Yeah, my dad was pretty great (he's been driving a Miata for as long as I remember). I also lived on a hill, and the second and third cars I had were manuals (first car died within a year of getting my license).

Honestly, Seattle drivers when I lived there were some of my favorite. Yeah, they drive closer to the speed limit, but they're generally really nice. If I put my signal to merge, they make space. If I come up behind them in the passing lane, they move over. I'm now in Utah, and the opposite is true. If I signal, they close the gap to prevent me from merging. If I come up behind them, they slow down. If I move around to pass them, they speed up. If I honk because they're sleeping at a light, there's a non-zero chance they'll get out of their car and confront me. I've gotten used to it by now though.

That said, I'm not a big fan of California drivers, but they do get one thing right: they keep the speed up in rush hour. They absolutely cannot handle a little rain on the road (I remember something like 5 accidents when there was a bit of rain when I visited), and I'm guessing icy roads are much worse (we blame a lot of winter accidents here on Cali transplants, not sure how true that is). Cali drivers are super impatient, and they're liberal with their use of the horn. But at least they can keep the speed up in traffic, I'll give them that.