Too Many Pedals

I've been driving my sister-in-laws car today - it's what they'd call a 'stick-shift' in the US, and what we'd call 'normal'.

This is something-of-note as I normally drive an automatic, and although having passed my test in a manual, that's the only one I've driven since. Brief round up - it's trickier than I remembered - but I managed okay - didn't stall which is quite an achievement. My left thigh feels about twice the size it was, and I'm not sure a breathed for the entire journey as I was concentrating too much. That aside however, the main area in which I had trouble with the car wasn't it's excessive need to be interacted with.

No, it all started badly even before I'd got the engine going - when I tried to adjust the seat. It's got one of those snazzy electric seats, again a new thing to me, which seemed to be more like something out of the krypton factor than luxury to improve your driving comfort. The first 10min's of my journey felt like I was on a roller coaster as the seat pitched up, down, forward, backward, and generally moved through every imaginable plain. The next 10min's also felt like a roller coaster ride - but that's just down to my driving style.

The other major problem appeared at the end of my journey when I tried to pop the bonnet in order that my engine could be inspected for - well actually I don't know what it's inspected for but they always look none the less. So ten minutes was spent with an increasingly inpatient guard type person waiting for me to open the bonnet while I pretty much crawled around in the drivers, and then the passengers, footwells. I succeeded in popping the fuel hatch several times but this of little use as it is pretty much too small a space to hide anything in.

Eventually I remembered that you had to unlock the bonnet with the key - this led to another 5min's searching for a keyhole. Which I finally discovered was accessed by sliding up the name badge on the front of the grill. Obvious really! What is even better is that the little printed instructions on how to unlock the bonnet had a diagram to show that you had to lift the plate - but these are printed next to the keyhole and , therefore, behind the nameplate - Genius.

And I get to drive it back home again having spent far too much of the night at work - awake. At least there won't be much traffic on the roads.

Wish me Luck.

Or better still wish luck to anyone I should happen to meet along the way!