A Taste of Italy

More Good News:
Today I had a HUUGE blowout in the Porsche. I was on the outerloop of the beltway just passing over the Springfield interchange, when the back left tire of the Porsche exploded. I pulled over immediatly, which happened to be on the overpass of I95 on the Beltway, and realized I couldn't be in a tougher place. If I walked towards Van Dorn, I would have to cross 95N-onto-495 on ramp traffic, If I walked towards Braddock, I would have to cross 495-onto-95S off ramp traffic. Or I could have waited 2 hours for AAA. All of this to inflate the spare.

But something great happened. I had about 4 of the lugnuts off when the CVS roadside assistance van pulled up. Now this is community service. The guy came out, an impact wrench in one hand and an airpump in the other and got me rolling in less than 10 minutes. Turns out the vans are part of the "Samaritan Program" run by CVS, whos aim is to help the general public along motorways, and it's completely free. To me, this is going above and beyond what I would expect from any company, so CVS has earned my deep seeded respect and owe them my business and graditude.

Fast forward the day a little bit - The Bro gets the call. "You killed my Porsche?! Just kiddin. I'll come by tonight and trade you the Alfa Romeo for the Porsche." Might as well drive all of his exotic cars, right? Here's a pic of an Alfa Romeo Spider.

The Bro arrived and we headed out to teach me how to drive the Alpha Rodeo.

The A-Rod definitely requires a distinctly different mindset while driving. Where the Porsche is the "Leave everyone behind you" the Alfa is "No one can stop me from sitting back and enjoying the ride." But the Alfa comes with some quirks, ones that leave me more nervous than with the Porshe (partly due to the feeling that The Bro prefers the A-R over the P). First and foremost is the transmission. First gear must be shifted into no faster than 4 seconds, lest you bring on the grindies. Since the Spider has been out (I think since the early 60's) it has only gone through 3 model upgrades. Therefore the manual recommends to downshift only occasionally and when you do, to double-clutch. The clutch itself is pretty tight, and again I am left realizing my clutch on my 'lude is toast. The shift assembly is rather unique as well. Over the years, A.R. engineers concluded that it is much more ergonomic to have the shifter protruding out of the dash center console. The idea is that the most comfortable position is your hands at 10 & 2 and with the shifter being only 8 or 9 inches to the right of this position (as opposed to 8-9" right, and 10" down on the floor). The next hurdle was getting used to not having power steering. This was the first car I've ever driven without power steering and I have to say it is a shocker. You absolutely have to get the car moving before you can turn the wheel. You can forget about any sub-10mph maneuvers. Also, grooves or bumps running slightly non-parallel to your lane can actually push your steering in that direction.

The next lesson was how to fit our 6'4"+ frames in the car. We both laughed at how strange it must look with both of us in this tiny car. Since it is winter time, the hard top has been installed, encouraging us taller glasses of water to slouch a little to gain us some head room. Next was the simple fact that the car was so low to the ground. The hood of the car barely gets to my mid-thigh. Next was the pedal cluster. The distance between the clutch and the brake was fine, but the distance between the brake and the accelerator was just ridiculous. The pedal is located a little more than an inch away from the wall, and the brake is about a half an inch away from the accelerator. This requires one to remove their right shoe to drive.

Quirky, but oh so classy. Quirks are some of the most lovable aspects in a relationship. They are what make people unique. I just have to get beyond my first few date jitters.