Pulling all the brakes
I discovered that I don’t like my uncle’s driving. And I didn’t know why until a trip to the library today with him. Apparently he, my aunt and my cousin drives with the right foot on the accelerator and the left on the brake. He trained them. He seemed quite boastful of it, though I see no reason for it. It, however, did explain why I disliked his driving so much. It jerks too much. Everytime he steps on the brake, the car jerks to a full stop and my head starts spinning.His reasoning for this is because in an emergency, the foot touching the brake will have a more immediate effect, than if the right foot had to move from the accelerator to the brake. Which makes a little sense, but, for crying out loud, how far is the brake from the accelerator??!!
I’ve managed to pull an emergency stop with my right foot, managed to drag it from the accelerator to the brake, and not have an eminent accident. In my opinion, this 2 separate foot on each pedal is more distracting and less effective. I did try it once. I nearly couldn’t stop kissing the car in front of me in time! And this happened at a traffic light. What more when the car is moving?
He was trying to tell me that I should start driving like that, but I kept quiet. I don’t think that it will work for me at this age. If someone had tried to train me when I was going through learner’s, it might work. But not now.
I kept quiet because I knew he was an old man who is obstinately set in his ways and logic, and plus, I was too grateful that he took me to the library to sign up, where I discovered to my joy that I was able to borrow 20 items, including books, DVDs and CD-Roms. When I cruised the shelves, I found a considerable collection of authors that I’ve been meaning to read. Though today I only borrowed 8 books, I’ve already finished 2. Woo-hoo!!!
My world is relatively complete if I have books. And I’ve been trying to force myself to be more interested in reading the newspapers here. Well, I have no choice. If I’m to fit in and familiarized myself with this country, I have to read more about it, don’t I? The coverage on the New Orleans situation is amazing. So is the incident on the election in Germany. And it’s really interesting to see how paranoid this government can get by increasing security ever since the video tape threat on Melbourne. Now police have the right to storm even residential houses at the drop of a hat if they suspect terrorist activity. Not to be mistaken for sadism, but how cool is it that I’m in the right place, at the right time??? I mean, I wasn’t around when the threat of bombing happened in my office building at Menara Milenium (damn, I missed that excitement!), so it’s nice to be around for the next threat. Ok, I’m weird.
On a less sadistic note, I’m glad that the Commonwealth Games are in Melbourne next year, so I can go.
*miaow*
posted by Jennirhiow @ 1:08 am
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