I'm just a 'manual' kinda guy.

So...yesterday I was back at the 'Book Cave' after just over a week of home time. The new delivery service had started while I have been away whereby customers can now reserve books online or by phone and get them delivered to their homes. It's almost too good to be true but it's actually happening.  There are five delivery areas, Town, and the areas outside of town that are North, South, East and West. Yesterday afternoon I did my first 'Town' delivery.Beforehand we have to ring the customers to say that the delivery is taking place, confirm the address and discuss a safe place to leave the books as it is a 'non-contact' service. I also checked that there were no large dogs that could eat me as well. I plotted out a route for the deliveries, packed the books in bags and then into baskets in order of the delivery route.We are using one of the 'Council' cars and it all began to get bit more complicated when I discovered that the car was 'automatic'! The last time I drove an automatic car I went to change gears and slammed the brakes on. You didn't even have to turn a key to start this car. You just put your foot on the brake and press a button and it starts as long as the 'key' fob is somewhere in the car nearby. I got the car started and then the radio started blaring out. Could I find the volume button or the off switch? Could I buffalo! I was pressing and turning all sorts of knobs and pressing buttons and the air conditioning kept blasting on then off and then on again. Eventually I did find a volume control down by the side of the seat...a stupid place for it...and turned the radio down, if not off.I had set off a bit earlier so I could have a bit of a practise, concentrating really hard on keeping my left 'gear changing foot' firmly on the floor. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had been heading out onto the quiet rural roads but I was going all over town with all it's twists and turns and a slightly more concentrated number of fellow drivers. The first delivery went fine and it was the furthest one out on the edge of town. I stopped the car on the verge and left it running making sure I'd put the 'gear' lever on 'P' while I dropped the books off in the letterbox by the roadside. I got back in the car and the engine had stopped. It was one of those cars where the engine goes off if the car stops. Tut!I wasn't finding driving this car easier than a manual as they are supposed to be. It was all brake pressing and button pushing and lever sliding to get the thing to move and then when you had concentrated all your efforts on that and got moving the damn thing beeped at you loudly because you had forgotten to put your seat belt on.Delivery number two was also ok apart from the fact that I scraped the wheel along the kerb as I was unused to the size of this car. Again I slid the lever to 'P' and jumped out to take the book round and leave it on the back verandah.I was using the 'map' app on my phone to give me the directions and it suddenly insisted on assuming I was walking. Could I find out how to change it back to 'driving'? Could I double buffalo! It must have thought I was the 'Bionic Man' as I moved around those streets 50 kmh.Then came delivery number three. I parked again at the side of the road, again scraping the wheel on the kerb and jumped out to get the books off the back seat. I closed the door and headed across the road to delivery the books to the 'side verandah'. It's a good job I looked back at the car as I went because it was slowly rolling down the street away from me. Yikes!I dashed back, very much like a 'Bionic Man' grabbed the door, pulled it open and leapt in and slammed my foot on the brake. The next thing I did was look around to see if anyone had see this debacle. Thankfully, they hadn't. Heck! I had assumed that when you slip the lever to 'P' it put the handbrake on...but obviously not. Where was the flippin' hand brake? It wasn't where I am used to it being. No that is now where they put the sodding volume control for the radio. Could I find the hand brake? Could I triple buffalo!I was pressing switches and buttons and turning knobs until eventually I found a small button with a 'P' on it that made a whirring sound when you pressed it and the brake pedal, I had my foot on, went stiff.I got out again and delivered the book. I tried to set off again. Foot on the brake, press the starter button, slide the lever to 'D' for 'Drive', press the handbrake button....no whirring sound...never mind press the accelerator...no it didn't move. Then because I wasn't moving the engine goes off. Tut! I eventually discovered you had to press the 'P' handbrake button when the lever was on the 'P' to turn the handbrake off then you can go through the previous rigmarole again to get moving before the car beeps at you loudly because you have forgotten to put your seatbelt on again. I never did find out what the 'N' was for on the drive lever. I assume it meant 'Neutral' but when do you need that?I survived the delivery service, and delivered books to 13 customers in just over an hour and no pedestrians or animals were harmed during it. Result!