Back when I was knee high to a grasshopper and before I went to live with the grandma's, it was customary to go visit them in Plevna at least once a month. This entailed Sunday dinner (noon meal) with Aunt Lola and Uncle Alvin. At this point I need to explain about the family car. The only time this car was used was when we went somewhere far away. Plevna was 24 miles and that was considered far. The other place it went was Hutchinson, where my half brother Earl and his family lived.
I do not know what kind of car it was, only that it was black. I am going to say it was either a Chevrolet or a Chrysler and I have nothing concrete in my little head to make me say that, but I think that is right. So we would load up in the family car early in the morning, because it was a 2 hour drive. I know that sounds excessive, but you need to understand some things. First there were 2 adults and 6 kids in this car. Potty breaks were frequent because no 2 of us ever needed to pee at the same time. So any time dad would see a clump of weeds he would pull over and somebody would jump out and use the cover to "Squat behind".
If the potty breaks were not a bother, the need to add water to the radiator was also a necessity. The need to add water to the radiator, and leave water from an extended bladder never occurred simultaneously. I am not sure why the radiator did not hold water, but one thing is sure, it did not. There was often talk of "getting that radiator fixed", but it never seemed to happen. Seems it was cheaper to just pick up "another cheap car" then fix the one we had. You know, to this day I can not read the "Grapes of Wrath" without picturing the Joad family as being the Bartholomew family.
Now that is another thing. Back in those days, the spelling of last names was really not too important. The census taker came to the door with a piece of paper and all of the members of our household were written out in long hand by the person doing that job. Consequently, when I check the census to find info, Bartholomew is spelled Bartholomeu, and Rueben appears as Rubin, so I am not sure who my father was.
But back to the car business. I had an uncle who was very rich and owned a car way back when I was on the Stroh place. It had a crank in the front and that was the starter. It took 2 people to start it. As I recall, it had a "rumble seat" which really served very little purpose at all except that it only carried 2 people and the rumble seat was what passed later for a trunk, except that a person could set on it if need of it was required. And, just so you know, back in those days, upholstery on the seats was actual cloth. And you had your choice of colors, black and later they added white and army green. We could set by the road and know what kind of car it was by the sound of the motor. Now you can not even hear them!
I do not know how I learned to drive nor when, only that at some point I did. I do know that an automatic transmission was pretty much a luxury and needed to be ordered if you wanted one. Learning to shift a standard transmission using a clutch was pretty much the hardest part of learning to drive. When you learned that it was just a matter of keeping it on your side of the road. Oh, and the brakes were another matter. You had to be aware at all times of the possibility of the brake fluid leaking out a pinhole in the cylinder and when you pushed on the pedal it just went to the floor and at that point you better be able to "gear down" and stop. Damn! I sure miss those days!
I still drive a "stick shift", but that is just because that is what this Honda had when I bought it. I take it in for an oil change when the wrench light comes on and that is about all the little thing needs. I have no idea where I was going with this when I started out, but I hope I covered whatever it was that I wanted to share with you.
This old age is a real challenge sometimes! I used to have a bumper sticker that covered it. It said,
I do not know what kind of car it was, only that it was black. I am going to say it was either a Chevrolet or a Chrysler and I have nothing concrete in my little head to make me say that, but I think that is right. So we would load up in the family car early in the morning, because it was a 2 hour drive. I know that sounds excessive, but you need to understand some things. First there were 2 adults and 6 kids in this car. Potty breaks were frequent because no 2 of us ever needed to pee at the same time. So any time dad would see a clump of weeds he would pull over and somebody would jump out and use the cover to "Squat behind".
If the potty breaks were not a bother, the need to add water to the radiator was also a necessity. The need to add water to the radiator, and leave water from an extended bladder never occurred simultaneously. I am not sure why the radiator did not hold water, but one thing is sure, it did not. There was often talk of "getting that radiator fixed", but it never seemed to happen. Seems it was cheaper to just pick up "another cheap car" then fix the one we had. You know, to this day I can not read the "Grapes of Wrath" without picturing the Joad family as being the Bartholomew family.
Now that is another thing. Back in those days, the spelling of last names was really not too important. The census taker came to the door with a piece of paper and all of the members of our household were written out in long hand by the person doing that job. Consequently, when I check the census to find info, Bartholomew is spelled Bartholomeu, and Rueben appears as Rubin, so I am not sure who my father was.
But back to the car business. I had an uncle who was very rich and owned a car way back when I was on the Stroh place. It had a crank in the front and that was the starter. It took 2 people to start it. As I recall, it had a "rumble seat" which really served very little purpose at all except that it only carried 2 people and the rumble seat was what passed later for a trunk, except that a person could set on it if need of it was required. And, just so you know, back in those days, upholstery on the seats was actual cloth. And you had your choice of colors, black and later they added white and army green. We could set by the road and know what kind of car it was by the sound of the motor. Now you can not even hear them!
I do not know how I learned to drive nor when, only that at some point I did. I do know that an automatic transmission was pretty much a luxury and needed to be ordered if you wanted one. Learning to shift a standard transmission using a clutch was pretty much the hardest part of learning to drive. When you learned that it was just a matter of keeping it on your side of the road. Oh, and the brakes were another matter. You had to be aware at all times of the possibility of the brake fluid leaking out a pinhole in the cylinder and when you pushed on the pedal it just went to the floor and at that point you better be able to "gear down" and stop. Damn! I sure miss those days!
I still drive a "stick shift", but that is just because that is what this Honda had when I bought it. I take it in for an oil change when the wrench light comes on and that is about all the little thing needs. I have no idea where I was going with this when I started out, but I hope I covered whatever it was that I wanted to share with you.
This old age is a real challenge sometimes! I used to have a bumper sticker that covered it. It said,
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!
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