Okay, so this one happened a while ago. This is my first after a REALLY long idle time (sorry guys). Actually, it's quite fitting that I didn't work to this for a while. Read on, you'll get it.
Geez, this summer has been full of changes, I tell ya! Television has an exceptionally wonderful little show to our lives called "Survivor"; an outlandish,
gameshowish thing where people are stranded on a South Pacific island for a long time - winner gets one million dollars! U.S.! This year I also found myself wasting fewer and fewer days sleeping and such (I'm actually getting up in the a.m.!). The other day I went to the beach and received my first real sunburn. Yes, me, the one who NEVER burns, suddenly received a freshly red back now (luckily, I did manage to tan my torso nicely to compensate for my "farmer-arms"). Oh yeah! Last bit of news I'm thinkin' you'd enjoy! There's a (relatively) new couple in our midst: Jody and Pete.
Surprised? Don't be. But really, you saw them together, you knew they were interested in each other lots. So yeah, they've been together since summer started (hey, alliteration!).
Ya know what's really funny, though? Right now, as I think about all this stuff, I'm not staring up at my ceiling as I fall asleep like I usually do with these sorts of thoughts; I'm looking down into my pillow as I'm waking up! Yeah, needless to say, I was up too late chatting on ICQ again. But hey, a little sleeping in never hurt anybody . . .
. . Then Dan jumped on me.
"Agh! Sunburn!" I cried out as the giant that is my brother flopped on my back. He just laughed at my predicament (typical Dan).
"Ern, did you hear me this morning?" he asks me, still bouncing on me like an over-sugared prepubescent.
"Yes," I croaked out, "I heard you."
"What did I say?" he then asks me (yeah, these are the stupid questions I was talking about. I know he knows the answer; he just wants to hear it from another person).
"
I don't know." He responds to my answer by exclaiming in a sarcastic-stern,
"Er-hern! What did I say?! Come on, I know you know the answer!"
"If I answer this will you shut up?" He agrees. " . . . You said,
put these nuts in your mouth." Dan then proceeded to roar out loud. I tried to go back to sleep.
"What was that from?" he then giggles out.
"Oh shut up."
"Er-hern!" he cries again, "What was that from?"
"(
Sigh) It was from Romeo Must Die (I'll just add now that that's a good movie. Not great, but it's fun)." Then he laughed again. Loud.
"I got past that damn recon mission in Rogue Spear."
Well that explains it. (For the non-gamers, I'll just say it's a game that has a really hard mission in it. Dan just passed that mission.) I congratulated him in the half-assed fashion (still tired). He then told me to wake up so we could go driving.
I have a road test at 3:30 today. Makes sense, doesn't it?
So yeah, I've been putting my learner's to use for the past 3-4 months (and yeah, that was after a 6-month idle-time [and yeah, I WAS unmotivated the whole time, IF you must know]). I guess I'm getting okay at it. I mean, sure, I'm forgetting all the important stuff now and then, and I'm freezing at 4-way stops a little, but hey, I'm still young, right? OH, here's the real kicker for ya: I'm learning on standard!
And yes, I'm taking the test on one too.
Some reason, it seemed a little harder to get out of bed today. I know, I know, I just said I was better at this.
Guess old habits can outlive short-term memory any day . . . Well, once I got up I noticed how grotesquely dirty I was, so my next stop was the bathroom. For your sake, I won't get into too detail. I'll just say I took my time taking care of the three morning "S's" (ya know, Shower, Shave . . . the one that goes in the toilet . . .).
"Ern!" I hear Dan call as I open the bathroom door, "Hurry up!"
"I'm coming," I call back. He's basically got me running through the hall now (which kinda sucked for me, since I ended up running PAST my room). A quick backtrack, and I pocketed all my outdoor essentials - 1: wallet, 2: keys, 3: watch, 4: breath-mints. Dan was waiting for me at the door with my magnetic red "L".
"Alright, let's go." We locked the door, and stepped into the garage. Dan gives me the keys and the "L", and walks to the passenger side. I, in turn, wipe the magnetic surface of the little red sign off on my shirt, and stick it on the back of Dan's 240. The door was then unlocked, I took off The Club™, yada yada yada. I've gotta drive now.
You know what? Standard really isn't that hard. It just takes a little practice, that's all. I mean, it's totally second nature to me now (well . . . third-and-a-half)! So I'm adjusting the mirrors and the seat, Dan's just waiting for me to hurry it up a little. Once I finally start the engine, and I'm backing up slowly, watching out for that damn car that's always RIGHT there in the alley (no neighborly consideration at all . . .). Well, I get around it like always, shift to 1, close the garage door, and head for the driving place.
As I reach the first turn, Dan turns off the radio (for my sake, of course).
Once we're on the road, things start to make sense again. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I'm keeping under 30 for the playground zones, I'm . . . realizing I didn't turn on my headlights. I mean, sure it's all bright out and stuff, but that's what the school was teaching us, so I should've done it! Well, at the next red light, I clicked them on after quickly cursing at myself.
I really hate how you just aren't supposed to speed when you're learning. I mean, being a Leo wanting to be helpful to others just doesn't work when you've got four people slowed down because you're in front (of course, I'm not going to start speeding the day OF a test! [The day after, however . . .]). We did eventually reach the place, though. I thought that was pretty good. Dan only really had to say things to me a couple times (not including directions, naturally). It was a big building, a few cars here and there in the lot. But then again, it was still pretty early (I mean, my test isn't for another 4-5 hours or so!).
"Alright, Ern," Dan starts, "this is the place."
"Okay."
"We're just gonna drive around so you get used to the area."
"Alright."
"Alright," he looks around a bit, and continues, "you're probably going to exit . . . that way."
"'Kay."
"Go ahead." I went ahead. I signaled left, looked left, center, right, started turning, and Dan goes, "ERN!" I stop instantly, and watch as some lady in a sporty little car drives in front of me; expression of "whatthehelliswrongwithyou?" tattooed across her face.
And I have a test today?
Well, after that initial thing, I got a little better. I remembered about catching that right that makes you HAVE to change lanes to the left for construction (actually, on recollection, there was a LOT of construction in that area . . .). I kinda knew my way around. I mean not well, but I think I'd be okay.
That's when Dan shouted for me to not change lanes for sake of the truck in my blind spot. I mean, I knew it was there, I saw it, but I thought I'd be able to make it. Guess not. At this point, Dan is just seething through his teeth. I could tell it's not like he wanted to get mad, and he was really trying; I guess he was just stressing his points a little too much -I guess I was just stressing his points a little too much. I got myself back to the driving place and parked in an open stall (ah crap! I forgot to practice parallel!).
"You think you know the area enough now?" Dan asks me, a little more relaxed than before. I just kinda let out a slow breath and answered,
"Eh, not like I'm gonna get used to it any more than I have by now."
"Alright, then take me home." I was really surprised at how good that idea sounded.
"Alright . . . . . you better tell me how." Hey, don't judge me too harshly now. I don't know the area, and I'm just getting the hang of watching the roads and stuff. It's not great that I'm JUST now doing it, but that's what's happened, and there's nothing I can do to fix that now except pay attention more now.
Things are really quiet as I'm driving home. I'm feeling a little down at endangering our lives 3 or 4 times today, and I think Dan could sense that too. I guess that's why he shouted, "DIE BENNY!!!" and asked me what movie that was from (Total Recall). That's what's always been great about that guy. Either he'll make you want to punch him, or he'll make you laugh harder than you'd think possible. So yeah, needless to say I cracked a smile and let out one of those "
tch" kinds of laughs.
The clock on the dashboard said it was about 12:00 when we got home. I killed the engine, turned off the headlights, locked The Club™ onto the wheel, and stepped out. Dan tossed me the red "L" from the back; I tossed him his keys. Then we went in and got food (I, myself, haven't eaten all day). Corran came up from downstairs when he heard the door.
"Where were you guys?" he asks us.
"Learning to drive." I answer.
And I have this test TODAY???
