It dawned on me the other day that I never did a write-up on our car. And that I haven't told very many people about the best part of our car . . . it's a transformer!
No, no. Not THAT kind of transformer. But it's kind of fun to think about driving Bumble-bee.
Our car, in reality, started off somewhere across the ocean where everything is in reverse. Back in 1997 when it was brought over to the Americas, the dash was switched around, but there are some key differences. Some key ANNOYING differences.
The gear shift still faces the passenger seat. That is, the display showing whether you're in reverse, drive, neutral, etc. is on the right and you can't see it when you drive. You either have to count clicks or watch the display next to the odometer. And you have to push the gear shift button with your pinky because it, too, is on the passenger side.
The "wands" on either side of the steering wheel for the blinker, windshield wipers and headlights are on the opposite sides. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to turn on the blinkers to make a turn and ended up raking the wipers across a dry windshield. And it's customary to use the wipers to indicate that you don't want your window cleaned by the street kids; I've had quite a few unwanted washes when I turned on the blinkers instead of the wipers. Grrrrr.
The panel for rolling up/down the windows that is on the driver's door is also a bit tricky. The top row - the one for the driver and front-seat passenger - is in reverse. The bottom row - for the back seat windows - is normal. So, top left: front-seat passenger. Top right: driver. Bottom left: driver-side back seat. Bottom right: far post. Got it? Yeah, me neither.
Until this week, we thought those were the only things weird about the car (aside from the minor curiosity of the hazard button being closer to the passenger than driver). But on Wednesday, Brandon took Bailey to school in the morning and accidentally left the headlights on. Thanks to some good friends, we got Bailey home from school and got a jump for the battery. Later that evening, we were in the car, headlights on, when we pulled up to the house. Brandon left the lights on (again) after he stopped the car and when he opened the door...no warning *ding*ding*ding*. But when I opened the passenger door...*ding*ding*ding* The warning is still wired to the
old driver - now passenger - door.
So there you have it. That's what it's like to drive a transformer. It's not nearly as glamorous as Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox make it out to be. Figures.
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