the daily snivel

I'm pleased to say that I'm really nailing the driving thing at this point in my lessons, which really has me encouraged and even more enthusiastic about hitting the road than I've already been. I had to impose a gap in my lessons over the past month because of trial preparation, and then a lesson was cancelled because of the freak snowstorm we got two weeks ago, and then I got deathly ill and didn't want to subject my instructor to having to sit in a car with me for two hours. Last week, after nearly a month of being unable to drive, I was a bit rusty for the first half hour or so of putting along in the standard, and as much as I enjoyed being back on the road, it made feel discouraged to make a few novice mistakes again like wandering in the lane if something caught my attention (especially shifting), and on one occasion I neglected to put the car back in first gear at a stop sign. My most horrifying error was making the mistake of slipping the car into first gear when I was attempting to shift into third while on the Vanier Parkway. The car slowed, the engine roared, and there were cars all around me. Fortunately, one thing that has stayed with me is that I keep my cool, solve the problem, and proceed safely when things like that come up. Once upon a time, little mistakes used to cause me to panic, and keep me rattled for some time afterwards, increasing the risk of making more mistakes.

Today, however, I was driving extremely well and with great confidence. I was shifting with ease today, and did my starts and upshifts perfectly, without stalling or lurching the car. We drove on the freeway for about half an hour for fun, and I was changing lanes smoothly and cruising along in fifth gear quite ably, chatting with the instructor casually all the while. I'm also pleased to say that I was parallel parking without difficulty again (what can I say, I'm a natural!). Best of all, after all the frustration and heartache brought by my baffling inability to back into a parking space, I was backing into parking spaces flawlessly today. My evaluation scores are continuing to rise across the board, and I know I'm going to be a fantastic driver before long. My progress has been slower simply because I don't have the means to practice outside my lessons, but I'm absolutely improving each time I get out onto the road.

Which is good, because a study released last week of side-impact tests showed that compact cars as a class perform horribly in high-speed side-impacts, and I'm planning on buying a Toyota Echo once I have my licence. So the better I internalize my Young Drivers of Canada "Collision Free Club" skills, the less my peril of dying a terrible, terrible death.