The Hatchback

Today was our first full day in England and I spent most of it in the hatchback of a Ford Focus. Go ahead and just take a moment to get that mental image.  It was a bit humiliating to crawl out of the back of the car, but I suppose I should be thankful we were not assigned a sedan... Anyway, the cars we ordered will not be ready for a month or so, so we have been issued pool cars and, unfortunately, they will not accommodate all of us unless someone rides in the trunk. I was chicken to drive, so I was cargo. Maybe chicken is a bit harsh, I just did not want my first experience driving on the other side of the road to be with a car full of family. After running some errands including picking up the second car the children needed to rest, so I mustered up my courage and set out to find a stroller, alone.


Yes, we forgot a stroller  We intended to bring an umbrella stroller, but as we were driving to DTW we realized that it was not in the stack.  We were bound to forget something, but the stroller?  Anyway, I made my way to the high street (that is what they call the main street downtown), parked the car and did my shopping without incident. As I was driving I thought that when I damage the car it will be to the left side because I really lack depth perception and everything from the parking spaces to the roads are much more narrow than they are at home.  I can just see myself taking off the side of the car.

Unfortunately, the first car related incident happened much earlier than I would have imagined.  You see, as I was returning from the shopping trip, I was driving along and all of a sudden I heard a pop and then another. Before I knew it, there was a huge crack in the windshield. It is really quite cold here and I turned on the defroster and 2 minutes into the drive, pow! So, we will be adding windshield repair to the "to do" list.

Can you believe it?  We have a joke in our family about the 10%. You know, when the repair man comes to the house and says he has been doing this for 30 years and he has never seen anything like it before.  Yep, that is me, I'm special that way and apparently my talent is not limited to the US.