08.26.04

Holy Moly…

Posted in General, News at 2:07 am by D

… a week has gone by since I last wrote something! That’s gotta be the longest time. Seriously though, if you noticed it’s been a week, you need to get a life. Some people do have lives, you know. Some people on the other hand, like myself, (and like yourself, if, as noted previously, you noticed that it’s been a week since my last entry,) do not.

All I’ve been doing this week, since Sunday is pack, pack and oh yay, pack some more. It never ends! My room is a mess, and although boxes are starting to pile up, it just seems like there are even more stuff to be put in boxes. I absolutely detest moving. Actually, moving to a new place is kind of exciting in a way, so I guess I only just hate the packing. This move is a bit daunting though, because everything will be new. It’s a new city (Keene, is hardly a city, but whatever), a new apartment, new white people around me (diversity is not in their dictionary), and a new job. Not to mention, in a few weeks, a new car too.

What’s with me and (parenthesizing) everything today?

Anyway, I always used to think people who have cars have money. Well, some people do, but, as always, I have to be an exception to my stereotype. This move is going to leave me broke. The downpayment for the car, the insurance, the monthly payments, along with furnishing a two-bedroom apartment are torture to my bank account.

Did you notice how confidently I mentioned that in a few weeks I will be driving a car?

I’ll be driving! Yes, that’s right, I passed my second road test. I am now officially a driver in the state of Massachusetts. Woo!

I was so nervous during my test. The night before, I had a nightmare about it. It’s so bizarre and so complicated, but still pretty much crystal clear because I wrote it down after I woke up from it. Yes, I’m psycho.

The summary of that dream was that Eric couldn’t come on time, and T, by some stroke of luck, was in Boston, after a 12 hour drive from Virginia, so he took me to the road test. At some point, I left T at the DMV to look for Eric and when I got back, he was washing his clothes at the DMV while, at the same time, wearing wet clothes. Just before I woke up, the DMV had just checked us into a hotel because they ‘overbooked’ the tests and couldn’t accommodate us. Sweet. Still, I was so mad that I didn’t get a preview of the test even in my dream.

Eric was so sweet though, he made me drive, despite my many pleas to not drive, from the mall to the test site to get a feel for the car. He even asked me to practice backing up to a parking spot. I did a horrible job on that, but I just wanted to get it over with, so I didn’t practice it again.

So, on with the story. I had a big teddy bear of a police man tester. This man was huge! Not fat, but huge and heaving. After checkin the car, he asked me to do the hand signals. I think he felt sorry for me failing the previous test because of the hand signals. This is how it went:

Cop Teddy: You know your hand signals now, don’t you?
Me: Yup. I actually said slow for the last one, but she wanted me to say slow-to-stop.
Cop Teddy: She was a toughie, wasn’t she?
Me: Oh yeah.

Man, I’m so witty. Oh yeah.

Anyway, pity is a good sign at a test. Before I drove, I even asked him to wear his seatbelt, but he declined. Still, that was a good safety check, Deeds. Going out the parking lot though, he asked me to take a left turn, and I said, “Left turn? But it says no left turn!” Then I realized at that time, left turns were allowed. Nice going. Ick.

The first part was pretty basic, I just had to go around the block, and stop at every stop sign. Of course I didn’t fully stop at my first stop sign, so, in an attempt to make up for it, at the next one, I stepped a bit too much on the break, and had to say, “oops, sorry”.

The second part was backing into a parking space. I did such a horrible job! I was in the line, but slightly over the line and the car wasn’t straight. Eric was visibly cringeing in the back seat. After that we made our way back to his car and he gave me another shot at backing up. I did a better job, although I was really close to his car. At one point he said, “Now don’t go hitting my car now!” Nice, Deeds.

Of course, being the teddy cop that he was, and sympathizing with me for my previous test, he passed me. He said Eric should make me practice the backing up many times, but he’ll pass me.

So, now I can drive.

That’s my story. The End.

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