What's everyone up to right now?

[Jenny A]

I almost smacked a San Diego fire engine once, whilst training for my (never to be) license. Near UCSD. That was a delight. Sorry, Station 35.

This is the second child and the fourth person I've taught to drive. My imaginary brake tends to get a work-out at the beginning of the process. But we hardly ever actually hit anything. We just come closer than I'd like.

[abaris]

This is the second child and the fourth person I've taught to drive. My imaginary brake tends to get a work-out at the beginning of the process. But we hardly ever actually hit anything. We just come closer than I'd like.

Do you learn manual shift for your driving license or is this purely optional? Here in Europe, you have to manage manual shift for a license.

[Losty]

Yea that's optional. I can only drive an automatic car.

[pocaracas]

Yea that's optional. I can only drive an automatic car.

[Losty]

Are you laughing at me?

[Cyberman]

I'm learning manual myself. I thought it would be a lot more complicated than it actually is. Instead it's really quite straightforward. Perhaps it helps my having a grounding in car mechanics - ie the mechanics of cars, not the blokes in the greasy overalls. I qualified in basic vehicle maintenance after leaving school, so I understand how and why the whole drive system works.

My instructor Paul says I can pull off like I've done it all my life. He doesn't know the half of it.

[c172]

Watching MLS Cup on ESPN. Landon Donovan's last stand. GO NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION!

[Jackalope]

Laundry and football.

[Cyberman]

Bit of a stretch of the thread's remit, since it's not what I'm up to right now; but to follow on from my previous here, The War of the Worlds show was absolutely epic. Sam and I were meant to go back in 2010; but, y'know, real life and all that. It's actually the first night out I've had in nearly five years. And what a night! (Spoiler alert).

---

I knew Jason Donovan was in it, as Parson Nathaniel, and was blown away by the energy of his performance. Why the fuck did he waste his talents on daytime soaps?

However, I wasn't expecting Liam Neeson in Richard Burton's rôle as "George Herbert", the narrator. He wasn't there in person, but interacted seamlessly on stage with the rest of the cast via 'hologram'.

A beautiful touch, being the final tour under Jeff Wayne, was the inclusion of H G Wells 'himself', portrayed in his 1899, 1919 and 1945 aspects by Callum O'Neill. The work involved to age him so convincingly, live, every night, deserves an award in itself.

I was also aware of the thirty-five-foot tall Fighting Machine, dominating every show since the start. What I wasn't expecting was the huge fuck-off flamethrower shooting out of the damn thing.

The only one of the special effects I knew for certain to expect was the fall of custom made paper confetti autumn leaves for the song "Forever Autumn" all over the auditorium. Like everyone else, I collected a pile of them for souvenirs. Some of them fell onto the stage - I thought "if those pyros go off again [simulating Heat Ray fire] we're in for one hell of a show."

Jeff Wayne himself was having a rare old time conducting, dancing away there in his podium. And the two main musicians from the original album, guitar legends Chris Spedding and Herbie Flowers, just poured their magic effortlessly into the air.

Wayne has always regarded his opus as a living, evolving work, but the purist in me was disturbed at the prospect of a brand new song, "Life Begins Again". But it's actually something that was intended to be there from the start, or at least he had it in mind. Anyway, see what you think: https://m.soundcloud.com/thewaroftheworl...gins-again (hope it works, it's the mobile site).

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[pocaracas]

Are you laughing at me?

Laughing at all people who claim they can drive, but can't use a manual gearbox.
And crying because an automatic gearbox costs some 2 or 3k extra around here... and, still, your cars are cheaper than ours.
It doesn't help, when we pay a car tax of some 20% of the car's value and then VAT on top of that... another 23%.

Now seriously, a manual gearbox is simple. Press the leftmost pedal to detach the wheels from the engine, shift into the new gear, release the pedal and hit the gas simultaneously.
1st gear is trickier, because you can't just release the pedal fully, you have to release it progressively, as you throttle up with the gas... just how much and how fast you can do this depends on the car. My Seat Ibiza with a 1.2 Gasoline engine needs some gas before I start releasing the gear pedal. My dad's VW Golf 1.9 Diesel engine will move just by releasing the gear pedal smoothly... and it can do the same for 2nd gear and I never need to hit the gas... unless I want to move a bit faster than 20kph.
What else? When you're stopped, use 1st gear to start moving, then, as you speed up, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and, on some cars, 6th.
The reverse works much like 1st gear.
When to shift gears? The car will tell you... just listen to the engine, if it's working too hard, it's time to shift up.... if it's almost coughing and stalling, shift down.
On my Ibiza, at 2krpm, I can shift up. below 1.3~1.5krpm I have to shift down.

Then you can do cool things like use the engine to slow the car down.
If you're going downhill, release the gas and shift into a low gear, the engine will rev up, but you'll feel the car slowing down.... as long as you don't hit the gas.

Now tricky, tricky is... driving in the UK, when you're used to driving on the correct side of the road. I kept reaching for the gear stick... through the door!