Thursday, November 22, 2007
Moving on to bigger things

State: Ok

Walkergal was awakened this morning.. by faraway time difference of seven hours - a wellwish sms at around 0630? Can't remember the exact time. But it was certainly very sweet and nice.. :) although it brought along the reminder that "hey you got a test in a few hours time".

Shortly after that was emperor.
SMS: Be more focus :) dont panic :) relax :) slow and steady :) God bless
Great. I've never seen such a sms filled with :) :) and coming from.. the emperor!! *speechless*

Finally I reached driving centre.
I went for the warmup.
I was allocated to use Car 38 for the warmup and of course for the test too. The warmup instructor was laughing all the way. Well. I dunno. To ease my nervousness? I don't think he needs to do that.. I certainly don't know how to respond. After going around the whole big bush and back to the centre, finally he became serious.

His evaluation of me: You are quite good with the circuit. Just be yourself and stay confident and you will do just fine.

His tip for me: Be careful when you drive back to the centre after the test. The test is not ended until the tester leave your car. Many innocent drivers-to-be failed because they let down their guards when they return back to the centre and failed to give way at the zebra crossing inside the centre.

His little bonus..- well he claimed: Don't start the engine until the tester is seated in your car. When moving off, gear one first, get biting point then release handbrake. Usually on flat ground I'll release handbrake, get biting point then move off. But for the sake of test, I decided to follow what he said.

Well. That was certainly something sensible that finally came out from him after all. And I do appreciate that. :)

After warmup, I was brought to the balloting room - the place where all the test drivers-to-be unite and shiver together under the mercy of the white haired traffic policemen (testers)... with one out of ten testers only.. will smile.

It was then like I got a garden in my stomach. Butterflies everywhere. The feeling was just like you got to rush to a toilet to LS any moment... and bbc smsed me then. Well. Nothing can lighten any burden at that moment.. but I still appreciate that. :)

We (the anytime can be chopped) waited for about 10 mins or so, then one white haired traffic police came in. He seemed friendly though. He began to explain out the little mistakes that past drivers had made and he hope we won't repeat those things. Then he got one of us to volunteer to start chosing a route with tester for the first person.. from the balloting box. The box contained all our PDLs (Provisional Driving License). After that the chosen person will pick the next route with tester for the next person from the box.

Here's what Walkergal got:
Car: 38 (cool. i'm a bitch)
Lot no: 14 (not a number that a chinese would appreciate)
Tester: X.X.X
Route: 9

After that, basically my name was called out and everything just happened very fast after that. I went down, sat in the car, did my adjustments and waited for him to come. He did not waste much time either. Basically.. after that I just drove out.

The circuits was pretty good. I was quite relaxed after that. Out on the roads, nothing much to highlight, except one major part. This part... I really feel that its really subjective.. really.

After a right turn, it is expected that we should change lane to the left simply because of the fact that the rightmost lane is aka the overtaking lane. So I did my lane change.. from the right most.. to the center first.. then at this point, observing the leftmost lane.. there was this golden car. It was speeding up and my car wasn't slow either. Acceleration is natural for lane changing so long we keep to the speed limit and there is space and no danger in front.. of course. Well. It was that. So I sped. Up-ed my gear and naturally I lane changed and guess what. After sitting comfortably and quiet for so long, he (tester) opened his mouth.

X.X.X: How could you cut into his lane? He was speeding. Paused for a few moments, observing golden car at rear-view mirror. See? He is changing his lane now because of you cutting into his lane.

WG: Ok. Well.. what else can I say? In accordance of theory, the lane change was not wrong as what you made it sounded out to be. The position of that car was just right for lane change in fact. You are mad with me because you are on my test car now, you have never been driven by me and hence no confidence nor faith in me for doing that lane change at that point.. which I won't blame you. You feel that I made you panic due to my acceleration. I'm currently on test, I cannot sped as much as the rest of the cars after doing the lane change... and this had led to that golden car having to change his lane and its not my fault that he did so because he really was in a hurry and its just too bad that I'm doing my driving test now and got to drive in front of him.

The issue was, if I didn't do my lane change in time, I might not be able to drive in accordance to what he had planned out for me. There was a string of cars closely following the golden car. That was the only space available at that time. If I hadn't turn in at that moment, I might be marked for another failure - Failure to overtake when necessary.

Moreover, testers doesn't follow test routes. The test routes given to us were just a guide. So when I cannot turn to any routes as instructed on time, it will be an immdiate failure for me -Failure to adhere to test route as required during test.

After that, very obvious, he was pissed off. Observing all these, I carefully concentrated on my driving still. Not gonna let this thing affect the rest of my test route. Next, still on the same road, he gave the command: U-turn in front. Well. After I had lane changed to the left most lane.. I got to change to the right most lane again. I had expected this. No problem. I'll give it to you.

Well. I surprised myself. It was the best U-turn I've ever done.. from all my driving lessons. Hahaha.. I might not even do it again so well in future. Nevermind. Moving on... so I drove on and there was one part whereby the traffic junction just turn amber! Then, there was like a voice in my mind saying hey, you got to think twice.

Judging from my current speed and distance, I made my decision. Safety is of utmost importance. I learnt that in my career too. Never put other's safety at risk. After braking in time, I was sweating in mind and heart... oh well.. will he fail me because of the golden car...

The traffic light turned green at this point. Damn the thoughts!
I got myself moving on again...

Back at the driving centre. I followed him into his office. My heart at this moment was sanked to the right most bottom. No mood. Totally. Well. Then he amazed me.

After we sat down, face to face with a table in between, he took out a piece of checklist from his side, then I came to a realization. He did not bring his checklist along with him during the drive!

Then he took out his pen, eye scanned through the various listed mistakes from the checklist.... and slashed those that I've made. I was completely at his mercy. No bargain, just take whatever he give and he was fast.

He passed me back my IC and the checklist. I dunno whatever it was, I just took it. Then I glanced at the checklist, still dunno where to see whether I've passed or failed.... and ....


YES, I've PASSED!

I looked at him and gave him a firm smile and said Thank You. I know my manners okay. Be it a pass or fail.. must thank him for his time.. even though I've paid $150 for the test!!

Ahhhh. Yeah. Indeed. It wasn't easy. He has all the right to refuse me a licence. I do know that. I guess he was gracious enough.. perhaps from the first part and remaining part of the driving, I had proven to him that I do can drive and yes.. not reckless driving.

I ran through the checklist after that and realised hey, he was a righteous man... and amazing. He did not mark me wrongly nor miss out anything. Basically even the nity grity error was marked. Well.. well. I'm glad that I had a righteous tester. I definitely won't feel safe even I've passed.. if I wasn't rightfully being certified OK. Thank God for everything, a baby driver was borned today.

I'm glad that I won't be splashing money to driving centre anymore.
Its not very easy in mind when each lesson costs me $60? And a test of $150? .... one time is enough. Although I'll miss Mister See quite a bit but its okay.. God sometimes put us in people's path for a certain period of time only..

Well. The driving chapter is now closed.
My biggest hurdle in 2006 was getting COC and I got it by God's grace.
Now God had seen me through driving in 2007.
2008? I shall leave that to be thought about next year!

*****

Here's something pretty interesting to share. One of Dale Carnegie's six ways to prevent fatigue and worry said: Get interested in people! Develop a friendly, healthy interest in the people who share your life.

Well.. Before getting interested.. I got to start getting vain first right.. hahaha.. now thats a joke if you get it. Well. He is very right. I'm still very much.. learning!!

*****

I'm so glad everything is over now.
Moving on to the next big thing - School exams.
Walkergal got to study hard.