Coming home from work last night I pull closer to a 4-way stop sign intersection, behind a little import sedan. Now, generally people at this particular intersection in our town as quite lovely and polite, but last night it seemed everyone was "cutting in line". The guy in the sedan in front of me nearly got taken out by a delivery truck who didn't give the cross traffic a turn and jumped in for himself.
Once the delivery truck cleared, I figured the sedan would go and we;d get back to a normal 4-way stop rhythm. Good thing I gave myself just a teeniest bit more space--because just as I thought I could safely pull forward to the pole position (you know, where I'm next to go) the little sedan hits his brakes. Well, I hit mine as fast as I could and just missed bumping into him.
The sedan finally eases into the intersection--where, buy the way everyone was waiting for HIM--and made his way through. YIKES! That was too close.
Come on, people! Practice the rules we learned (or were supposed to learn) in driver's ed. My kids are better drivers than some people!
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Road Rules
Last night I showed up to the neighboring pool where The Girl and her high school swim team practices for a Parents' meeting about the last month or so of their (a realllllly long) season. The regional championship meet is the end of this month. The semester changes on the 17th. That adds some trouble to practicing when you no longer have a class. But I digress....
I showed up straight from another meeting--that one for Young Women--so The Girl had driven herself over. As I parked and got out of the car, she drove past me with with her friend and teammate (Miss M) riding shotgun.
I shouldn't otherwise be upset about this, as The Girl was helping our Miss M's parents--who were running behind from another city to make it to the parents' meeting as well--and picking her up and giving her a ride is a nice, charitable thing to do.
But it was not legal!
She has only had her license since August 1st. By the state's graduated licensing law, as I understand it, she is not allowed to drive anyone except family until she has had her license for six months. For her then, that means, not until Feb 1st. She is one month off.
Frankly I have rather liked that she can take The Boy around wherever he needs to go, or he can go with her when she wants to go some place. And I think it is wise to keep a car load of friends out until she has a little more experience under her belt. I can see the advantage of this kind of thinking.
We had a little run in with this before, just after school began when The Girl drive a carload of swim team members to the trail head for a dry-land practice hike. We talked to her then and she promised she would be better about obeying the law.
I'd be happier if she would just obey us.
Another friend, who doesn't have her license yet--but her older sister does and has driven friends around for a while--continues to tell The Girl that the "real law" says you can drive friends if it is for school or church. But our family law says "NO" to anyone but family for six months. That defiance from her friend(s) bothers me as I see it as disrespect for my job as her parent.
Maybe I am just too high-strung about this. After all, I got my license on my 16th birthday and drove friends to the movies that night. A whole car load of friends. On the freeway. In a fast (but ugly) car. We all survived.
But I wasn't the mom in that case. And that makes all the difference.
I showed up straight from another meeting--that one for Young Women--so The Girl had driven herself over. As I parked and got out of the car, she drove past me with with her friend and teammate (Miss M) riding shotgun.
I shouldn't otherwise be upset about this, as The Girl was helping our Miss M's parents--who were running behind from another city to make it to the parents' meeting as well--and picking her up and giving her a ride is a nice, charitable thing to do.
But it was not legal!
She has only had her license since August 1st. By the state's graduated licensing law, as I understand it, she is not allowed to drive anyone except family until she has had her license for six months. For her then, that means, not until Feb 1st. She is one month off.
Frankly I have rather liked that she can take The Boy around wherever he needs to go, or he can go with her when she wants to go some place. And I think it is wise to keep a car load of friends out until she has a little more experience under her belt. I can see the advantage of this kind of thinking.
We had a little run in with this before, just after school began when The Girl drive a carload of swim team members to the trail head for a dry-land practice hike. We talked to her then and she promised she would be better about obeying the law.
I'd be happier if she would just obey us.
Another friend, who doesn't have her license yet--but her older sister does and has driven friends around for a while--continues to tell The Girl that the "real law" says you can drive friends if it is for school or church. But our family law says "NO" to anyone but family for six months. That defiance from her friend(s) bothers me as I see it as disrespect for my job as her parent.
Maybe I am just too high-strung about this. After all, I got my license on my 16th birthday and drove friends to the movies that night. A whole car load of friends. On the freeway. In a fast (but ugly) car. We all survived.
But I wasn't the mom in that case. And that makes all the difference.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The "Stay-At-Home-Mom" Is a Misnomer
The other day had me wondering what was going on with my life. Well, that, and how do people manage and afford more than TWO kids? Here is a peek at my day on Tuesday.
I drove to the city pool in the morning--6:30 AM. The kids have swim team practice and I go to water aerobics the same time. I drove home with The Boy at 8:15.
The Girl stays to coach the second shift of swim kids, so I drove at 9:30 to pick her up and bring her home.
At 10 AM, The Boy goes to the high school weight room where he has an hour of lifting for football. So I drove to the high school at 10 AM. The Girl happened to start her driver's ed class at the same time, so I dropped her off at class at 10 AM. At least that was one trip that they coordinated.
After his weight lifting, I drove back to the high school at 11 to pick up The Boy.
The Girl got out of her class at noon, so I drove back over and picked her up then and brought her home.
She had to be at work at 1 PM, so I drove her back over to the pool at 1.
The Boy got a message from his friend and asked if I'd take him to the pool to play for a few hours. So I drove back to the pool at 2 PM.
He was ready to come home at 4:15, so I ran back over to get him and brought him home.
Then at 6:30 he had an agility and conditioning practice for football so I drove him back to the high school at 6:30 PM.
The Girl got off work at 8 PM so I drove back to the pool and picked her up and brought her home.
The Boy was supposed to be done at his practice at 8:30, but they are notorious for keeping the kids longer, so I drove back to pick him up about 8:45. And waited for him another 15 minutes. Then I drove him home.
Figuring that the high school and/or the pool are about 1.3 miles from our house, one way, and I traveled that distance 22 times on Tuesday, I figure I drove 28.6 miles carting kids back and forth. My Durango was averaging 10 MPG in town lately, so I figured I used about 2.86 gallons of gas. With gas costing me about $3.59 a gallon, it cost me $10.27 on Tuesday alone to just cart kids around town.
The Girl cannot get her driver's license soon enough for my taste!
I drove to the city pool in the morning--6:30 AM. The kids have swim team practice and I go to water aerobics the same time. I drove home with The Boy at 8:15.
The Girl stays to coach the second shift of swim kids, so I drove at 9:30 to pick her up and bring her home.
At 10 AM, The Boy goes to the high school weight room where he has an hour of lifting for football. So I drove to the high school at 10 AM. The Girl happened to start her driver's ed class at the same time, so I dropped her off at class at 10 AM. At least that was one trip that they coordinated.
After his weight lifting, I drove back to the high school at 11 to pick up The Boy.
The Girl got out of her class at noon, so I drove back over and picked her up then and brought her home.
She had to be at work at 1 PM, so I drove her back over to the pool at 1.
The Boy got a message from his friend and asked if I'd take him to the pool to play for a few hours. So I drove back to the pool at 2 PM.
He was ready to come home at 4:15, so I ran back over to get him and brought him home.
Then at 6:30 he had an agility and conditioning practice for football so I drove him back to the high school at 6:30 PM.
The Girl got off work at 8 PM so I drove back to the pool and picked her up and brought her home.
The Boy was supposed to be done at his practice at 8:30, but they are notorious for keeping the kids longer, so I drove back to pick him up about 8:45. And waited for him another 15 minutes. Then I drove him home.
Figuring that the high school and/or the pool are about 1.3 miles from our house, one way, and I traveled that distance 22 times on Tuesday, I figure I drove 28.6 miles carting kids back and forth. My Durango was averaging 10 MPG in town lately, so I figured I used about 2.86 gallons of gas. With gas costing me about $3.59 a gallon, it cost me $10.27 on Tuesday alone to just cart kids around town.
The Girl cannot get her driver's license soon enough for my taste!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Driver's Ed
Remember when you took Driver's Ed? Maybe you were a sophomore in high school. Maybe your teacher was Mr. Elder, a giant of a man--reportedly a former NFL player whose baritone voice could be heard throughout the building even if he was trying to whisper to just the student nearest his desk--and who announced your test grade to the class using a car related term that began withthe letter grade your actually received. ("Mason, that's a CRASH for you. Too bad." or "Stephanie, you squeaked out of that ACCIDENT, didn't you?")
No? Well. I heard that some people had driver's ed that way.
This summer I am playing the local version of a Driver's Ed teacher, at least the behind the wheel portion. I am left with this familial honor as Genius Golfer is (a) too busy with work, and (b) too tense for The Girl to ever relax enough to feel comfortable driving, and (c) doesn't want The Girl to even think about driving the little Smug Honda for fear of something happening to it and then he wouldn't have it to drive to work in. I can see his point with the last one, but she is getting pretty good. Really.
The Girl has, now, about 13 hours under her belt, yet hasn't had a single hour of classroom driver's ed. Today was a momentous day in her driver's ed experience. She merged on and off the freeway. Perfectly.
Oh, yeah. The Girl is WAY better than Dionne, as seen in this clip from Clueless:
And, P.S.--sorry about the voice over topic in the last 12 seconds of this clip. I couldn't figure out how to end it sooner. Technology may fluster me, but freeway driving--and teaching freeway driving--does not.
No? Well. I heard that some people had driver's ed that way.
This summer I am playing the local version of a Driver's Ed teacher, at least the behind the wheel portion. I am left with this familial honor as Genius Golfer is (a) too busy with work, and (b) too tense for The Girl to ever relax enough to feel comfortable driving, and (c) doesn't want The Girl to even think about driving the little Smug Honda for fear of something happening to it and then he wouldn't have it to drive to work in. I can see his point with the last one, but she is getting pretty good. Really.
The Girl has, now, about 13 hours under her belt, yet hasn't had a single hour of classroom driver's ed. Today was a momentous day in her driver's ed experience. She merged on and off the freeway. Perfectly.
Oh, yeah. The Girl is WAY better than Dionne, as seen in this clip from Clueless:
And, P.S.--sorry about the voice over topic in the last 12 seconds of this clip. I couldn't figure out how to end it sooner. Technology may fluster me, but freeway driving--and teaching freeway driving--does not.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Just Not Right
I was sitting the car, waiting for The Girl to run into the craft store to get whatever she needed to finish a project for camp this week. While I was enjoying the sunshine and warmth, I watched as a woman tried to park her thunderous Suburban while she held her phone to her head cutting it pretty dang close other cars on either side of her selected spot, and all the while I gawked at the "handicapped" license hanging from her rear view mirror.
Really?!
If you are a legally designated handicapped driver, do you really need to (a) drive while you talk on your phone? and b) drive a super sized Suburban? Really?
Ironically, just before pulling into the parking lot with The Girl and observing this disaster in the making, we sat at the stoplight where a young woman in one of the Cube cars was holding the steering wheel with her pinkie and texting on her phone like nobody's business.
Come on, people! Let's think about what we are doing. Maybe it is because it has fallen to me to teach The Girl to drive and put in the hours she needs behind the wheel to complete before her birthday, but I have become very observant to the many, many foolish ways people multitask while they simultaneously operated a vehicle. And we have had plenty of "I had never better see YOU do something dumb like that" kind of conversations because of them.
That kind of behavior is just not right. And you know I am speaking truth here, right?!
Really?!
If you are a legally designated handicapped driver, do you really need to (a) drive while you talk on your phone? and b) drive a super sized Suburban? Really?
Ironically, just before pulling into the parking lot with The Girl and observing this disaster in the making, we sat at the stoplight where a young woman in one of the Cube cars was holding the steering wheel with her pinkie and texting on her phone like nobody's business.
Come on, people! Let's think about what we are doing. Maybe it is because it has fallen to me to teach The Girl to drive and put in the hours she needs behind the wheel to complete before her birthday, but I have become very observant to the many, many foolish ways people multitask while they simultaneously operated a vehicle. And we have had plenty of "I had never better see YOU do something dumb like that" kind of conversations because of them.
That kind of behavior is just not right. And you know I am speaking truth here, right?!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Relativity Time Theory
The Girl had some kind of school wide testing day. All sophomores took some pre-SAT-like test today. All the juniors took the ACT. Seniors had the day off. Lucky ducks. Everyone else got out of school before lunchtime.
Now, I think I have written here before about the ridiculousness of the 'early out day' conceptually. Or possibly on the actual Super-Early-Out-Day that our district has implemented this year in lue of Professional Development Days which used to be the whole day: kids off, teachers work. Now, with Super-Early-Out-Days, or Minimal Days as they are officially called, I get the kids off to school, turn around twice, touch the carpet and the kids are on their way home. Or something like that.
This testing day, high school kids come home early day? Well. It is sick and wrong. Add to that, it has been sunshiny and gorgeous all day. The Girl coming home while I am eating lunch really messed up my kind of fluid plans. But her making her own early day plans with her friends and not really telling me what those plans might be REALLY messed me up.
She and her friends had a picnic. I get the need to have lunch "al fresco" on a day like today. But she still has swim practice and I still have to pick up the junior high carpool. And those times are non-negotiable.
She called me about 5 minutes later than we should have left to get her to practice and she asked if I could come pick her up. So I run over to her friend's to get her, bring her back to the house, she picks up her gear and I run her to practice. Then, I run back to get the Jr High carpool where they have been waiting almost 15 minutes, albeit, happily in the sunshine
The relative term here is "DRIVER"S LICENSE". She needs to practice so she can get it at her birthday. And then she can drive herself to practice or work or her friend's. Everyday. And home, everyday too. Then she will have to face the theory of getting somewhere on time. By herself. And I won't have to take her.
July 31st cannot come soon enough. So long as she gets all 40 of the driving practice hours. And she needs to be interested in driving at all to do that. I think I am coming to the point where I might be interested enough for the both of us on that account.
Come on, August!!
Now, I think I have written here before about the ridiculousness of the 'early out day' conceptually. Or possibly on the actual Super-Early-Out-Day that our district has implemented this year in lue of Professional Development Days which used to be the whole day: kids off, teachers work. Now, with Super-Early-Out-Days, or Minimal Days as they are officially called, I get the kids off to school, turn around twice, touch the carpet and the kids are on their way home. Or something like that.
This testing day, high school kids come home early day? Well. It is sick and wrong. Add to that, it has been sunshiny and gorgeous all day. The Girl coming home while I am eating lunch really messed up my kind of fluid plans. But her making her own early day plans with her friends and not really telling me what those plans might be REALLY messed me up.
She and her friends had a picnic. I get the need to have lunch "al fresco" on a day like today. But she still has swim practice and I still have to pick up the junior high carpool. And those times are non-negotiable.
She called me about 5 minutes later than we should have left to get her to practice and she asked if I could come pick her up. So I run over to her friend's to get her, bring her back to the house, she picks up her gear and I run her to practice. Then, I run back to get the Jr High carpool where they have been waiting almost 15 minutes, albeit, happily in the sunshine
The relative term here is "DRIVER"S LICENSE". She needs to practice so she can get it at her birthday. And then she can drive herself to practice or work or her friend's. Everyday. And home, everyday too. Then she will have to face the theory of getting somewhere on time. By herself. And I won't have to take her.
July 31st cannot come soon enough. So long as she gets all 40 of the driving practice hours. And she needs to be interested in driving at all to do that. I think I am coming to the point where I might be interested enough for the both of us on that account.
Come on, August!!
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