the daily snivel

  Nature's greatest killing machines!

By which I mean, of course, the common car.

Today I applied for and earned my "G1" licence, which is the classification for a learner's permit here in Ontario. The prerequisites for the G1 licence are an eye test, a written knowledge test of signs and the rules of the road, some identification, and a hundred smackarooneys. After successfully providing or completing all of these feats, they take your photo and hand you a piece of paper that says you're good to go, as long as you only do so with a licenced driver accompanying you, having a blood alcohol content of zero, forbearing to drive on any freeway or major highway, and never driving at all between midnight and 5 am.

But other than that, man, I'm rollin'.

Still, it's very exciting to know that I can finally earn a licence and complete the final rite of passage into adulthood, which I've been procrastinating for so many years since until now it's been completely unnecessary for me. Although I absolutely do need a licence and a car for September 2005, when I begin my articling position in Toronto, I'm also looking forward to being able to drive and owning car for other reasons, like being able to go out to the country and visit my Mom whenever I like, for example.

Meanwhile, I'm going to sign up for driving lessons as soon as I can yield up the time and money. It will make the process a heck of a lot easier, and will also considerably shorten the period of time required before I can take the test that qualifies me as a "G2" driver (you can drive by yourself and on major highways, but still only with a blood alcohol content of zero -- I think I can handle that since I detest the very idea of having any alcohol in my system while driving). The official driver's licence card (complete with badly digitized photo!) will be mailed to me in a couple of weeks, which I'm pathetically looking forward to, since it will mean I finally have real ID (aside from my passport, which is cumbersome to carry around).

All in all, neato. 

  Where it's at

On Thursday morning at 10:00 am, I formally accepted the offer of employment made to me by a criminal defence law firm located in downtown Toronto. Although the offer was made at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, August 11, I'd decided to wait in order to make a fully informed choice that depended on me knowing my options, since I was first on the waiting list with the Ministry of the Attorney General and might have been in a position to consider an offer from them as well. I suppose that might sound weird, given that I was grateful just to have received any articling position offers that afternoon (and only minutes before had been wondering if my position on either waiting list would lead to more than false hope), but I had a lot to think about and I didn't want to rush into making a decision. Early the next morning, I called the Ministry again and let them know I'd received another offer and would like to know where I stood, as I was still very interested in working with them. The senior civil/family policy counsel called me back and let me know that, unfortunately, the student to whom they'd made an offer the day before had finally accepted it, and so I thanked them for their time and let them know that I appreciated the experience. Then, after some embarassing phone tag with a receptionist (I called the lawyer who'd interviewed me, discovered he wasn't in the office, got his cell phone number, promptly forgot his cell phone number, and I had to call again so I could write it down on a Shopper's Drug Mart receipt and an eye pencil I borrowed from my sister), I rang up my future boss and let him know I was happily accepting the offer. He told me he was very happy to hear it, welcomed me aboard, and asked me to contact the firm next June and in the meantime to "not forget about the car!"

More on that last bit later.

Anyway, I'm tremendously excited about my new job, even though I won't be starting it until over a year from now (the practice is to apply for and arrange articling positions a year before graduation). It's the largest criminal law firm I've ever heard of. I might even get to lock horns with my sister, who is articling with the Crown Attorney's Office as of this September, and who will probably still be working there as a full-fledged lawyer when I commence my own articles as a Student-at-Law.

One of the really cool things that I discovered during my interview with this firm is that all the lawyers use Macintosh computers. When I was waiting for the interview in the reception area, I noticed an iBook box tucked away in a corner. I made a point of asking about that at the end of my interview, since I'm a huge Mac fan and, frankly, even if it is really schmoozy, it shows an interest and I wanted to make sure they had as many reasons to remember me as possible. They let me know that, though some might love the computers and some might hate them, the lawyers at the firm relied on Macs and I'd get one of my own (along with a -- sigh -- cell phone) if I were hired.

The one catch about this job is that I now have to learn how to drive. The articling students are sent to the different satellite courts in Toronto almost every day for routine matters, so having wheels is essential. I think the only reason I wasn't initially ranked higher was because I didn't have a car or a driver's licence, which was a topic that they couldn't emphasize enough during my interview. I was even warned about the fact that a car would be essential at the time, and this was why the words "and, Rob, don't forget about the car!" was the last thing my future boss said to me when I said goodbye.

I confess, I'm actually not too worried about learning to drive. I know the rules of the road extremely well on account of the fact that I cycle on them daily and because a good number of the cases I deal with through the Clinic involve driving offences. I have a lot more confidence when it comes to driving on the road, thanks to the need to be very defensive when cycling, and really the only thing that's held me back until now has been the lack of time, money, and incentive. When you live downtown, within walking, biking, or busing distance of all destinations, it's just not a priority. Now that I have an extremely good and critical reason to learn to drive, I don't foresee any major problems. I took a sample on-line written test this week and passed it with a perfect score, without even doing any extra reading. That said, I'm going to pick up one of those handy-dandy Ministry of Transportation driving instructions manuals and then I'm going to take the written test this week to get my G1 driver's licence (Ontario's version of the learner's permit). Once you have the G1, it takes a year of practicing with a licenced driver before you're eligible to take the road test and earn the G2 licence that qualifies you to drive unsupervised. That can be shortened to 8 months if you take an accredited driving instruction course, which is also something I intend to do -- and, hey, it can decrease your insurance costs to boot.

I'm even excited about moving to Toronto. A lot of my good friends will be articling there as well, such as the fabulously funny Aniel and the devastatingly clever Jenn, and my sister is back in Toronto now, as is my friend and mentor, James. As I mentioned the other day, Angela also lives there, and so do some old friends from Smiths Falls. Even my darling stalker, Leah, lives there now. Assuming the prices in downtown Toronto stay roughly the same as they are right now, I should have no problems getting a one or two bedroom apartment all to myself. I think that's the best part of all. I can hardly wait to start looking in all the funky neighbourhoods for my dream apartment next Spring.

The only thing I'm having mixed feelings about is buying a car. On the one hand, it's kind of exciting to know I'll be able to get a shiny new car next year, but I've become fairly opposed to the driving culture in recent years, seeing the impact our dependence on foreign oil has on the environment, the economy, and the Middle East (not to mention what the car culture has done to the waistlines of millions of North Americans, whose legs have become almost vestigal), and it's odd to know I'm going to be one of those idiots someday myself. I've already priced out hybrid cars and determined that they simply wouldn't fit within my budget, fresh out of law school (and deeply in debt) as I'll be, so I'll have to settle for a car that gets the best mileage possible without really being much of a solution to the overall problem of emissions and fuel consumption. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.