skibigsky's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gah. I haven't 'written' in a couple of days, and it will probably be a few more before fingers hit the keys. I'm not looking for quality, I'm just looking for words. But I'm SO DAMN BUSY with this Pro Solo deal that I haven't had time to write anything other than business stuff. But the diary? Here I am. Today was an adventure, as only life with Mr. Volatile can be. First. For the record, I have been asking Mr. V. for help with the whole manual transmission driving thing for ages. I don't feel comfortable in the car, and I know I'm not shifing down (or up) as smoothly as I should be. He's put it off for ages and ages. And then we lost our clutch (and possibly transmission). Could have been my fault, but at 4,000 miles, more likely it was a combination of hard driving (me, although Mini encourages 'spirited driving' - which is also hard on the clutch), and a poorly engineered clutch (they have recalled clutches on the last 2 model years of cars. And so he was finally motivated to help me with my driving, as we've got to get 500 miles on it by Friday (we got 200 miles on it by 3pm today, and we've got a guy driving it now, I'll take it to the airport tomorrow morning to pick up Charles, and we've got another guy to drive it tomorrow afternoon, so we should have PLENTY of miles on it by Friday). So. Mr. V. wanted to hit some golf balls, as he's got a date Friday morning to play golf with some of our autocross buddies. Fine. We load up the Mini (to get miles on the car), and Mr. V. hands me the keys (this was after riding 27 miles with Slabby, our buddy who suffered serious head/neck trauma in a criterium 6 weeks ago). I tell him that I don't want to drive, as I'm tired, and he's in a bad mood and I don't want to get yelled at. He assures me that he's not in a bad mood but takes the keys back. We get down to the driving range, and he hands me my 7 wood. "Here. It's time to hit some balls." Uh-huh. I'm technically not supposed to be hitting golf balls for another 2 months, but Mr. V. is not very good at listening to Dr.'s orders. Fine. Whatever. I hit a lot of half swings, make good contact, and finally hit some full swings. Not perfect, but essentially the first golf balls I've hit in 2 years. Frankly, the arm hurt a bit - even hitting the ball off a tee, I was getting a bit of impact on my arm. Nothing drastic, and good to increase the range of motion a bit. I won't be playing any time soon, but it did feel good to make some good contact with a golf ball. So after that, we headed back to Park City. The guy who was going to take the car out wasn't going to pick it up for a couple of hours, so we (meaning Mr. V.) decided to keep driving. We stopped to get some gas, and Mr. V. hands me the keys. And almost immediately begins haranguing me about my lack of driving skills and how I clearly blew up the transmission. (Thanks, dear.) Although, in truth, this is his coaching method, to a tee. I know him, and frankly, I wasn't surprised. I know I am rough in the Mini, and I know I need help (which is why I've been ASKING for help...). But as usual, it ended up with me getting extremely frustrated, and then him getting frustrated in return. He told me I sucked as a driver, I told him he sucked as a coach, and then after he drove for a while, I took the wheel again, and we moved on. I'm not good at revving the engine as I downshift, but I get the idea. Double-clutching? Eh. I get the idea, but can't seem to get my body to put it in to action. I've got to practice it all. Hopefully, it won't be another $2000 lesson. And as much as I bitch and moan about Mr. V.'s coaching style, I'm used to it. And it DOES work. Mostly because he pisses me off so much that I want to prove him wrong. Heh. Anyway. It was a day of adventures. Hitting a golf ball (other than putting, which I've been doing for a while) was a good thing. And getting input on my driving was good, no matter how much Mr. V. pisses me off. I KNOW I need to work on the whole shifting thing, and input is good. But.... Tomorrow, when I pick up Mr. V.'s friend, I think that he will give me a little more positive feedback (or maybe he won't - he's a good guy, but not always a NICE guy - which is why he and Mr. V. get along so well). Really, it is seat time. And Mr. V. means well. (No, I'm not justifying him. I have always known that he's a pain in the ass, and that his coaching manner is a bit rough. But, for whatever reason, I usually respond to all of it. And I will get better with this damn car. Really. And like everything, it's frustrating for me to learn new things. But I will get it. I. Will. Get. This. Double. Shifting. Thing. gah. 10:15 p.m. - 08 August 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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