On the road
July 26th, 2006I decided to give myself a special birthday present today. I sat a driving test.
Wouldn’t have been much of a gift if I’d failed. Which I nearly did. There was a moment of panic when the instructor asked me to wear the glasses I had passed a previous eye test with — and of course I didn’t have them. Then, after circling at a snail’s pace around the streets of the Berkeley-Oakland borders, we returned to the driving centre and she said I “bunny hopped”.
This means I don’t come to a full and complete stop at STOP signs. Oh my God it’s those STOP signs again — I swear they are sent to haunt me.
Fortunately bunny hopping on its own doesn’t lead to being failed.
So now I can finally, one year after moving here, whip out my driver’s licence whenever it’s called for — which is a lot. I have had a couple of instances when I couldn’t make a transaction because a Californian driver’s licence was the only proof of ID deemed acceptable.
We’ve also moved house. No more hummingbirds sadly; but a promising new neighbourhood to explore — and about 100 boxes to unpack. Happy birthday to me!