The Learner's Permit

[yendi]

For those wondering, thanks to bheansidhe, I made it to the DMV, and thanks to a much-faster-than-expected bureaucracy, I passed both written tests and was out of there with my permit within an hour. So yeah, I'm now allowed to drive as long as another licensed driver is in the car.

Oh, and anyone who reads English at a second grade level, is capable of logical deduction, and has even ridden in a car for more than five minutes can pass these tests. Seriously.

And if they really ask everyone about pedestrian right-of-way and school bus laws, how come no one can manage to fucking follow those laws in the entire state of GA?

Comments

[sibylla.livejournal.com]

Hooray for you! I've gotten my learner's permit a couple of times, tho' I've never actually learnt to drive. Good luck with the driving. :)

[yendi]

Thanks! :-) I suspect that of all the folks on my friends list, you're one of the ones who best understands my trepidation.

[vikkilynn.livejournal.com]

congratulations!

forgive me if this is a dumb question, but why are you just getting a learner's permit now?

[yendi]

I grew up in NYC, where having a car was a burden, not a blessing, and I honestly have never, ever really wanted to drive. Only shadesong's recent medical issues have made it a necessity (and even then, I'm very reluctant).

[alladinsane.livejournal.com]

Because you can also win a drivers license by simply matching 3 or more items on a scratch off lottery ticket...at least that's my theory for all the idiots on Atlanta's roads..

[bouncepogo.livejournal.com]

I won't insult your intelligence by congratulating you for passing...but I will wish you tons of luck with the learning-of-the-driving-stuffs!

Well done!

[megthelegend.livejournal.com]

That's great. Loved your recent post about Elayna's "surprise", btw -- please keep us posted!

Meg the Overcaffeinated!

Not sure if it's this way in Florida..

[eng1ne.livejournal.com]

But the written is easy here too. It's the driving test, particularly the *parallel parking* test that was killer. I practiced that so much that I didn't practice actual driving enough. I flunked the other part of the test.

As for growing up in NY.. I grew up in Houston, in a fairly well-to-do neighborhood. Kids often got cars as a reward for getting their driver's license.

Re: Not sure if it's this way in Florida..

[yendi]

Oh, the practical test is the reason I didn't just apply for the license itself. I need a lot of practice.

[hotcoffeems.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! Good for ye!

Personally, I always pretty much have hated and feared driving -- except that sometimes it feels really good, especially now that I don't have to contend with Atlanta anymore. Now I'm actually kind of enjoying it, thundering down those country roads. But the secret, the big secret, is: it feels damn good to be able to get everywhere you need to go on your absolute own, and that's worth it.

So congrats!

[yendi]

True. But, quite honestly, I consider any society in which driving has become that essential a skill to be highly uncivilized and uncultured.

[amokk]

And in California that English requirement is waived now.

[yendi]

There's technically no Engish requirement, other than reading the signs and comprehending them on the test. I'm not sure if translated tests are offered here.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Hey, good luck with the driving test! It's about time you're doing it. :) Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I started driving when I was a teen, but neither of my parents drove. My father died never having owned a car, and his last driver's license expired in '53 or thereabouts. :)

And then I had to re-learn things over here, so I understand your nervousness.

[stevenglassman.livejournal.com]

Congrats on..er... finishing the paperwork!

I'm sure you'll be cruising the sidewalks in no time. ;)

[yendi]

Wait, the sidewalks aren't legal to drive on?

[jerel.livejournal.com]

Not usually.

The Florida written exam was on computer, and the questions appear randomly out of the test bank. One of my quesions was "which way should the tires face if you're parked on an uphill slope?" Which of course is always handy to know in Florida.

(If I'd gotten a question about parking on the street during a snowstorm, I was going to start to wonder.)\

Good luck, Yendi!

[unwilly.livejournal.com]

Dude, crank up the tunes and put the pedal to da metal!

That or drive sedately at the speed limit becaues 'song is clutching the door handle and Elayna is looking for her helmet.

Either way, glad you passed.

[yendi]

Thanks -- I think I'll be going with the "sedately" option at first. :-)

[dwivian]

It depends on where you are, but here in Cobb County everyone follows the schoolbus rules, that I've seen. In fact, it is amazing to watch people here clear the road for emergency vehicles, and actually merge sanely into traffic.

UNTIL....

Somehow, the closer you get to I-75 the faster sanity runs away. So I stay far from the expressway now. A good thing, I think.

Congratulations on getting your learners permit! I wish I could work the claw like that, but I always end up with a Kiss action figure or a football instead.

[ariadnesthread.livejournal.com]

I have to disagree about the necessity of driving....I hair from BFE. Seriously--where I lived in PA, there was a 350 acre farm across the street from my neighborhood. My neighborhood was built on 80 acres of farmland sold off by the riding stable where I rode (leaving them with a mere 200 acres). Behind my neighborhood, there was another 100 acre farm. The closest place to buy anything was a mile down a 35% grade hill. The grocery store was 8 miles away (they evntually built one 2.5 miles away). My parents never had to worry about me sneaking out when I was a teenager....What would I do, go tip a cow?

It was Rural America. It was great. Suburban sprawl is pretty much there now, but I have my memories.

My parents now live in rural southern Maryland. Again, they are surrounded by farms. There isn't a traffic light for at least six miles in any direction. The river is closer than a grocery store is--there are actually two rivers just 4 miles away (one east, one west), and the stores are 7 miles north or south. All this, yet it's still accessible by car to DC (45 minutes), Annapolis (20 minutes), and Baltimore (about an hour).

Public transportation in those areas would be a bad idea. It would be so expensive and so inefficient that it would be ridiculous. A hundred years ago, people there had to use horses and wagons or carriages to get around. Now it's cars. The transportation has changed more than the place, in a lot of ways.

I agree that cities should have good mass transit. There are other places where it makes sense, too--connecting the outer DC suburbs to DC and to Dulles Airport makes sense economically and environmentally (go Purple Metro line! We want you!). Connecting Rural America doesn't make much sense to this former resident.

hmmm

[hamlet423.livejournal.com]

Is there any chance of you giving A. Schwartz a bunch of rides in the near future? Irony sometimes can be pretty ironic...

Re: hmmm

[yendi]

Heh. unlikely. He'd be late every time.