Tammy and tommy and kucing gendut's mini escapades

[quote=“tommy525”]
I think the person most nervous though was the instructor. Tammy was too new at the game to know better, and I already knew better what to expect !! :smiley:

Luckily he has brakes on his side of the car too, and sitting up front he can reach over (which he did numerous times) and grab the steering wheel.[/quote]

It sounds like they’ve got an instructor =)
Congrats to Tammy, I hope she enjoys her newfound freedom and that it opens doors to jobs and such in the future!

Yes one really can NOT exist in the USa without knowing how to drive and having a car.

Baby steps but we are getting there.

Why do you need to be in the back seat? Why do you need to trail behind her in your car? Let her get on with it.

Also, do you tell her the price of everything? It must be exhausting for her hearing exactly how much money your loves costs you all the time.

Actually being in the car is her idea. Her english is not that great. She likes having me around in case of any misunderstandings.

She didn’t want to go alone with a stranger.

Maybe in future when shes on a few lessons she will be fine.

By the way, I always include the price for the curious of everything i talk about.
Don’t forget I am Taiwanese. We always want to know the price of everything, you may not, and that is understandable.

When I read about who did this and did that, I am always curious to know how much it all costs?

Because unlike some, it is important for me to know what things cost. It helps me decide whether i want that or this or what.

So grin and bear it brother man. I will ALWAYS include the price of anything and everything i write about here :smiley:

Fair enough about her wanting you in the car. It’s a shame she doesn’t feel safe though. What kind of world is this?

Talking about money is, in my opinion, kinda cheap. And if someone tells me how much they spent on something they chose to give me it makes me not want that thing. I guess we are all different.

Yeah, I remember my first driving lesson. Also in the Bay Area. After starting the ignition, my instructor’s first instruction to me was “OK, drive.”

That day we drove around much of Berkeley, and then got onto Hwy. 13… driving on the highway on my very first day of instruction!

A great memory!

Yep, my first lesson I was driving in London. I wonder if having learners on the roads makes for better drivers all round? Learners learn at the coal face, other drivers must be considerate of learners.

Yes I do think learning to drive out in the real world is probably better. Although being where we are was a blessing for Tammy. As it is very safe to drive around here. Few cars and lots of little elevation changes and roads here and there. The instructor has a program in mind to take her on more and more challenging roads as her skills improve. I told him to meet up with us once a week for the next 2 months.

Isn’t the rule, one lesson for every year you have been alive? Bet your brain is currently adding up the cost of that! :wink:

[quote=“superking”]Fair enough about her wanting you in the car. It’s a shame she doesn’t feel safe though. What kind of world is this?

Talking about money is, in my opinion, kinda cheap. And if someone tells me how much they spent on something they chose to give me it makes me not want that thing. I guess we are all different.[/quote]

Seriously I am not that CRASS. I wouldn’t tell someone how much their gift costs , I sure wouldn’t want them to know how much I actually paid versus the sticker price !!! :laughing:

When i write bout stuff i always like to include the price for the curious out there. As I am very curious to know when I read about stuff.

And NO, i do not constantly talk about money with my lady.

I do here though, and you can be assured of that.

I have done some quick math. And if i taught her in an automatic that i buy (even if i buy some cheap banger for a couple thousand), and knowing how much her insurance is likely to be to start (somewhere around 300/month) and how much more it will go up if she has an accident. It is far far better to invest in 10 to 20 hours of lessons from a professional outfit.

I really don’t know how long it is going to take to get her up to speed. But I am prepared to invest in an hour a week for a month/ two months, three months, four months, five months, six months, seven months , eight months, nine months. Two years ? However long it takes.

Because as I said, her insurance is likely to be 300/month anyway. And better to invest that in lessons until she is able to handle a car.

She has an idea for a starter job. There is a website advertising for nannies to run kids to pool practice, gym , stuff like that. Pay is pretty good. Up to 20 bucks an hour to run a kid to a pool meet and 20 bucks/hour waiting for the little munchkin to finish and run his/her ass home? But she needs to have a car (and obviously know how to drive safely).

Can’t have her banging up her car and herself and little kids can we? So better make sure she is up to speed first.

I hope ten to twenty lessons of professional training will allow her to graduate to me and her going out for drives on my day off. I plan to get an automatic car (lease a cheap one) and have her drive us all over the place.

But first she has to master the basics. It’s not an easy thing to do for some. Some are more gifted and natural drivers. I suspect she is not, sadly.

The UK has a very good practice that I wish they’d implement in the US: the L plate. It’s an unmistakable sign on the back of the car proclaiming that you’re a learner. so other drivers will be more forgiving when behind you, instead of laying on the horn and yelling at you to move.

[quote=“tommy525”][quote=“superking”]Fair enough about her wanting you in the car. It’s a shame she doesn’t feel safe though. What kind of world is this?

Talking about money is, in my opinion, kinda cheap. And if someone tells me how much they spent on something they chose to give me it makes me not want that thing. I guess we are all different.[/quote]

Seriously I am not that CRASS. I wouldn’t tell someone how much their gift costs , I sure wouldn’t want them to know how much I actually paid versus the sticker price !!! :laughing:

When i write bout stuff I always like to include the price for the curious out there. As I am very curious to know when I read about stuff.

And NO, I do not constantly talk about money with my lady.

I do here though, and you can be assured of that.[/quote]

No worries. I’ve been out with a couple of people recently who constantly dropped the prices of things into the convo. It was exhausting and not at all nice.

The UK has a very good practice that I wish they’d implement in the US: the L plate. It’s an unmistakable sign on the back of the car proclaiming that you’re a learner. so other drivers will be more forgiving when behind you, instead of laying on the horn and yelling at you to move.[/quote]

You don’t have L plates? Wow. We also have P plates from the newly passed driver, but I don’t think they are mandatory.

Just curious about the quoted part above, as my wife is going to be learning to drive in the US before long.

How do the insurance companies know if she’s a new driver or not? From what I assumed, they can tell is how old you are and possibly how many accidents you’ve been in and how many tickets you’ve received. Do they have any way to tell that you’re a brand new driver and charge you more for insurance according to that? Also, how would they know that your wife didn’t drive back in Indonesia? Have you gotten insurance quotes for her considering whether or not she’s had driving lessons? I continue to wish you and your wife all the best, Tommy.

I have done some quick math. And if i taught her in an automatic that i buy (even if i buy some cheap banger for a couple thousand), and knowing how much her insurance is likely to be to start (somewhere around 300/month) and how much more it will go up if she has an accident. It is far far better to invest in 10 to 20 hours of lessons from a professional outfit.

I really don’t know how long it is going to take to get her up to speed. But I am prepared to invest in an hour a week for a month/ two months, three months, four months, five months, six months, seven months , eight months, nine months. Two years ? However long it takes.

Because as I said, her insurance is likely to be 300/month anyway. And better to invest that in lessons until she is able to handle a car.

She has an idea for a starter job. There is a website advertising for nannies to run kids to pool practice, gym , stuff like that. Pay is pretty good. Up to 20 bucks an hour to run a kid to a pool meet and 20 bucks/hour waiting for the little munchkin to finish and run his/her ass home? But she needs to have a car (and obviously know how to drive safely).

Can’t have her banging up her car and herself and little kids can we? So better make sure she is up to speed first.

I hope ten to twenty lessons of professional training will allow her to graduate to me and her going out for drives on my day off. I plan to get an automatic car (lease a cheap one) and have her drive us all over the place.

But first she has to master the basics. It’s not an easy thing to do for some. Some are more gifted and natural drivers. I suspect she is not, sadly.[/quote]

Aggravation, Tommy, has no price. Rather, avoiding aggravation.

Just curious about the quoted part above, as my wife is going to be learning to drive in the US before long.

How do the insurance companies know if she’s a new driver or not? From what I assumed, they can tell is how old you are and possibly how many accidents you’ve been in and how many tickets you’ve received. Do they have any way to tell that you’re a brand new driver and charge you more for insurance according to that? Also, how would they know that your wife didn’t drive back in Indonesia? Have you gotten insurance quotes for her considering whether or not she’s had driving lessons? I continue to wish you and your wife all the best, Tommy.[/quote]

Car insurance is a huge huge huge money maker in the USA. Think Warren Buffet. The bulk of his fortune is tied up with owning Geico. Or at least his fortune started getting huge by owning Geico Insurance.

Unlike Taiwan where the car gets insured and licensed drivers are covered when they drive it. Individuals must get insurance before they can drive a car.

The price is based upon :

  1. How long you have had a driver’s license. They ask you and they have access to records within the USA. Your driving record in other countries carry less weight here. So you could have had 20 years experience outside of the USA and you may be treated almost like a newbie. Not quite but almost. So let’s say she lied and said she drove for five years in Indonesia already. They may ask for proof of her Indo license and they may actually even check in INdo. But most likely they will dismiss that and simply consider her a newbie driver in the USA. She is late twenties so she is in a higher insurance bracket anyway versus myself. American insurance companies consider what you declare to be legally enforceable. You can be punished by having your insurance dropped, or they can refuse to pay if they find a major discrepancy after you have had an accident. So you do not want to f*ck with your insurance company. Or they will leave you hanging !

  2. The car you are going to be driving. Cars that have a lower safety rating (car insurance companies have actual repair dollar amounts for various models) and higher death rates and higher theft rates carry a higher insurance.

  3. How far is your daily commute? Do you drive 10,000 miles a year or 20,000 miles a year.

  4. How much coverage are you after? And your deductible. Is your share (your deductible) 250, 500 or 1000. Are you covering for 300,000 per accident or 50,000 per accident. For a few dollars more, cover at 300,000 is much better then coverage at only 50,000.

  5. Your age. Younger then the norm and much older then the norm the accident rate goes up and so does your insurance.

  6. Your driving record. Have you had any DUI ? Any tickets? Safe to say a DUI can up your payment by 300 to 400 a month for years. A ticket can up your insurance by 100 to 200 a month (USD).

  7. Where you live. Where you live can vary your insurance by 20 to 50/month or more.

etc

Personally I am paying quite little at some 100/month. I have 300,000 and my deductible is 250. I drive 15k/year. I have an excellent driving record, no tickets. NO accidents (hitting the deer doesnt count against you). So I am paying at a low level. Approx 100 per month is considered pretty cheap.

My insurance went up a little bit when I had an new Audi on lease. Versus a five year old MOndeo. It went up even higher when I got my Acura when it was only 2 years old. It has gone down slowly each year as my Acura ages and my driving record remains good. And my insurance went up about 25/month when i lived in San Francisco versus living where I live now.

I went from about 100/month to 115/month from 5 year old Mondeo (called Contour in the USA) to new Audi A4 and then even higher to about 130/month when I got my Acura when it was 2 years old. Acura and Honda have very high chances of getting stolen here. Now its down to around 108/month or something like that. With Triple A, they charge you more at the beginning of the year, like 135/month and it steadily goes down to about 84/month towards the end of the year. So its hard to remember what the annual was. But it was around 1200/year. So bout 100 / month.

I know Chinese students studying at Berkeley and they are paying (depending on variables) anywhere from 300 to 1000 dollars a month !!! They have very high accident rates. They are rich kids with rich kid cars and they like to race them with each other and often ends in a crack up.

American kids who just started getting their own insurance pay about 350 to 500/month as well.

IF they are on their parents insurance, it will be less. But any accidents affect both themselves and their parents. That is why parents like to get their kids to get their own insurance soon as they can.

Soon as the kid has a job, most people here like to get their kids to pay for their own car and their own insurance. Rich families parents will pay for that.

For me, adding another car to MY insurance will cost around 50 to 70 dollars or more (depending on the car).

Adding her to my insurance, I am expecting a LARGE dollar amount. 300/month is probably a good guess.

I should ask my insurance agent.

Hope this helps. P.s. Your pricing could vary so my experience is only a rough rough guide. Where your wife and you will be living, what car she gets, etc, can and will vary your dollar amounts from mine perhaps by quite a bit.

When my wife starts to earn steady money i want her to pay for her own car lease and her own insurance with her money.

One can get a Honda Civic for less then 200/month with about 3000 down here. A Smart can be had for as little as 100/month with about 2000 down.

An Audi A3 or a BMW 128 can be had for less then 400/month with about 3500 down.

So leasing can be reasonable here.

[quote=“superking”][quote=“tommy525”][quote=“superking”]Fair enough about her wanting you in the car. It’s a shame she doesn’t feel safe though. What kind of world is this?

Talking about money is, in my opinion, kinda cheap. And if someone tells me how much they spent on something they chose to give me it makes me not want that thing. I guess we are all different.[/quote]

Seriously I am not that CRASS. I wouldn’t tell someone how much their gift costs , I sure wouldn’t want them to know how much I actually paid versus the sticker price !!! :laughing:

When i write bout stuff I always like to include the price for the curious out there. As I am very curious to know when I read about stuff.

And NO, I do not constantly talk about money with my lady.

I do here though, and you can be assured of that.[/quote]

No worries. I’ve been out with a couple of people recently who constantly dropped the prices of things into the convo. It was exhausting and not at all nice.[/quote]

They weren’t Taiwanese were they? With my Taiwanese friends that would not only be normal, but expected. If you didn’t offer the price for what you are talking about you will get asked. I will have to remember NOT to ask you if we ever have a beer. :sunglasses:

In fact, my Taiwanese friends would feel insulted if they got a Rolex and nobody asked them how much it costs.

p.s. on an unrelated note. Wifey and i went to see AMERICAN SNIPER yesterday. And just for superking, the matinee price for the movie tickets were 15.50 for the two of us :bow: That followed lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Which basically involves one going one pass through a salad line (one pass only) and then you have free access to ice cream, some fruits, 8 different soups, unlimited pasta, baked potatoes, etc. And that was bout 23 for the two of us.

The movie was good. Clint Eastwood did a good job. The actors were great. It was all very realistic. The leading lady was cute. Go see the movie.

Thanks for that, Tommy. I didn’t realize the insurance companies would be so thorough, but it makes sense given the lucrative market, like you say. Hopefully insurance won’t be too high for us when the time comes. My wife is in an older age bracket than yours is, and she did have a Texas drivers license before it expired recently. We’ll see how it works out.

I for one enjoy living vicariously through reading about your adventures. Take care, and best wishes to you and your wife.

[quote=“scomargo”]Thanks for that, Tommy. I didn’t realize the insurance companies would be so thorough, but it makes sense given the lucrative market, like you say. Hopefully insurance won’t be too high for us when the time comes. My wife is in an older age bracket than yours is, and she did have a Texas drivers license before it expired recently. We’ll see how it works out.

I for one enjoy living vicariously through reading about your adventures. Take care, and best wishes to you and your wife.[/quote]

Thanks scomargo ! Yes, the fact your wife had a Texas drivers license before will count for a LOT.

I got my license in the USA, then traded that for a TW license , so far as the insurance companies go, I had a license for a long long time. And that was a major plus in getting a great rate ! Sounds like you guys will be fine.