Baby You Can Drive My Car

(Just a reminder...The fabulous Laird at Memphis McKay has totally overhauled my website (www.livrancourt.com) and it's new and amazing and I love it. That means I'll be leaving Blogger behind in the next week or so. Please check out my new site, and if you're one of the lovely Rancourtesans who has been following through Google Friends Connect, you can easily hook up to the RSS feed or Feedburner or email to get posts from the new blog. Thanks so very much!)


I'm worried about my husband.

See, there are two kinds of drivers in the world: those who can drive a car with manual transmission, and, well, the REST of us that drive automatics. And these days, the REST of us make up the clear majority.
How many of you can drive a car with manual transmission? Like, do you know when to step on the clutch and shift from first to second gear and so forth?  Probably not many of you. Trolling websites like Digital Trends showed me that these days only something like 6 - 7% of new cars sold have manual transmission.
And why would you want one?

I mean, anyone who tries to navigate a daily commute in stop and go traffic while farting about between first and second gear either has way too much time on their hands or is crazy. Bonkers. Like that. And throw a couple kids in the back? Not even.

And therefore my concern for my husband.

This is what my husband's car WANTS to be.

He drives a brand new 2012 Chevy HHR with a standard transmission. And he loves it, despite the fact that for the last several months, he's been commuting to a job site through one of the busiest traffic corridors in our area. While I get the appeal of the wanna-be bad ass image you project in the '40s gangster inspired car as you pop it into 5th gear on the open road, the daily grind of moving up the freeway at between 10 and 20 miles an hour without stalling the thing out would make me crazy.

But then he always has been the patient one.

I drove it the other day. We were having a typically Rancourtian how-many-events-can-we-cram-into-one-48-hour-period type of  weekend, and me and the kids had to meet him at a barbeque. I took his car because his had gas and mine didn't. And, because the beautiful city of Seattle has some of the worst traffic in the country, I got to navigate a chunk of I5 at under 25mph. I managed it without stalling, but it's not something I want to repeat any time soon. Or ever.

So if you're on the road this holiday, stepping on the clutch or turning the key or punching the button, keep your seat-belt buckled and have a safe trip. Happy 4th of July (or Happy Canada Day a little late)!
This video is by a band called The Hot Rats. Never heard of them before, but I like their version of The Beatle's "Drive My Car". Their video catches the spirit, too. Enjoy...
Peace,
Liv