Sturtz Stuff

The home that I grew up in was at the top of a hill. A fairly steep hill at that. That same hill is where I learned to drive a 5-speed. My Father owned a small sized pickup truck called an Isuzu P'up. Just a bit smaller than a Ford S-10. The truck had manual steering as well as transmission. As soon as I had my learner’s permit my dad put me behind the wheel of his truck.  While driving with my Dad we were going up the steep hill that we lived on. About halfway up the hill my Dad told me to stop. He then told me to put the truck in first gear and to set the hand emergency brake. That way I could take my foot off the brake and only mess with the gas and clutch pedals. He told me that I needed to learn to start on a hill. Well I freaked out and stalled out a lot. Like a lot of times. Like a lot, a lot of times. Eventually we made it home which was only about 50 yards away!  Among the things learned that day was that often you and I have all the resources we need to solve our pro...