When my daughter was an inexperienced driver she spent the summer with my brother - owner of many VW buses and Bugs. I told her ‘you’d better not be talking on the phone while you are driving!’ (it wasn’t illegal in our state but I think was in the state she was visiting) She said “Mom, I can’t even change the radio station while I’m driving.” Stick shift, no power steering, crank windows, the blinkers didn’t click off automatically…
I was a happy mother.
Remember how big steering wheels were before power steering? And old VWs were lighter than today’s cars and did not have the heavy part (engine) in the front.
My son lives in the next state over. He needed to give me some paperwork but he said that it got wet in the rain. I told him to just email me a copy when it dries. He said that he couldn’t scan a copy because due to the rain it was no longer smooth enough to go through the scanner to make a copy so he will have to bring me the hard copy. So I had to break it down to him that there are copiers that you can lift the top and put it face down on the glass. Apparently, his modern office does not have such relics. I kept a copy of that text conversation.
@Sarrip, my kids have texted or emailed me a photo of documents.
@mominva - yes I’ve gotten those too. This particular document found not be in picture form for the purposes that we needed it.
It’s a fun thread. I’m immigrated to the U.S. when I was 27, from a country where pretty much everything in daily routines was different, on top of a different language. And no internet to look it up. I survived and found the whole experience quite enjoyable, and so will our kids if we just teach them to be independent and resourceful.
I don’t drive stick. My DH had bought one, and tried to teach me, but I could never get the coordination right. He drove his car and I drove mine. (We now each have automatics.)
My d had a prescription that needed renewing. She went to the drugstore to pick it up. She never realized that she actually had to call them first and ask them to renew it. (This was before automatic renewals were common.) Luckily, all that took was her time.
The VW Beetles also had fairly narrow clutch, gas and break peddles. They were almost indestructible, though. My mother would off-road with ours. We finally sold it when she messed something up on the bottom.
The first car my wife and I has was a 1978 VW Polo (a smaller version of the Golf), which we bought in 1992. It had its engine in the front. It had power nothing, not did not even have a right rear view mirror (only “fancier” models had those back then).
[anecdote]
One day a porcupine chewed through the break fluid line, which my wife discovered after trying to stop next to our house. Which was on a slope. She finally managed to stop the car by turning up a side street, which was up-slope, and by furiously pumping the brakes. When we had the car towed to the garage, where the mechanic asked if we had a neighbor who hated us enough to try and murder us…
PS. not the much smaller American tree porcupine but the African crested porcupine which is native to Israel (weighs 30-60 lb)
[/anecdote]
“Use it or lose it” is my mantra on this thread.
Changing a tire, learned how but never needed to so vague on the how to- besides calling AAA is a lot easier (especially that time in the rain years ago). Never got my driver’s license until family car was an automatic- klutzy. I still recall that while my sister got a “any job” with her 10th grade skills testing mine listed all but a few because of my fine motor (finger) skills- or lack thereof. And I played clarinet, then bassoon in HS with all of those fingerings while she did not.
I also was not a typist back in the day when I did not want to be drafted as the only woman in male dominated fields (STEM) to be the secretary typing meeting notes et al. Took a personal typing course one summer but was bored and dropped out. Someday I may use that book (still have it) to get back to better typing but still too many more interesting ways to spend my time. Likewise knowing how to “cut and paste”- never need to do it.
Sister-in-law put regular dish soap in her dishwasher days postpartum while we were visiting. Yup, suds all over. There is a reason they tell new mothers not to drive for two weeks- those rapidly changing hormones mess you up (I still drove to see my kid in the NICU- very carefully).
Years ago by now then college son called us to find out which airline he was taking. We had gone to the region for a vacation, were driving but I had a printout of his flight schedule since we had to pick him up at the airport. Later found out he had one free print page left and used it for a math assignment instead of the flight info- too frugal to actually pay for the page. He forgot his cell phone charger as well- back in the days of proprietary chargers.
Son’s cursive is so tiny and mother -in-law from India’s English language signature is all printing- no cursive in her native language. My cursive evolved from as-taught to my quick but legible one. I really ought to practice typing as the last time I wrote a note I realized how long it had been and was out of practice. Decades ago H’s one office person was so used to typing she actually typed out a Post-it style note instead of just writing the few words. Whatever happened to spell checker on CC-I NEED it for all of my typos.
Oh, and we remind son to check his mailbox (apt) around his birthday- we old relatives still send him cards and such. He told us recently his apt manager sent out a notice to tenants to please check the locked mailroom as it was filling up with packages. So easy to order stuff online- but yu still have to deal with the physical objects when they come…
Did you find a porcupine dead of brake fluid poisoning near where the car was parked?
I had a '68 bug in 1978 that everyone of my siblings learned to drive in.
My hubby never learned a manual transmission, so when we travel, guess who gets to drive everyone??? I hate it when I am really tired.
Anyway, on a side note regarding typing skills, we professionals, in the rehab services, have seen a huge increase in referrals. Occupational therapists are having a really hard time keeping up with referrals. Entering “Kinders” can’t hold crayons or pencils. They can scroll on an iPad, but can’t seem to be able to hold crayons, and, forks/spoons are mishandled during meals. Pressure, in the hands and fingers, seems to have weakened.
These poor tactile and fine-motor skills are affecting and related to their weak coordination of speech and language.
I make crayon and colored pencil rolls for my colleagues, which the kids appear to be excited about.
Re this thread.
My eldest is asking me to teach her how to sew.
The middle one has requested lessons in how to iron ** without getting burned**.
The youngest needs to learn how to use fabric softener sheets. They go in the DRYER, not the wash.
@hebegebe I had to laugh when I saw this post. We were just discussing how my child’s friend actually missed a big scholarship application deadline because, in addition to the online portion, he had to mail a hard copy. Guess what? He put the stamp in the wrong place and the letter was returned to him. This is an exceptionally bright kid with financial need that could have really used the scholarship. :-/
Sadly, my kids would have probably made the same mistake. However, I will say that my daughter does know how to tie a tie due to her job waiting tables. She actually has had a lot of guys ask her for help at prom and co-curricular events.
I did drive a stick shift a few times—grad school BF and then cross country with friends to see national parks with a friend. I am not great at it. H has driven a stick shift a lot more and is more comfortable with it. So far, we’ve never rented any vehicles out of country and prefer to let others drive out of country.
As far as I know, neither of our kids have ever driven a manual transmission car. That said, I suspect S could pick it up easily, if needed. D probably could as well.
D was very pleased when I told her I finally downloaded our bank’s app and was at last depositing checks by mail. I’ve still never used Venmo and dislike paypal.
Our S started pre-treating his clothes and washing them in grade school. D is very reluctant to wash and adores color catchers that allow her to wash lots of different clothes together with minimal sorting and bleeding of colors.
Love this thread—it is hysterical. The kids are irked with us that we have such trouble getting the TV to play the movies we are interested in watching.
I have never changed a tire and my new TOYOTA Prius Prime doesn’t have a spare. We do have AAA and pay for it for both our kids. I have never needed AAA for tires, tho H has managed to blow out a few. He does know how to change tires and has done so, as well as calling AAA, depending on the situation.
My favorite LOL parenting fail is when my D got “blacklisted” at a local salon for being a no show too many times. I was shocked that she didn’t realize that she needed to cancel if she wasn’t going to go to the appt!! (I’m the kind of person that will go back into a restaurant and take my name off the list if we decide to leave!) In her defense, her appts were for short maintenance type things, not an hour haircut, but still!!!
Lots of AAA tire changing on here…last year, we had AAA change a flat on my son’s car and it FELL OFF when he was about a mile away, he crashed into a light pole which fell over and the car was totaled. Luckily he was on a side residential street, this could have been so much worse. Just a cautionary tale, although I don’t know what the answer is…stand and watch them tighten each lugnut? Not to badmouth AAA…it was a subcontracted towing company and after a lot of runarounds, someone’s insurance (not ours) paid for everything.
Aren’t they all subcontractors?
I learned to drive in 1987. My mom had a stripped to the bone 1992 Toyota Corolla, stick shift. We didn’t have much money (single mom) and if I was going to drive that was the car I was going to be driving.
My mom took me out on a country road near where the school that she taught. I was a know it all and thought I would figure out the clutch/shift right away. I didn’t. I was so pissed and it was late afternoon and I was starving. My mom had brought a book, mug of tea, and snacks for her. I sat in the drivers seat complaining, screaming about how I couldnt drive that manual transmission.
My mom asked me what I wanted for dinner. I know this sounds so dumb and unhealthy but hey, it was the 80"s! I wanted a beef and cheddar from Arby’s. She said “OK, you drive us there and I’ll buy”. We didn’t have a lot of money back then and it was a treat. I nearly burned that clutch out, but I learned to drive a stick shift and I got my Arby’s.
When I met DH in 1997 he was impressed at the time that I could drive his stick shift car.
DH still loves a stick shift and has purchased 3 of them during our marriage. But they are increasingly hard to come by. If you do plan to travel to foreign countries though, many times that is all that they have. We went to Portugal a few years ago with a group of 9. DH was driving a weird manual shift massive van and that’s all their was to be had. I do want my kids to learn that skill at some time.
don’t know how to edit a post, but I do know the proper there versus their!
No, but it could have easily died elsewhere. It’s a small town/suburb of Jerusalem, spread over a few hillsides, no real sidewalks in the area where we lived and many places where there were no houses on at least one side of the road. There were plenty of porcupines around - we would see them walking up and down the road, and nearly hit them a few times.
There was a lot of wildlife - hedgehogs in the small yard, geckos on the walls and ceiling, worm snakes and skinks falling out of the walls and ceiling (old house, built up against the bedrock, with walls that were filled with dirt between layers of stone). Our cat would bring in shrews and wild mice. We would hear the jackals at night, and sa gazelles a few times as well.
My D attends a college out of state. She needed to have her dental retainer fixed promptly. So, she made an appt with a dental clinic near her college and went to it today. And she called.
D: Mom, can you help me with some info?I am filling out a form”
Me: Sure. What is it?
D: What is my Social Security number?
She has not memorized it yet. Actually, in this situation, I was glad she did not know. Otherwise, she would have given it out. I let her know she did not need to give them her SS#. All they needed was my health insurance info. I am a subscriber.
Many places ask for SS# when they don’t need to. I don’t share it if not absolutely neccesary.