(no subject)

[serindrana]

A post! A post that is not fanfic! Or about fanfic!

I just exchanged a few emails with David's parents, and it looks like I'll be living with them this summer. :) His mom is a librarian, and she's almost certain she can guarantee me at least a part-time position, with decent pay. She's also going to poke around for potential archaeology contract stuff in the area for me.

AND they're going to teach me to drive this summer!

My history with driving is... interesting.

When I was 15-16, I asked a bit about if I was going to learn to drive, but my parents didn't want me driving either of our cars, and nobody signed me up for driver's ed, and I was a shut-in anyway, so we sort of dropped it.

The Christmas of my senior year, my aunt gave me driver's ed lessons as a present. She then proceeded to put off signing me up for them until the summer. I took them, and did do some driving in my grandfather's car (enough to handle 30 mph on curving back roads, and to do 3-and-up point turns). But it was rushed, and I was dealing with some massive anxiety problems at the time, including panic attacks while a passenger in cars, so I wasn't very, er, intent.

I also never really learned to ride a bike, so being in control of anything going more than maybe 3-4 mph was terrifying. Still is.

Then, I met David, and my short breaks have been mostly spent with him, and my long breaks have either been spent on campus or with my learner's permit expired and nobody able to take me to renew it/drive with me.

So I'm over halfway through college and the thought of driving terrifies me, especially since I'm in a densely populated mid-Atlantic coast area, and the drivers are amazingly fast and irresponsible and scary.

BUT in Wyoming, David's parents are willing to teach me (and eager, actually), there's less traffic, and there's less space to get lost in - rather, fewer streets to get lost on, since there's obviously a lot of ROOM.

So I'm actually looking forward to it! I checked the DMV page for Wyoming, and they don't seem to mind if you're out of state - they certainly don't mention it anywhere on the website. I don't need to retake driver's ed classes since I'm over 18. :)

Fun times!

So, summer is mostly set up. There'll be archive work in a library, camping, etc. D&D, too. Fun stuff!

...

Probably no Otakon, though.

Comments

My issues, let me show you them! Sorry in advance.

[tasogare-n-hime.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the driving. I completely understand the anxiety issues, I learned to drive in high school it was a required class and I hated it. When the time finally came I ended up flunking the test twice before I passed. I was never comfortable behind the wheel, and was terrified of driving any farther than the town I went to school in. Then about a year after I graduated my older brother was killed in a single person car accident right down the road from our house. I just could not get myself to drive after that. When two of his best friends each died in separate car accidents over the next three years I developed a full blown phobia of driving. Mom of course thinks if I just tried driving again I'd "get over it," and every time she talks about getting me a car or making me drive somewhere I have a panic attack and get sick to my stomach. That's just one of the reasons out relationship has gone down the drain.

[red-mage-jerry.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I now feel totally terrible about the whole coasting down the hill thing ^^;;

Sounds like a good summer, though! Enjoy the West!

[serindrana.livejournal.com]

XD I don't remember being too upset when you were driving? It was my grandfather's driving that really got to me.

Will do!

But...But...:(

[raikithemage.livejournal.com]

We actually just made our hotel reservations for Otakon. We were all excited to see you there too! Well, I suppose if you can't make it, you can't make it. Good luck in your far-west-place...and good luck with the driving. I'm still going to hold out hope that we'll see you...but c'est la vi.

Re: But...But...:(

[serindrana.livejournal.com]

NOOOOOOOOO. D:

Otakon's just at an awkward time, since it's the end of July. It's a full month before the start of my fall semester. So I'd have to fly from Wyoming to Baltimore, go to the con, then fly back... I could do it, but that'd mean not coming home at the beginning or end of the summer, and just getting a ride straight from campus to the boy's state. I have a feeling that my family wouldn't enjoy it, except that it'd let me be home on my birthday.

Ffff. Well, I'll figure it out. *hugs*

[epiic.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much how I feel / felt.

I kinda regret not getting a car when I lived in Tucson, since while a city, it's nothing compared to LA. One friend of mine from Kansas was mentioning something about finding my paranoid of driving odd, but if you live there, of course it's easier to not be paranoid.

Though, here the paranoia is somewhat justified, which in a way, makes me more comfortable. All the things I worry may happen do. People do things like make right hand turns from the left lane. Never signal when changing lanes. Run lights. Double park. Go the wrong way on 1-way streets. Pedestrians wanter out into busy streets randomly. The fact that there aren't daily traffic accidents by me is amazing. Don't drive in LA.
(Oh, and related to speed, just to mess with you, there will be super-wide, straight, streets with 25mph speed limits, then curvy mountain roads at 45mph.)

And it's not that I don't like to drive - in traffic-free, non tight areas, it's nice. I especially love mountain driving with all the curves. (Some people I know hate it, but I find it to be lots of fun when there's no traffic. Just sad that since I have to pay attention to driving I can't enjoy the views as much.)


Anyways, hope all goes well with that. Definitely a better place to learn to drive than a city.

[shipwreck-light.livejournal.com]

I only learned to drive fairly recently. It's a whole new world when you can drag yourself out for fun things. And otherwise, but the fun is what's really important, right XD?

The car is not as big on the outside as it feels on the inside.