I should probably also add that I loved all my standard shifts, but I'm really glad that I don't have one in LA.

If you are on flat ground, learning a manual shift should take a couple days practice. If you are on hilly ground, forget about it.

aurelia, is 5 your largest finger? Dang, you're tiny!

I'm not tiny, I just have long skinny fingers. The ring finger is a 5. The first two fingers probably aren't larger than a 5.25.

I was able to learn to drive really wierd, old Army surplus manuals (anyone know what a doodle is?) without much trouble. I haven't really tried with a normal car though.

In only slightly related news, how difficult would it be for someone to learn how to drive a stick shift after they've been driving an automatic for longer than they'd care to admit?

Not that hard. Particularly when most of your LA driving will be on the freeway so you've just go to get up to speed. It can be tricky to go from being at a dead stop on an incline to moving into first, but that's about the most difficult thing.

You just have to teach your foot how to let the clutch out slowwwwly. (If you want to cheat, you can always give it a little more gas than clutch. It might hop, but it won't die.)

I basically learned by doing first and reverse in our side yard. Once you learn that the rest is relatively easy. It's not tricky going from first to second or second to third or third to fourth.

In only slightly related news, how difficult would it be for someone to learn how to drive a stick shift after they've been driving an automatic for longer than they'd care to admit?

Three days, maybe, to get to where they're comfortable. Less than that in a pinch. I think Paul taught our friend Brian in a couple hours with a parking lot and some motivation. (I'll be going the reverse way soon, as my knee is rejecting the notion of another manual.)

Particularly when most of your LA driving will be on the freeway so you've just go to get up to speed.

Bwah! You have driven on LA freeways, right?

Okay, thanks! Good to know. I'm gonna see if my stepdad can teach me the next time I'm there. Where it's flat.

If you are on hilly ground, forget about it.

This is my big worry. I live in a land with a lot of steep hills.

The thing is, even if you learn on flat ground and get really comfortable with a standard, the hills and the traffic will still make it somewhat miserable to drive in LA.

Bwah! You have driven on LA freeways, right?

She's working for a studio! She'll never get caught in rush hour stop-and-go traffic. 70 mph baybee and the wind in her hair.

She's commuting at 10PM and 4AM? Because that's about the only time when 70 mph and wind in her hair is likely to happen.

ETA: But if it's a really cool sport car I saw do it anyway.