Couple of weeks ago my girlfriend decided it would be nice to start the car for me but forgot one thing….. I never park on with the handbrake applied. I always leave it in gear especially now the car doesn’t drive that much anymore. My current employer supplied me with another car for all work related stuff, I only use the Mazda for private rides and occasionally also for work as it needs to drive so every now and then to stay in shape. So as the car was parked backward the gear was still applied in reverse and as soon as she started the car jumped backward and due to it’s height parked itself on the curb and the rear tires just outside the pond behind the parking lot.
She got lucky the curb was high enough otherwise my car would be swimming together with the ducks and Sunny behind the wheel. Doubt it will sink much as the water is about 20 – 30 cm deep, however to get it out would be a different matter as it will suck itself tight in the mud.
However it did came with one cost which was the passenger side window. When this happened she left the door open and it hit a tree when the car came to a rather abrupt standstill and as the window runs free on an open two seater that didn’t survive the impact. The door itself was not affected thankfully.
After getting it off the curb with a tow, I’ve driven it towards my parents so it was parked somewhere dry until the replacement window would arrive. The bottom was okay maybe a few bits of coating but that is it. The exhaust pipe is running inside a tunnel together with the drive shaft and the beam that bolds the differential to the gearbox, in that way it is girlfriend proof.
When reparing the window we’ve found out the car is getting old as the wires moving the window up and down broke after moving the window up and down a couple of times and they needed to be replaced as well.
Guess this was a nice lesson that in reality not everybody applies a handbrake compared to what you learn with your driving lessons. I simply down want to let the brake pads rust onto the discs when it’s standing there for a while. She now knows and I guess this was a valuable lesson for when she gets her driving license….. In the meantime I do keep my car keys with me at all times……
Don’t worry, still have the car. I just changed jobs, this was the last day with my current employer and tomorrow will be the start with a the new one. So no more travelling abroad and the amount of spare time will also increase a lot as travel time will be cut down considerably. The new job will keep me closer to home which is a nice thing since traffic in Holland is becoming more and more of a disaster during rush hour. It will save me about 1.5 to 2 hours per day. Makes Sunny a lot happier as well, the same with travelling abroad as she doesn’t like to be alone in our apartment. How this new adventure will unfold I do not know yet. Different environment, different challenges……. Tell you later, I guess.
My work brought me to 
We decided to visit “
Back in California again. Weather is again great, think it will be kind of hot when summer hits but at this moment it is great. No rain this time, and a bigger car. Went for a compact car but got a sort of 
Okay, it was rainy at the beginning of this trip but lately I cannot complaint about the sunshine, just that I’m not in it as I’m not here to enjoy a holiday. Work it is, moving an office it is including a migration, which means that even the weekends are lost. So besides