Lets not have this be a fasle start

[elanya]

Yesterday I managed to get most of the necessary stuff on my list done, save for working on Cursed Wreck. I blame the fact that I had a two hour nap in there afternoon to make up for lost sleep, and remained tired al day. The driving lesson went really well, I think, though chatting with peeps afterward has revealed different philosophies of driving stick. I also vacuumed which, though I somehow forgot to put it in lj, was definitely on the mental list!

So, today the goals are:
Groceries
Laundry - can't find my laundry card, grrrrr.... >:|(bought a new one, again -_-)
Bake a cake
2 hours on pirate article
2 hours on cursed wreck
Finish one of the stories I have started for the battle.

Better get started!

Comments

[longpig.livejournal.com]

What is the cake for?

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Snacking....

Also because I had an idea what to do with my disappointing jam: make French yogurt cake, add jam + coconut + maybe, hmm... cinnamon and brown sugar on top?

[longpig.livejournal.com]

You could put a jam and coconut layer in the middle, and maybe make a strudel layer with bs and cinn to bake into the top?

[elanya.livejournal.com]

hmmm, maybe... I was thinking of just mixing in the coconut and maybe marbling the jam (it is only a 9x9 cake). But a strudel layer would be good, if I can figure out what all that entails.

[earis.livejournal.com]

Bake a cake

This is clearly the most important item on the list.

The most important item that you have left off the list is 'Eat the Cake'.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to go to the store before I can bake, so in that sense groceries may be more crucial!

But 'eat cake' is really so self-evident I didn't think it needed to be said ^-^

[gnomentum.livejournal.com]

Different philosophies???

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Well, different methods/thoughts, at least - 'you should do this' versus 'never do that it is dangerous/bad for your car' sorts of things. o_O

[gnomentum.livejournal.com]

Like what?

Coming from a country where manual transmissions are the norm, not the exception, the only thing I can think of is block changes (which are basically fine within reason, you have to excersise a little judgement).

But then I've never driven an automatic, and these things become second nature.. I can't remember whether there was anything else that confused me when I was learning.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

What's a block change? (Dunno if this is just not something I have gone over yet, or a terminology difference).

The main point was whether or not it is okay to take slow (or slow-ish - say driving in 2nd gear) turns with the clutch engaged (as I was shown), or whether it is dangerous (lack of motor control) and bad for your car 9because some say that the more you use your clutch, period, the worse it is for your car)?

[gnomentum.livejournal.com]

How very bizarre.. I have no idea why you would even want to take a turn with the clutch engaged! I've always tried to make my gear changes as fast and smooth as possible.

'Riding the clutch' (as my dad calls it) isn't very good for the clutch, can't see it harming the rest of the car but a clutch is pretty expensive to replace. And yeah, I'd be reluctant to recommend doing that on a turn for just the reason suggested above. After all, with the clutch depressed you're effectively in neutral - I wouldn't want to go ANYWHERE in neutral unless I was being towed.

Block changes are where you go, say, from fourth to second or third to first as you decelerate. You can use the engine to aid you in the deceleration that way, and if you're going from fairly fast to very slow or a standstill, it means you can keep your gear matched more or less to your speed - which obviously is safer. Instructors here seem to go through phases of whether they recommend this approach or not - don't know about test conditions, but in real life I'd find it hard to drive without using them on occasion.