Posted by Michelle on January 25, 1998 at 12:40:08:

As most of you know, I own a Volkswagen Beetle. The car runs pretty good except during real cold mornings. On these mornings it can take a real long time to warm up. It sometimes will not coopperate at all. I would like to share one of my "mornings" with you.
It was about 2 weeks ago and was running a little late for work as I usually am. I had on a knee length dress, nude colored hose, and some dark blue pumps with a 3" heel. I got in the car and quickly closed the door. It was cold inside. I searched for my fuzzy "driving" slippers but forgot that I had taken them out of the car the day before. I did not feel like going back for them. I normally would just drive barefoot but it was so cold in the car, I decided against it. The heater in the car isn't worth a damn. Anyway, I put the car in neutral then turned the key. The car started but was sputtering. I gently eased my right heeled foot on the gas pedal and lightly pumped it. I did this for about two minutes. The car then started to idle more normally. I then backed out and took off. I had to make a right turn down the street so I down shifted. Upon making the turn, the car died. Getting a bit agravated, I jammed in the clutch then let it out real quick. This got the car started again. I then eased in the clutch and proceeded to gun the hell out of the gas pedal. I was getting pissed! After gunning the car for about 30 seconds, I shifted into 1st, then popped the clutch while flooring the gas pedal. This caused the rear tires to bark a bit. I cruised about 2 blocks before coming to a light. I started to slow down and could tell that the engine was going to die again. I eased in the clutch and braked to a stop. I was on a down hill slope. Feeling the car about to die again, I rotated my right heel over the gas pedal and worked the pedal with my heel. I kept the rest of my foot on the brake. This was a real pain. Knowing that I would be stopping at a few more lights, I quickly kicked off my right shoe, holding the brake with my left foot. I left my left shoe on. No use to freeze both of my feet. I could now work the brake and gas pedal better at the same time. The light turned green and took off. Well, you know what? It died again. Now furious, I slammed my stockinged toes onto the gas pedal and turned the key. The car started again. I pumped the pedal viciously for about 20 seconds, using my toes to hammer the pedal all the way to the floor. This happened most of the way to work. I constantly was having to downshift using my right foot on both the brake and gas at the same time. I guess this is what you would call "heel and toe" driving. I also kicked my left shoe of as well. My feet were getting such a work out that they never got cold at all. Going home in the afternoon was much better. It warmed up quite a bit so I had a nice relaxing drive home in my stockinged feet.