My dad taught me to drive an automatic. We lived in Alameda and on my second time behind the wheel my dad had me drive to the Nimitz freeway and drive to Hayward and back. His belief was that if you could drive the freeway, you could drive anywhere. My first experience with a stick shift was in the Navy in the Philippines. Our first class loaded everyone on a 5 ton flatbed and told me to drive. I calmly told him I never drove a stick. He sternly told me to get behind the wheel and drive. I tentatively got behind the wheel. He then instructed me on the fundamentals of a stick and after killing the engine a few times and jerking the truck and the guys in back a bunch more times I finally got comfortable driving the truck. This made the guys in back very happy as I was required to also drive it back. It was an open bed truck and it rained the whole way to our work station. The truck we came back in was canvas covered, the rain had stopped and it was about 115 in the shade. Sam ________________________________ From: Linda Mock <lindamock@webtv.net> To: norcal@rootsweb.com Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 10:42:16 AM Subject: [NORCAL] OT- drivers training Does anyone remember when they learned to drive? Who Taught you & where? Kind of vehicle used...I just renewed my 5 year license for the 5th time. ~Linda~ Willow Creek, CA. ----------------------------------------- NORCAL ARCHIVES: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. ----------------------------------------- To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to NORCAL@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

It was a model A Ford roadster. I bought it in Watsonville in 1942 for $55. I was 20 and working at KHUB radio as news director. The manager gave me that title because he only paid me $15 a week. I lived at the YMCA for $2.50 a week had a $5 meal ticket at a Slovenian restaurant. The owner always gave me extra helpings because my grandfather's name was Raicevich. On my first trip home to SF I took my mother and aunt for their first ride. My aunt in the rumble seat. At the end I took the Duboce street hill down to Castro. Big mistake! By the second block we speeded up in spite of the fact I had down shifted to second. The brakes wouldn't stop us. At Castro I swerved to the right and saw a bus headed our way. I just missed it at the last minute. We got home to Herman St. and my mother and aunt had a glass of sherry and laid down. Alone I took the car back to the Castro hill and went down in first gear with no problem. My confidence returned. Bill PS I just renewed my license at 88. The DMV examiner saw my cane and asked me why I used it, but he passed me.