Monday, September 26, 2011

Watch Out World, I'm Driving!

by Pa Rock
World Traveler

For the past fourteen months I have been driving on the left-hand side of the road in a car that has the steering wheel on the right.  It took about six months for me to completely assimilate the fact that the control on the right side of the wheel was turn signal, and the windshield wipers were on the left.  But I learned.  And I also learned to drive in a society where the highest speed limit is approximately thirty-five miles per hour.

So today as I got behind the wheel of the rental car in Kansas City, I had to forget everything that I have learned while living in Japan - as I raced toward the Ozarks at a death-defying seventy miles-per-hour!

The rule of thumb that I picked up while overseas with regard to driving is this:  Keep your hiney on the liney.  In other words, the driver should be lane that would place him closest to the center line.  That works in either country.  Every time I pulled on or off of the highway today, I would have to repeat the hiney-liney mantra to make sure that I was in the lane that I needed to be in.

It worked great today, but just in case I forget and screw up, I bought the deluxe insurance package!

I am now safely in my hometown of Noel, Missouri, and spending the evening at the home of Mayor Carroll and his lovely wife Patti.  It is so nice to have friends in high places!

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