just so you all know...
this is probably the last post I'll be able to get in before I leave for CO... on TUESDAY.
so on Friday I went in for the driving test, and the DMV we go to makes you do a pull in - back out type dealie. so I go to do it and realize aw man, I'm going to hit the corner cone on my right as I'm backing out. I had known from the beginning that I hadn't been in a very good starting position and that had basically messed up the whole process. well, I hadn't hit it, and you get three tries, right? so I straightened out and was backing way out so I could swing around and start over again.
YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
somehow I had missed the part where you can't cross the lines of the testing zone. whoops. automatic fail. I bawled, like massive heaving sobs and buckets of tears while the testing guy left. I didn't really know what to do, like if I had to wait for Mom to come out because obviously I'm an unfit driver and can't be trusted to go back to the parking lot around the corner and park, or what. this other girl pulls up while I am crying and being indecisive like an idiot, and I just sat there because I didn't know what to do and I don't want to do anything wrong. now, when I'm in a position like that, I tend to panic. anyway I got a teensy bit of sense into my head - mostly cos the girl was pretending not to look at me like I was a gigantic weirdo in the way of her cool and sassy life - and went to repark it in the closest parking spot. figures I'd nail the spot perfectly dead-center, straight as an arrow. I went back inside and unceremoniously dumped my papers and the car keys in my mom's lap and went on full speed ahead toards the door to go drown my sorrows outside, but deven snagged me around the waist and thumped me abruptly down onto his lap, where I covered my face in my hands and blubbered in front of everyone.
no driver's license = a lot of things:
1. totally wasted a whole week's worth of intensive driving.
2. can't go to CO, even though the ticket's already paid for, and was really cheap since we got it so far in advance.
3. let down every single person who helped me learn, practiced with me, and gave me pep talks (I'm especially looking at you on that last one, Richard! that was tremendous ego boost.)
4. since it was a rule thing that I forgot/didn't internalize in the first place (and that I had heard about a minute ago), I didn't fail at driving... I failed at LIFE.
5. Uncle Marc's out a summer helper for awhile till he can completely change his plans and hope he finds someone else.
6. stay at home in ignoble solitude.
after that, I had to go see my mom's doctor (I don't have an official PCP yet) because my left ear had been plugged up for several days and nothing I did helped at all. he's actually a pretty jolly old guy and made me feel at ease even though I hate doctors. the nurse was from the capital of GrumpyLand though. anyway, both she and he tried squirting warm water in my ears (both of them had massive amounts of wax in them, as he saw through the ear looking thingy) to no avail. he told me to put Debrox - ear wax softener stuff - in my ears four times a day and to see him again on Monday, and sent us on our way. deven was a trooper because even though he was dead tired, he stayed through the meltdown, through the doctor's visit, through putting drops in both my ears, and awhile afterwards before finally heading home. he also helped me look for a dmv that was open on saturday - the one I went to was not, and we needed to get this thing squared away ASAP.
we found one in a yucky part of Phoenix. dad and I went, stood in line for about 45 minutes, and found out that I had to parallel park as the initial portion. note: I had never done that before. dad gave me a crash course in parallel parking theory, and I got to watch the two people in front of me zip through in their dinky little cars.
another note: currently I am driving my mom's car, which is a decommissioned police interceptor, i.e. Crown Victoria. it is the biggest sedan made by Ford. it is HUGE.
so anyway, I used up my three tries to no avail. another fail.
I was devastated. these are the only two tests I've ever failed in my LIFE.
once home, I called deven, who was almost in tears because he had intended to stay up all night to come down again for this driving test and had instead conked out in front of his monitor. so he came down, and he needed new khaki ants for work anyway so we went to metrocenter. after cheering up in the knife shop and the pet shop, we went all over trying to find decently-priced pants that weren't cargo or didn't have any extraneous pockets besides the normal front-back pairs. we finally found them in Old Navy. I had never been inside there before, and it smelled really weird. then we munched at souper salad which is right across the street and went back home. by then I had cheered up considerably.
no more driving was done by me that day. then today rolled around and after going to Mass, falling asleep till one in the afternoon, and a few other things, mom and I went back to the original DMV because evidently you can go there on the weekends and after hours to practice in their exact turning-backing thing. we both expressed the wish that we had known about it before. there were two people who practiced a few times before I went, and I got to see exactly where to position this monstrous car so that I could do it smoothly. so I nailed it about 15 times right from the start. we went home and I went out again with mark, since he kinda remembered what the whole driving test route was, so I could scope it out. we went on the route - it was cake - and went back so I could show him how good I was at the turning-backing thing. there was a guy there ahead of us with his daughter, and he thought I couldn't do it in two fluid motions (that is, without drive-reverse-turn, drive-reverse-turn business, which is how we have to do it for the test) with a car that big. he ate humble pie. : )
so tomorrow I get to blow the DMV person out of the water with my mad PI skillz, and get my license.
: D
and after that, I can finally think about packing! 0_0
oh, and since I have the driver's test and the followup doctor's appointment on monday, my mom had to move my flight to tuesday, and pay the difference between the original 85ish and (ACK) 204.50.
=^.^=
so on Friday I went in for the driving test, and the DMV we go to makes you do a pull in - back out type dealie. so I go to do it and realize aw man, I'm going to hit the corner cone on my right as I'm backing out. I had known from the beginning that I hadn't been in a very good starting position and that had basically messed up the whole process. well, I hadn't hit it, and you get three tries, right? so I straightened out and was backing way out so I could swing around and start over again.
YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
somehow I had missed the part where you can't cross the lines of the testing zone. whoops. automatic fail. I bawled, like massive heaving sobs and buckets of tears while the testing guy left. I didn't really know what to do, like if I had to wait for Mom to come out because obviously I'm an unfit driver and can't be trusted to go back to the parking lot around the corner and park, or what. this other girl pulls up while I am crying and being indecisive like an idiot, and I just sat there because I didn't know what to do and I don't want to do anything wrong. now, when I'm in a position like that, I tend to panic. anyway I got a teensy bit of sense into my head - mostly cos the girl was pretending not to look at me like I was a gigantic weirdo in the way of her cool and sassy life - and went to repark it in the closest parking spot. figures I'd nail the spot perfectly dead-center, straight as an arrow. I went back inside and unceremoniously dumped my papers and the car keys in my mom's lap and went on full speed ahead toards the door to go drown my sorrows outside, but deven snagged me around the waist and thumped me abruptly down onto his lap, where I covered my face in my hands and blubbered in front of everyone.
no driver's license = a lot of things:
1. totally wasted a whole week's worth of intensive driving.
2. can't go to CO, even though the ticket's already paid for, and was really cheap since we got it so far in advance.
3. let down every single person who helped me learn, practiced with me, and gave me pep talks (I'm especially looking at you on that last one, Richard! that was tremendous ego boost.)
4. since it was a rule thing that I forgot/didn't internalize in the first place (and that I had heard about a minute ago), I didn't fail at driving... I failed at LIFE.
5. Uncle Marc's out a summer helper for awhile till he can completely change his plans and hope he finds someone else.
6. stay at home in ignoble solitude.
after that, I had to go see my mom's doctor (I don't have an official PCP yet) because my left ear had been plugged up for several days and nothing I did helped at all. he's actually a pretty jolly old guy and made me feel at ease even though I hate doctors. the nurse was from the capital of GrumpyLand though. anyway, both she and he tried squirting warm water in my ears (both of them had massive amounts of wax in them, as he saw through the ear looking thingy) to no avail. he told me to put Debrox - ear wax softener stuff - in my ears four times a day and to see him again on Monday, and sent us on our way. deven was a trooper because even though he was dead tired, he stayed through the meltdown, through the doctor's visit, through putting drops in both my ears, and awhile afterwards before finally heading home. he also helped me look for a dmv that was open on saturday - the one I went to was not, and we needed to get this thing squared away ASAP.
we found one in a yucky part of Phoenix. dad and I went, stood in line for about 45 minutes, and found out that I had to parallel park as the initial portion. note: I had never done that before. dad gave me a crash course in parallel parking theory, and I got to watch the two people in front of me zip through in their dinky little cars.
another note: currently I am driving my mom's car, which is a decommissioned police interceptor, i.e. Crown Victoria. it is the biggest sedan made by Ford. it is HUGE.
so anyway, I used up my three tries to no avail. another fail.
I was devastated. these are the only two tests I've ever failed in my LIFE.
once home, I called deven, who was almost in tears because he had intended to stay up all night to come down again for this driving test and had instead conked out in front of his monitor. so he came down, and he needed new khaki ants for work anyway so we went to metrocenter. after cheering up in the knife shop and the pet shop, we went all over trying to find decently-priced pants that weren't cargo or didn't have any extraneous pockets besides the normal front-back pairs. we finally found them in Old Navy. I had never been inside there before, and it smelled really weird. then we munched at souper salad which is right across the street and went back home. by then I had cheered up considerably.
no more driving was done by me that day. then today rolled around and after going to Mass, falling asleep till one in the afternoon, and a few other things, mom and I went back to the original DMV because evidently you can go there on the weekends and after hours to practice in their exact turning-backing thing. we both expressed the wish that we had known about it before. there were two people who practiced a few times before I went, and I got to see exactly where to position this monstrous car so that I could do it smoothly. so I nailed it about 15 times right from the start. we went home and I went out again with mark, since he kinda remembered what the whole driving test route was, so I could scope it out. we went on the route - it was cake - and went back so I could show him how good I was at the turning-backing thing. there was a guy there ahead of us with his daughter, and he thought I couldn't do it in two fluid motions (that is, without drive-reverse-turn, drive-reverse-turn business, which is how we have to do it for the test) with a car that big. he ate humble pie. : )
so tomorrow I get to blow the DMV person out of the water with my mad PI skillz, and get my license.
: D
and after that, I can finally think about packing! 0_0
oh, and since I have the driver's test and the followup doctor's appointment on monday, my mom had to move my flight to tuesday, and pay the difference between the original 85ish and (ACK) 204.50.
=^.^=