A Christmas Drive?

Ok, so I may not be able to drive yet.... but it's fun to think this time next year I could be able to drive home for Christmas.  Today I just wanted to share a few quick things with you.  On 12/14/09 my actual learners permit arrived in the mail.  So now I can destroy the paper one I got on the 3rd.  It's crazy how it looks so much like a liscense.  Jennifer took my bioptics a few weeks ago to fix the red filters and got them back to me 12/22/09 before I went home for Christmas. I can't wait to show them to my friends and family.  My pawpaw tried them on today and was quick to tell me he likes his old ones just fine.  Jennifer did a great job cutting the filters.  Now I can see out of the bioptic with the filters on perfectly.  Next year should be very exciting now that there's NOTHING keeping me from behnd the wheel.  All the testing, purchasing, vision obstacles, kinks and learners permit is behind me!  Now it's finally time for me to buckle up and hit the pavement!  

Thanks to all of you who started reading and sharing my blog with friends.  Your comments, sharing, suggestions, and support mean a lot.  I really have so much to be thankful for this year.  It's amazing how what seems impossible one day in your life can be made possible the next.  That's God at work.  Some days I just feel spolied.  I have everything I need and lots of what I want.  I think when it get's that way for us, that means it's time we give a little more back.  So hopefully this coming year we can all do a little more for others and make the most of the time we have with our friends and family.  That's my Christmas wish.  I hope you have a Merry Christmas and pray you have a wonderful time with those you love.

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LEARNERS PERMIT DAY! 12/03/09

My Thursday started off like many others, 5 am alarm, scramble to fix breakfast and a quick check of the weather.  The meteorologist revealed a chance of snow flurries Friday night.  Usually the chance of flurries alone would have me excited, but today was my trip to the DMV.  I had planned ahead as much as possible.  I placed a call Monday to Katie at the Montgomery AL Department of Public Safety to ensure she had all the paperwork she needed, before I showed up at my local DMV.  She said everything was in place and I would just need to bring proper ID.  I asked if I needed any of my bioptic paperwork and she said no.  With that, I packed my social security card, non-drivers license, and money for a cab ride home.


I had asked for about a 6:30 am pick up. The para-transit bus showed up at 7:03 am.  Not bad. This morning some of my colleagues were on the bus.  It was so funny because we ended up going to my workplace to drop them off, but thank God I didn't have to get off the bus there today!  I remained on the bus, making sure my driver knew that work was not my destination today.  She glanced down and said the DMV was on her paperwork.  We arrived around 7:30ish.  The entrance was being repaved,  so I walked through the chilly air to a side door that led to another set of doors.  Then something appeared before me that I thought impossible.


I peered around the corner of the second set of doors and only about 4 people, including one trooper/security officer, were inside!  I have heard countless stories from friends, customers, colleagues, and everyone else about how awful going down there was.  Surely this was just a Department of Motor Vehicles dream I was having.  I approached the old fashioned blocky wooden desk the officer was at.  In front of me was this old lady and a relative of hers.  The lady had some birth certificate issues and the officer asked her to talk to the supervisor with her issue because there is nothing more he could do to help her.  After some coaching and sincere compassion on his part, the officer finally got her out of his hair.  I approached the desk and told him I was there to get my learners permit.  He said that I'd have to show him some ID, including my social security card.  No problem.  He looked at them, wrote a few things down, and handed me a tiny piece of paper and asked I sit in the adjacent room to wait.  I purposely didn't tell him I was a bioptic driver.  I guess I just wanted to get a little further before I alarmed anyone with the news.  That could of been a mistake, but in my case it was not at this stage.  Well, I knew this room the officer sent me to was where the crowd I had missed seeing early on, must be sitting.  I walked further and further to only see the old lady talking to the supervisor and the other person in front of me seated patiently.  This alone was amazing to me.  What was really odd though, was no one but this supervisor was at the desk to the left side of me.

I thought to myself, why didn't I ask if they'd call my number or if I needed to hand it to someone.  Surely that was how it's done....?  right?  I didn't know.  I waited a little longer and looked around contemplating how sad it was that this place looked like a old outdated dump.  Even the sparse Christmas decorations were sickly looking.  Soon a different employee walked in the room and sat at the desk directly in front of my seating area.  I sat patiently holding my ticket out within easy visibility.  Finally she got done sitting up shop and asked me to step to the desk.  Her demeanor was not friendly nor unfriendly.  I later found out she had a cold she was suffering with that likely attributed to her behavior.  I told her I was there to get my learners permit.  I think the first question out of her mouth was if I was a organ donor.  I guess its like credit cards, some things must be pushed by all employees.  For my job, we had to push use of our website.  So I didn't hold it against her.


As the lady officer took my ID's I told her that I was a bioptic driver.  Once this atomic bomb was dropped all bets were off.  She then asked if I had my paperwork.  I said yes.  Even though I was told I would not need it, I brought it anyways.  She glanced at it a little confused and then told me I'd have to have a seat over there until she got some other family out of the way because my processing would take longer then theirs.  So now the DMV nightmare begins right?  Wrong.  I sat thinking the worst because my paperwork was not fully filled out, but I handed her what page was fully filled out hoping for the best.  Well it's about 8 am now and I'm waiting.  I noticed the office traffic is picking up fast.  After the family left her desk, she motioned me back up.  I sat down this time and she began typing while asking me all these questions that they are forced to ask.  She asked things like if I used drugs, had been convicted of a crime or felony, etc etc.  She still looked puzzled by my paperwork.  After confirming my address she told me she'd have to make a phone call.  Well, I heard her talk to her supervisor and the medical office she was trying to reach was unavailable.  With that, I was told to please sit over to the side and she'd be with me just as soon as she reached this medical contact for assistance with my paperwork.  Wow.....now I was really worried.

I sat to the side watching people getting their photo's taken wondering just how long this would end up taking.  Well soon no customers appeared at her desk and she got up to tell me that I was not forgotten.  That was very nice of her.  Now I was warming up to her.  She walked into yet another different side room and I could hear her talking to colleagues.  A few minutes later I thought I heard my last name...but very unsure.  I walked into the room anyways grasping at hope.  The lady officer motioned for me to come sit at yet another desk with her.  It had this very dated looking thing you look through to do the eye test.  In actuality, I think it was hooked to a computer.  I then noticed a small box on the desk where you electronically write your name if you pay for anything.  This was weird how they had modern technology but the facility looked like it had been pummeled by a heard of cattle.  She then she got on the phone and asked for Katie.  Bingo.....this had to be "my Katie" from the Montgomery DMV.  Sure enough it was, I could hear her voice over the phone.  I was elated Katie was at work before 9 am.  I knew things would be okay with my paperwork now.  I asked why Katie told me I needed no paperwork yet I was asked for paperwork.  The lady officer replied the paperwork I had was not helpful anyways and Katie must have been contacted regardless.  Ok, well one mystery solved.  Next she told me that she needed 5 bucks from me to take the learners permit test.  I happily handed it over.  After that was out of the way, she told me to go back into the next room, approach Number 2 Machine, and take my test.  Easy enough.  They were clearly marked kiosk with numbers.  Each kiosk had a little stool in front.  The stool was not at the right height.  Standing wasn't working well either, so I crouched over to see the touch screen machine while partially seated.  Then some commotion started happening behind me.


Perfect timing right?  This woman with a thick English accent who was obviously not originally from the US, began arguing with the officers about her vision problems.  She gave them excuses, she gave them sob stories, everything she could pull out of her hat.  The answer was the same for her:  take yourself to the eye doctor and then come back with some vision aids or glasses.  She finally surrendered.  I was so glad because I could now concentrate more with her gone.  This touch screen kiosk provided us with a sample test option.  I took it.  The first question shows a photo of a horse.  It gives me multiple choices.  Question 1: "Please identify the object in the photo.  Is it:  A: Dog, B: Horse, C: Donkey?"  I pressed B and moved along to my next challenge.....ID a football.  lol  This is insane right?   No wonder such idiots are on the roads!  But this was just the sample test.  Since the sample test was obviously designed to get one used to the format and not the subject matter, I selected the option to begin my 30 question test.


The test did show some of the harder road signs to discern.  The bridge one I did not think would be on the test, was.  There was a question about the point system they use to annotate your driving record and I had to just guess at that one.  There was obvious ones about use of drugs and alcohol mixed.  We had one about changing lanes at intersections, riding behind bicyclist and motorcycles.  There was other give away questions, like identifying stop signs and hand signals.  Sadly, I got confused with the questionable illustration and likely messed up the hand signal question.  There was one about weather seat belts should "fit snugly" around your abdomen or around your hips.  This seemed like a trick.  When I got home and looked in my manual it NEVER specified the answer to this question.  I researched online and found out it was hips and not abdomen.  If you put your seatbelt around your abdomen you risk damage to internal organs in the event of a accident.  There was also questions on what to do during headlight failure and how to treat a bus that is stopped.  Within no time I was done with this much anticipated test.  The touch screen kiosk even has an option to enlarge the photo used on each test question.  Too bad they didn't let you enlarge the font size.  When I completed the last question the machine immediately told me that I passed the test and could report back to the officer for further instructions. 


I was happy that the test was so easy!  It never gave me a precise score.  I guess that is for them to know.  The curious side of me now wishes I would have asked.  I zoomed back over to the office and the lady officer asked me how I did.  I cheerfully told her I passed.  She jokingly replied that I was "cheesin."  Which means I was wearing a huge smile.  I just laughed and told her she was right.  She then asked me to take a photo.  You would know, I did not anticipate this at all.  Who knew learners permits required a photo?  I didn't.  Nor did I recall reading that fact.  Oh yeah, it cost $23.00 here in AL for the learners permit.  I happily had her debit my account.  I wore a hat that morning and had a bad case of hat hair.  Well, nothing I could do about it.  After the photo, she started printing out my temporary learners permit and said I'd get the real one in the mail in about two weeks.  She said that was it.  I glanced at my watch and it was only about 8:30 am.  Amazing!  I thanked her for her trouble and told her she had made my day.  I then called a cab to take me back home.  On the way home the driver got nosy and asked what I was doing at the DMV.  I told him I just got my learners permit.  Imagine his surprise.  He wasn't brave enough to ask why.  :)


So i can't believe it,  I finally got everything accomplished this year that I set out to do.  Jennifer is making some tweaks to my filter cutting, so again I'm waiting on them to be returned.  I discovered during Thanksgiving that no amount of adjusting was allowing me to see through my bioptic fully.  This should be a relatively easy fix.  I'll update you with changes. 

In the meantime.  I hope you enjoy my special Christmas blog and music.  I'm sure I'll be updating you at least once more before Christmas.   Please stay tuned because things are just getting started.