkswagen. I drove other cars; I was even preferential this time to a not-German car. C'est la vie! .. or rather, So geht's!

Jr.Gopher#1 went with me to the dealer. He informed me that we needed a car with six seats. Six? Yes, six: one for Papa, one for Mama, one for him, one for his brother, one for Aunt Marijke, and one for Raven. I informed him that Raven could sit on someone's lap, when Tante Marijke comes to visit. pssst ... Marijke - your nephew wants you to come visit!

After planning to drive my poor Jetta 'til it died, I guess I need to shift this goal onto the new Passat. A goal I've never managed to achieve with any of my cars (assuming the 2 that got totaled don't really count as 'dying of old age').

'53 Plymouth Cranbrook - couldn't find someone to repair $2 part, sold to boss - 6 mo.
'63 VW Beetle - sold to idiot former boyfriend - 1 yr.
'87 VW Fox - totaled - 2 yr.
'89 Toyota Corolla - died of neglect more than age, donated to charity - 5 yr.
'87 VW Fox - donated to charity while still in good order - 2.5 yr.
'99 VW Jetta - totaled - 10 yr.
'00 VW Passat .... keep your fingers crossed ....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now, there is indication that the car is indeed a Volkswagen: You fill the gas tank from the right side. I heard that this should be safer if the car runs out of gas on a busy road and has to be filled while standing on the side strip.

Gopher MPH said...

I don't know about safety with roadside service, although it does make sense. Better yet,

When one is actually at a gas station, the gas tank is not on the driver's side. Therefore, when the driver exits the vehicle, she does not need to take extra care to avoid smashing her door into the gas pump. And, she can park closer to the pump, leaving more room between pumps, facilitating other drivers from smashing her door when she opens it.

Seriously, it's a feature of the cars that I really really like.