I drove on the road for the first time in my life this past Monday. The first time I drove a car was this past winter break when I circled the parking lot with my mom. It was a very short drive, but my mom was screaming that she was going to be killed. I thought to myself that the passenger in the car must be many times more scared than the driver. My parents told me to go to the second driving school after I returned to my home country because it is much easier to get a driver’s license in the U.S. than in my home country. Driving on the road for the first time was scarier than I had imagined. The scariest part is when a car follows behind you. I was worried that I might cause trouble for the people behind me because I was driving at half the speed limit for the first time. I finally got the hang of it about 20 minutes after I started. I was still very nervous about driving but it was super fun. I am already looking forward to my next driving lesson. I can’t wait to get my driver’s license so I can go out driving with my family and friends.
Tag: car
Driving
When I was fifteen, I kept telling myself that I would have my license as soon as I turned sixteen. However, I didn’t start driver’s ed until I turned sixteen. I took months to start it, forget about it, and then finish it. I took the permit test two weeks ago, which was four months after I finished driver’s ed. However, I finally got behind the wheel and drove around a parking lot for the first time! Thirty seconds in I told my dad there was no way I would ever drive on the street. I don’t think I drove faster than ten mph at any point; the fact that people drive at seven times that speed every day baffles me. Driving reminded me that cars are completely operated by people (most of the time). Sitting in a car or seeing cars moving everywhere every day seems so natural and instinctive that everything almost seems automatic; it feels as if the cars move on their own the way that clouds or birds do.
Picture Credit: Darwin Vegher
So My car is broke
So ya boi was driving to get lunch during his robotics meet, and basically he slid out and hit a pole. He all good tho so like we chillin but the car is not chillin. There was a lot of oil and transmission fluid leaking and power steering fluid all over the place. But it might not be super bad because the side that hit the pole is the one with all the fluid tanks so I guess we’ll see.
PC: NPR
I’m Broke
So I just bough myself a car, I only had to pay half but it ended up to coming out to $2250. Which is almost all of my savings. I currently have a balance of $2500(pre-payment). It’s a pretty sick car but insurance for me is gonna be about 620 and I do not have that. Like I have to pay insurance as soon as I get my license which will hopefully be tomorrow. So basically I am in an incredible amount of debt to my parents. Basically the majority of my paychecks, which are low because the restaurant has been closed a lot so I havent been able to get good hours. I mean the head chef walked out of the kitchen and just left, and quit i guess, without telling anyone. We legit had to close that night, it was frickin awful. and The other day the fridge went out in the middle of the night due to a power outage, so all of the food was spoiled. It was bad. Anyway hopefully we wont have anymore bad luck but I guess we’ll see. Until then I’m broke.
iCARus
if this car dings at me one more time
if another ding reverberates through my ears
i swear to god
have i missed something? does the whole world revolve around this car’s dire need for washer fluid?
well you know heckin what, car
i dont care that your washer level is low
i dont care that your tire pressure is a potential threat to my safety
i dont care that maintenance was required a substantial amount of months ago
or that your entire existence rests on trying to prohibit me from listening to Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
(finally some much needed radio silence, my normally needy car gives me a breather, i turn into 89.3 KPCC like any self-important masochist. ahhhh. how lucky i am to tune into the sweet sweet sonorous sound of the voice of Peter Sagal the host of NPR’s greatest and only radio game show. my car obviously understands the pleasurable tones created by the one and only Bill Kurtis, the narrator of this great weekly hour of radio. and my car picks now as the perfect time to send a certifiable fuck ton of alerts, ranging from topics as important as aforementioned washer fluid or that the car is in need of a software update, blaring through my car speakers. now quite honestly i didn’t know cars could even have software updates, let alone that they were so important that i should miss an important line of NPR’s most high-quality comedic banter, but i swear to all the gods that may be, if this self important piece of german engineering chimes at me again there will be a germany sized whole in the continent known as europe)
your chorus of chimes and beeps and brrrungs remind me the second i turn the key that my seat belt should be on. i was just about to put it on, but obviously im not quick enough for you and your quarter of a second delay.
a vehicle is anything that moves or transports. this car is more something that annoys me more than OSX updates.
(OSX updates that the lovely folks at apple think are priority numero uno, however we know this to be false, i have to put new windshield wiper fluid in my car.)
forgive me oh state farm for i have sinned i have wronged mine car. my car that moves or transports like it is meant to; that roars and tears into its intricacies, generating a herd of horses to move or transport me to and from school; that pairs, through the magic that is bluetooth, to my phone bringing me summer reading audio books as well as crosby, stills, nash, and young all the same.
my car which takes me to coffee and groceries, that supplies a warm butt in the mornings and cool AC in the afternoon.
you defrost thine own windows, you display thine own manual. you know thine own tire pressure, you never cease to tell me about it.
you’re a mechanical beast that does so much more than moving and transporting. you purr when you idle, content to cool and blast NPR. you roar when i press on the gas in neutral by accident. and you alert me with hope in your chime about the absence of washer fluid in your stores.
but you, oh vehicle of my dreams, oh vehicle my parents so rarely let me drive, you annoy me so deeply and to the core i am tempted to just walk.
I am not Sad
I assumed things I shouldn’t have.
I thought it was a date.
But, I’m not sad it wasn’t.
I am just a little disappointed.
I thought about my outfit for days.
I planned everything out, down to the perfume I was going to wear.
But, I am not sad that I did that all for nothing.
I am just a little disappointed.
We were supposed to drive around and do stupid things in our cars.
Instead, we sat in your truck and watched the sunset, talking for hours.
I am not sad I spent that time with you.
I am just a little disappointed.
The way we talked was not how friends talk.
The things that were said were clearly more than friendly.
But, I am not sad it meant nothing.
I am just a little disappointed.
I blabbered about us hanging out and me having feelings for you.
Then I asked if it was a date and if you were into me and all I heard was you weren’t over your ex.
I am not sad.
I am just a little disappointed.
I know you need time and I understand that, but why did you let me believe that there was something between us?
I am sad that you flirted with me.
I am disappointed that she is still in your head, but I understand.
(I’m calling dibs when you’re ready)
roadblock
falling in love is like learning to drive.
at first, you stop too often,
jumpy,
and look
left and right
left and right
left and right
before easing your way into
the intersection.
you make your first turn;
you drive past another car
unscathed.
you learn how to
drive on your side of the road,
learn the
boundaries
of your lane.
before you know it,
before it hits you,
you’re picking up speed,
forgetting to turn on your signals.
you start to yield less at night,
but hey,
you haven’t hit anyone yet.
now, you have your permit,
liscence,
your first car.
freeways are nice to speed on
because you like the feeling
of the wind
whipping
across your face.
you feel your heart
race
when you run through your first red.
for years and years
without a crash.
you never stop to
think
anymore.
why should you?
it’s only to the store.
i’ve been there so often.
nothing will happen to me.
but,
you forget about the
sneaky,
little stop sign
after that one turn.
and
BOOM,
CRASH
you’re done.
no more DMV waits
for those
gosh darn renewals.
you wake up
in a hospital
with bleary eyes and
a broken body.
next time,
if there is one,
make sure to
stop
before you
crash and burn.
remember to love fast,
but stay safe, kid.
Defective Defense?
52 years old, Kimberly Kreis of Santa Barbara has just been sentenced to one year in jail, three years of probation, and 250 hours of community service.
For what?
Killing three youngsters: Danielle Murillo, 17, Brian Lopez, 20, and Jessica Leffew, 17, in April of 2014 in a fatal car crash on the 101 freeway.
Erik August, the driver, had fallen asleep at the wheel, crashing his car with Ms. Murillo, Mr. Lopez, and Ms. Leffew all inside. The car flew into the railing, flipped over, and slid, coming to a stop still on the freeway.
All passengers were unharmed at this point.
Whilst attempting to escape the vehicle, under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine, Ms. Kreis flew full force into their car.
This killed Ms. Murillo, Mr. Lopez, and Ms. Leffew in a matter of seconds and ultimately put Mr. August in a coma for a month. With serious injuries, he woke to months of physical therapy and mental and emotional pain from this accident for the rest of his life.
Ms.Kreis had a few scratches and walked away from the crash.
Although the already crashed car “could have” been avoided by Ms. Kreis, she had more than the legal limit of blood alcohol content to be operating a vehicle, and was on a high dosage of methamphetamine.
Ms. Kreis has a strong history of drug abuse arrests and charges, multiple DUI’s, and pleaded “not guilty”, but was prosecuted for felony charges of possession of a controlled substance in October of 2013.
The defense attorney claimed there was probably no way she could have avoided the already crashed car sitting on the highway.
This got her sentence reduced astronomically.
Accidents like this get me ticking for weeks.
Was this all Ms. Kreis’ fault?
Could the accident have been avoided?
If Ms. Kreis was not on drugs and had ingested alcohol would she have have hit the stopped car?
We will never know.
Accidents
That time you found me on the ground, reaching for my inhaler, you picked me up and tossed me into the car. We drove to the hospital and arrived at 3am, but had to wait until 7am until we could go inside. I struggled with every breath, and with every breath I would think “finally…”
The times I was in a speeding car, watching the door handle, wondering whether or not it would open by some luck of fate. Perhaps the turn would be too sharp, or maybe my dog would jump onto it.
I lived on a tall building all my life. I often liked to look over it and wonder how long I’d feel the pain if I fell down. The window was tall though, and it would be difficult to trip and fall through.
Sometimes I’d walk through my woods. I called it my woods because nobody else bothered to explore it. I saw wolves, bears and mountain lions, but they all ran from me. Why would you run from me? Couldn’t you easily kill me? Wouldn’t you want to?
Old buildings were also fun to explore. The floors were old and rickety, and I often found myself stepping on particularly thin boards hoping to fall through. I was too light, that’s what everyone said, and the boards would creak and moan but I never did fall through.
I kept waiting for accidents. My aim is to disappear off the earth completely with no trace to follow or mourn over.
Guess I’ll have to keep trying.
The Jaguar E Type
The 1961 Jaguar E type is my favorite car of all time.
Its looks feel as though they were forged by the wind flowing over it at high speed. The wheel arches flow over the tires like rapids pass over stones in a river.
The “barely there” bumper looks as though it is trying to hold back the beast that is the E type.
Classic 60s english car design elegance. The whole car seems to be in perfect proportion. From the opening in the front to the taillights. This car exudes beauty more than any car I have ever seen.
Alas, this car was built in the 60s and there have been many advancements in both manufacturing quality and safety. So this beauty was tarnished by the ages. The more “modern” E type, the 1974, was ruined by some of the most atrocious bumpers I have ever seen in my entire life.
A company named Eagle thought that this was a poor way to say goodbye to one of the most gorgeous cars of all time. They chose to modernize the car. Keep the classic look, but revamp what is under the hood. It turned out exactly as I had hoped.
This is near perfection. The bumper was done away with altogether. The car looks smoother than I ever could have thought.
This is a dream come true in vehicular form.
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