Long time no blog update right? Sorry. Just nothing to tell. My trainer's schedule is usually busy. One day we had tentatively set, we both forgot by the time it arrived. The next week Jennifer took vacation. All of this and a lot of rain have led to it being a month between lessons. So we finally agreed on last Tuesday, 03/30/10. Before I even met her that day trouble tried to inch its way into my plans.
I was at work, engulfed in my research, yet thinking I wanted to have things better prepared so I did not waste a moments time driving today. I made sure my bioptics were in working order and clean of dust. I kept looking at the clock consistently making sure to try and get downstairs a little earlier then my 12:00 appointment. I made sure to put my contacts on, instead of wearing eye glasses. I looked at my phone to ensure it was charged and checked for missed calls. Despite all these efforts a sudden streak of terror ran through my mind. I realized I left my wallet at home with my drivers permit in it. I couldn't drive today. I thought about just not telling Jennifer I left my permit at home. The repercussions of that lie far outweighed the benefits. If I wrecked that car with no permit on my person, I may never have a chance to drive again. I couldn't believe this. I was going to have to call Jennifer 30 minutes before my oh so belated appointment and tell her that I couldn't go today because of my carelessness! I sat thinking about calling her and suddenly remembered something. The day before, I put my wallet in my lunchbox because my pants pockets were so small and shallow. Could it still be in there? I swirled my rolling chair around to my lunchbox as fast as I could. Like a mad man looking for treasure I snatched my lunchbox up off my desk. Then I glanced into the side zipper pocket. There sat my wallet with my permit and everything else in tact. Whew...I did not have to cancel after all. Shortly thereafter Jennifer called and said she was outside. She still beat her own appointment time, so I wasn't downstairs yet. I wanted to do this during my lunch break today so I did not have to take time off work.
Jennifer jumped out of the car after she saw me and got in the passenger seat. I was a little shocked she was going to make me drive downtown again at the beginning of this trip. Today, unlike my first drive, was a extremely bright sunny day. Translation: it was hellacious for me to see outside. However with the red filters. things really were better, just not as good as a cloudy day would have provided. I hopped in and remembered to put my seatbelt on, to turn the mirrors so I could see and to put the dark blanket on the dash. I had memorized the gear order. I put my left foot back so I would not be tempted to use it at all. Jennifer was not satisfied with my right leg angle to the break and gas pedals. She watched me move up closer to the wheel till she was satisfied. According to the wikiHow website your leg should be at a 120 degree angle when driving. After Jennifer got done texting, I shifted gears to roll out to the main street. I had to ask her which way to go.
As soon as I had that out of my mouth she reminded me to turn my blinker on. I did it wrong. Those poor confused drivers behind me. lol I struggled with remembering if pushing it up was for the left or down was for the right or the opposite. I need a rhyme to remember them by or something stupid that will stick. If you have any suggestions please let me know. We hit the main road and she reminded me of the one way streets. I made the turn but Jenn held the wheel some to ensure I would not turn into anyone else's lane. I was doing good seeing the red lights for the most part. Seeing the stop signs with the red filters proved to be a challenge. Lucky for me, this particular road showed the word "STOP" painted on the ground which proved most helpful. Regardless, I was still very observant before crossing ANY street. Jennifer ended up telling me she was training 5 people. I''m sitting here wondering how in the world that utilized all of her day unless they are doing much more training then I am. Anyways, before I knew it we were.....well....'Where are we?" I laughed out loud. I was SO busy concentrating on staying in my lane, seeing red and green lights, doing lane changes, turning on the correct blinker, hitting the gas very lightly, and listening to Jennifer's instructions....that I had NO CLUE where we were. After she told me, I began to pay attention to my surroundings more and figured it out. We came the back way to my house. This involved some extremely curvy streets. I was so excited. I told her one thing I was thinking. It seemed much easier for me to stay in my lane then I ever thought it would be. That was a big difference from what I assumed while observing others drive and actually driving myself. I always thought it looked so daunting to have to keep moving that wheel left and right. But it became no biggie for me personally. Jennifer immediately exclaimed she was glad I was so good at it because she recently had a nightmare about one of her other pupils who veers into other lanes much too often. Can you imagine how many nightmares you'd have about driving if you took legally blind people out on the road daily? She's definitely got nerves of steel. Maybe her keen ability to listen to PRM radio nonstop enhanced that gift.
Well before I knew it we were coming toward my apartments! Wow, I had driven myself home. She instructed me to park and I couldn't even see the lines at all. They desperately need repainting. Regardless, I was lucky enough to pull in to her satisfaction. Ok, now time to back out. I started backing out, but turned and looked first. I was starting to turn the wheel toward where I wanted the car to curve out, but she stopped me. I was told to pull out straight and then when almost all the way in the street to start to curve the car back. That seemed easy enough, but there were no cars around to hit either. I managed to shift the gears correctly back to drive. Now we were off to work again. Then the shocker came.
She told me to take the "expressway" back. OK I barely was comfortable going 30, taking the expressway.....was she crazy!??? It was good to get this experience because near my home there's this really crazy intersection where about 6 streets all meet in one location. Oh yes, I'm lucky enough to get to navigate that mess every day. First of all, the traffic was really busy and I had to get the guts up to dart out in front of traffic after being sure I had the all clear in both directions. There was no light at this juncture. I did dart out fast...too fast. Had she not grabbed the wheel I could have darted straight into the ditch. So onto the expressway we crept. I approached this huge curve where you merge into expressway traffic. My foot instinctively let off the gas as I turned the curve. She told me not to because I had to be moving fast on the freeway. Ok, be careful what you wish for.
Before I knew it she had grabbed the wheel acting as my eyes helping me change lanes. It did seem a little much and she said we'd focus on lane changes later, but for now she'd do all that. I was kind of in shock at this point because as I glanced to my right I could FEEL this 18 wheeler on the side of us and another car on the left. I was wedged in. This all seemed so unreal...even more unreal I WAS THE ONE driving! I tried my best to keep focused before someone honked because I was going so slow. We let one person around me. Then we found a quick route to work. We did a huge U turn by the hospital and went straight there. The traffic lights downtown are sideways. I never seem to see the ones hung sideways going home, just coming to work. I accidently told Jenn the wrong street my workplace was on. I keep getting it mixed up because we changed locations recently. So then some pedestrians cross in front of me. Crisis avoided, lucky fools. Then I noticed something else. The light was green, BUT if I did not stop I was going to hit the car in front of me who had his brake lights on. I don't know why he had them on. I think because traffic in front of him moved slowly through the green light. This made me think that it's more important to look at the car in front of you then the traffic light. After all the light won't kill you, the cars will.
We took a right on red and dodged a vendors truck before swerving into my workplace's drop-off area. I was running late and cut our appointment shorter than Jennifer planned. She hopped out and agreed to meet me in the coming weeks for more training. She seemed more comfortable this time. Hopefully we're building some trust in each other. My feet hurt after this. I think I didn't know how to properly rest them WHILE driving. If you have any tips on this please let me know. All in all, it was a great trip and as always I learned a lot. I'm going to need to improve on my blinker knowledge, backing up, and parking abilities before the next drive. Hopefully I can meet with my boss soon to iron out a driving schedule that can be consistent, yet work for all parties involved. I'll keep you posted on those developments.
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