Cars old and new

Mom and I flew to California for a family visit and rented a car. When cars were first built about 100 years ago they were very simple. Now they have computers and all kinds of buttons on the dashboard. Each car seems to have a different set up, so this car had the gearshift on the floor instead of the steering column. Every time mom tried to put the car in reverse, she set off the windshield wipers! Next she started the wiper in the rear and couldn’t get it turned off. We put a glove on it and drove down the freeway waving at the cars behind us every 30 seconds! We could have used that wiper when we were running late through the airport on the way home. Wave hi/bye to the baggage drop off, hi/bye to the security clearance team, hi/bye to the postcard seller. Whew, we made it to the gate and onto the plane. Time to go home! Purrs, Gulliver.

Horseless Carriages

Way, way back, when my great grandfather’s father was a kitten at the turn of the last century (1901) automobiles (horseless carriages) were still a new form of transportation. They put the kitten in a basket for a short trip across town to see family, and then drove at the top speed of the car – 6 miles per hour! He was car sick, and hated the horn blowing which was used at every curve and intersection to warn people they were coming. No one had training on how to drive, or a license. The first state to require license plates on cars was New York, and the car owner’s made their own plates which were the two or three initials of the owners names.

Purrs, Gulliver