another reason I hate living in town

[Drew]

My first car was a '66 Mustang.  It was white with pony seats and had the 289 engine. I bought it from my sister-in-law for $2,500.  I was 25 and had just gotten my license to drive a car.  I lived in the City all my life so I took the bus until I bought a motorcycle.  My wife-to-be finally took em out in her '77 Corona and said, "I'm tired of doing all the driving!  You learn!"

Jerry was our mechanic.  He fixed cars in his back yard in Belmont, which must have tweaked the yuppies quite a bit.  The Mustang would no longer go into reverse, so we took it in.  "It's time to sell the car, kids," he said, "I can fix it, but it's going to be something else real soon."  Never had a mechanic as honest and compassionate since.

I'm not a car guy, but I did like driving it.  Years later I saw it on the road.  Someone had restored it and painted it shiny blue.  I was glad to see someone was taking care of it.

I later had a Honda Civic Si that someone stole right out of my driveway on Father's Day.  The car turned up stripped in Richmond.  The thieves are coyote poop now.  At least that's my version.

[glenn kangiser]

Gotta commend you Drew.  For a city boy you're doing pretty good.   I know that in the big city a license isn't necessary as there is pretty cheap transportation and no place to park.  Nope -- I couldn't do the big city  for a steady diet.

I couldn't imagine remaining a virgin...non-driver for 25 years.  I grey up in the stix.  I had a 41 Chevy pickup and a 54 Willys sedan way before I had a drivers license.  I got a learners permit at about 15 1/2 if I remember right but had already  been terrorizing the woods with the old truck and car.  I couldn't always count on the pickup starting so I had the blacksmith make a crank for it - it still had the crank hole in the front and the teeth on the front of the crankshaft.  Yup - I cranked it a lot of times. 

The old Willys was so rusty I cut the back end off of it and built a wood trunk.  I put tire chains on it and probably made a real muddy mess in the winter.  It got about 6 miles to the gallon...of oil.  Hard picking up chicks in a rig like that.  You can't even pretend to be cool.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

That was me, too, Glenn.  I drove on the dirt roads and on the farm by the time I was 12.  If you can navigate terraces without dragging high center, you're doing alright... if anything, it made me a better driver.  Never forget the first time I drove on paved roads, though.  I was thirteen, and we'd gone out for dinner in Shawnee, OK, and all of the sudden mom got sick and said I had to drive.  It was Friday night and the Kickapoo Street riffraff was already in full cruise, and she made me drive all the way home in the midst of that Friday night crowd.  Scared me silly.  I just knew I'd get pulled over because I looked too young, but I guess the cops were all too busy chasing the trouble makers hanging out in the HumptyDumpty parking lot. 

[glenn kangiser]

Cool.

My mom's first driving experience was in Wisconsin probably in the 40's.  She drove horses plowing the fields of their farm.  Her dad got a big new shiny tractor and her first try at driving it, it ran up on a stump.  She just yelled out, Whoa -- finally got it stopped I guess.

[Erin]

I couldn't imagine remaining a virgin...non-driver for 25 years

I can't either.  I've been driving since I was 11 and my husband teases me that I was so old.     
When our son was about 4, DH started letting him steer while he dumped protein blocks out of the back of the pickup.  (Put it in low range 4WD and all the boy had to do was hang on).  I dearly wish I had a picture from one of those feeding trips.  You could see the trail where he'd weave and wander all over on his way up the hill. 
At 8 he's now an old hand and drives an automatic comfortably.  One of these days when he gets just a little more height on him, I'm going to teach him to drive a manual on my Metro since it's so small.

My kid brother, on the other hand, sold his car shortly after he and my SIL left Nebraska for Boston. Insurance was expensive, parking was expensive and they rarely went anywhere that the bus/train/bikes coudn't take them.  They've been living in Dublin Ireland for a couple of years now and have nothing but their bikes.  Neither of them miss cars except when they fly home and need to bum rides everywhere.  lol

[StinkerBell]

I started driving when I was about 12. Gramps let me drive the forklift he had at his hardware store. From there I went to learn driving his big duley (sp) trucks.  Nowadays I bet OSHA would have shut his business down. I also survived growing up sitting in the back bed of a pick up truck too... Don't get me wrong I understand that doing that in the city or on a hwy is stoopid, but a back country road to the neighbors house or up to the lake....

[Sassy]

I got my permit when I was 15 1/2, didn't drive before that...   we used to always ride in the back of pickups, too - lots of fun!  None of us ever fell out...   

[Erin]

A couple years ago, one of the guys on the ranch was driving down a gravel road with his kids in the back f the pickup.  He hit a soft spot in the gravel and rolled.  It was dumb luck he didn't kill both of those kids.   
I never knew anyone who got sick or died from lead poisoning, but it still strikes me as a dumb idea to let kids chew on lead-based paint.

[Sassy]

Yeah, it can be unsafe at times - I was driving with my kids asleep in my car one night, when a drunk driver rammed into the passenger side of my car - totaled it.  The drunk was driving a pickup with a bunch of teenagers in the back - they were thrown out - minor injuries, only.  We only got minor injuries, too. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I'm surprised no one was killed, Sassy. Whew!  I think I'd tear someone's head off if they hit me with the kids in the car!

[Sassy]

Yeah, I got out of the car & started yelling at the driver - "you could have killed my kids!" over & over...  to top it off, he's drunk, trying to get me to not call the police, says he'll take care of everything.  Lots of people saw the accident & the police & ambulance were called right away.  Then when the police get there, he talks his underage girlfriend to say she was driving, because he already had drunk driving convictions & she wouldn't get in as much trouble!  So she gets arrested, but then some of her friends blew the whistle on the guy.  My kids were just little at the time, one was lying across the back seat asleep & the other had his head in the front seat & was sitting on the floor sleeping & actually slept through it (that was before seatbelt laws were so stringent) I got whiplash & the seat belt hit me across the chest pretty hard but other than that - probably another reason I have chronic neck pain... 

[Redoverfarm]

Yeah it is suprising how many of "us" started driving with tractor's.  I started on one and my son now 13 started when he was 7.  Thank goodness he uses common sense and realizes a tractor is not an Indy pace car.  I guess that is one of the advantages of living in the country.  It is a shame that more kid's can't live there for a little portion of their developing years.

I remember riding in the back of Pick-up's. Face it usually the family's were too large to all get in the cab when most farms only had trucks because it was a combination work/recreational vehicle in it's time.  I still take my kids in the back when we are off the main roads.  They enjoy it.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

My mom tells stories about riding to TX in the back of the truck under blankets when she was a kid... there were five kids, and so the two youngest sat up front with Grandma and Grandpa, while the rest of them (and aunts, uncles, and cousins at times) huddled in the back together.  I rode in the back all the time, too... I remember one time I'd been to my dad's and my step-brother and step-cousins had all been there, and then my step-mom went on a crazy drunk spree and threatened to kill me, and I demanded to go home.  I refused to ride up front with Dad or the crazy one, and so all of us kids piled in the back of the truck and watched the stars all the way to Oklahoma City where my mom was waiting to meet us (because I'd called her and told her that i was coming home come heck or high water and to meet me there -- I think it was around midnight when we got to the meeting point.)

[Drew]

My parents used to bomb around the countryside in an Austin Healey Sprite with me in the boot (No, not the trunk) in a moving box.  When I got older my sister and I would stick one foot between the driver and passenger seats so that my dad could hold them down while my mom drove.

Since then I broke someone's windshield with my face while riding a bicycle, been rear ended on a motorcycle, and have been chased down a few times on my motorcycle by road-enraged drivers.  I'm no squid; I rode with bike safety nuts and took it seriously.  I came into each of these situations with lots of technique and less than enough luck.  Except that I lived.  That's a good thing.

I miss my bikes but I won't ride anymore.  The traffic is just different.  Cell phones and larger vehicles in town are part of it.  There are more rolling stops at stop signs than before.  Someone who went to traffic school told me that a drunk driver will drive drunk an average of 300 times before s/he is caught.  I don't see people accepting more responsibility for themselves.

[tanya]

When we were kids my parents had a truck and camper no way they were having kids in the cab!!!  Not even one, and they had a camper that fit so that the tailgate would close over the door and they would only let us out if it was convienient for them, and way way back in the old days we had a coffee can for bathroom privleges we sure were happy when they actually got the one with a porta potti and when they finally got one that flushed with a real holding tank we were really having things then. You would think I would hate riding in a camper but now whenever I travel all Ithink about is that nice comfy bed that you could watch the world go by get up and move around or just take a nap.  They had an intercom too but that was only one way in other words they could listen to us and talk to us in the camper but we couldn't talk to them, and we could only hear their conversation if they pushed the call button!!!  We rode in the open back too but they had really strict rules about sitting right up next to the cab an the floor not wheel wells, no hanging out the sides or back, etc.   I think I like that camper idea for traveling with kids though.  

[Drew]

I've been curious about that, Tanya.  Is it legal for someone to ride in the back of an RV or camper without a seatbelt?  I know it sounds like an obvious question, but I am constantly amazed by this world.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Drew, I think it is legal in an overhead camper or in a motorhome, but not in a pull-behind... at least, that's my understanding.  Sometimes the rules don't make a lot of sense.  When I was about six, two of my cousins and I rode to TX in the back of an overhead truck camper, and by the time we got to our destination, all three of us had black eyes... curious how that happens.

With  our kids, the rule is that they buckle up, even if it is a short distance, even if we're not getting on the main road, even if we're just pulling around the block so that we can park in the garage.  I figure if I ever let them get away with not buckling up, they'll think they can get away with it any time. OMMV

[Redoverfarm]

Here anyone riding in any portion of a motor vehicle under the age of 18 is required to have safety restraint.  And anyone in the front seat regardless of age.  If you had safety restraints in the back of a truck then I guess it would be OK. But how many pick-ups have seat belts with no seats in a truck. The only exceptions to the seat belt law is that vehicles manufactured before 1967 didn't have them so it is not required that you wear one.  I guess the law makers figured that due to the age that the only time they would be driven was in a parade and would not be of a real danger. Go figure.

[Drew]

I've got the same policy, HT.  Our habits progress, both in positive and negative directions.

After 10 years on a motorcycle I was grateful for the seatbelt!

That, and the radio.  And staying dry.  And the metal doors.

[ScottA]

It's technicaly illegal to ride in the back of a truck here but it's not generally enforced so far as I can tell. If you're an illegal alien you are considered cargo I belive since they tend to pile them in the pack of trucks by the dozen.

[MountainDon]

My RV has seat belts all over the place, except for the toilet. The Dinette has them as well as the sofa bed. But I don't think we've ever had anyone in those seats while underway.

[StinkerBell]

We use to have a small class c motor home. I have neighbors (one a sheriff the other a police office, married couple) who I ask a few questions. Also asked Police in the Mt Shasta area too )on vacation about open bottle violation. I asked if I had wine the night before and placed the unused portion in the fridge is that considered an open container violation. They all said no. When it comes to an RV the rules are not clear. If you are in the cab area and have no seat belt on the police can pull you over. If your in the living area like the dinette not only do you not have to have your seat belt on you can be drinking a glass of wine and they really can not do anything about it. The trade off is though if someone breaks into your RV they treat as a home invasion. It is all very confusing. BUT! BUT! a toilet seatbelt might be a good idea.....lol

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Arrrrggghhhh!  Back to the original reason for this post!     I stopped to take a break from working on the house this afternoon to see the county sherriff's vehicle pulling up to our house.  I walked out to meet them, and they told me that they had a complaint from one of my neighbors about my dog being  out in the cold.  Granted, it is really cold today... but he didn't go out on his run until 1 PM, and then had only been out a few hours, during which time his water was thawed and he had access to a dog house and food.  I'm guessing it is the same lady who stopped and bawled me out last week because the dog was sitting in the rain.  When I was standing there talking to the cops, Ornery dog started barking and wagging all over, excited to see company.  They looked at him and kind of laughed and said, "Well, we're not saying that there's any problem with the way the dog's being treated, but you can pretty much expect more problems with this neighbor if you don't keep him in your house."  I told them my suspicions that this was probably the same lady who chewed me out a week ago when it was 50 degrees because he was sitting outside of the dog house in the rain.  They just laughed and shook their heads.  I am moving... that's all there is to it.  I absolutely hate living here.... We've lived here for three years and this woman never once stopped to introduce herself or have a civil conversation and yet rather than come down here and rationally address what she sees as a problem, or to find out if there actually IS a problem, she calls the cops on us.  Thankfully THEY were good-natured about it.  We brought the poor, mistreated mutt in and put him in his kennel.... One month... I want to be out of here in one month!

[ScottA]

OK let me get this straight...It's OK for homeless veterans to freeze under a bridge all night but they will actualy send out the sherif to investigate if a dog is cold or not? This country is doomed.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Yep... not one, but two officers.  When our car was vandalized with slurs right after we moved here, they only sent out one, who dismissed it as "just kids".  I am getting out of here... feel like the sane person in the nut house plotting an escape.