[s]Goal: 100,000 New Goal: 200,000[/s] New Goal: 250.000

[Niniel]

I live central and my town is quite small so I often walk or take the bus. I have a nice bf and a nice dad that can drive me if I need to.

 

About things - I moved to another city to study at the university. I had a bf, my family and friends in my home town so I traveled a lot back and forth. When I was at the university I used most of my time studying (and partying) and when I got home I wanted to meet everyone and catch up. In short - I didn´t have the time.

 

 

Also, I might, or might not, accidentally drove into a ditch with my parents car.

[Locke]

I don't live close enough to anything to bike there.

[Niniel]

Where do you live Locke?

[Locke]

As in, where in the world? Northern United States. (Wisconsin: Not as nice as PNG. :()

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i fear for the children i know ever driving. i will spend all the money i have on presents for them, but i will never help them get cars.

 

i didn't get my license till i was 22, and had moved away from the city, where the inability to parallel park would not be a deal breaker. i failed 4 road tests before i passed one in the hinterlands. and i didn't stop driving very badly until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. fingers crossed, hope i don't start doing that again.

Edited August 24, 2011 by cindy

[Locke]

I'm a tad worried. I hope I'm a good driver. It seems difficult, but if everyone else can do it...Plus Driver's Ed was pretty much just 3 weeks of scare tactics, so that was encouraging.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

it takes a long time to learn to be careful, because it's too much fun not to be. it took me a few accidents, and i was very lucky to have walked away from them so i could learn. plus people always think they're in control while they're driving, and don't think about the million things that are not in their control... sigh. but it's a necessary evil, and i'm sure you'll be good at it, because you're a careful kind of person.

[Leelou]

I've been driving for 13 years now. Still can only parallel park by being able to drive right into the spot - I hate parallel parking. When it's convenient I still do take the T (subway/commuter rail) but that isn't on my way to work so I have to drive in. Plus they don't have good public transport in most of the country and there was none when I lived in FL (except for really bad buses that were scary).

[Locke]

It seems like most accidents happen from being careless or stupid. So, it seems like most accidents aren't accidents but mistakes.

[eclipse0]

There used to be a website dedicated to stuff like that. I think it might have been an insurance company or something. I remember they used to post videos, pretty gruesome ones at times, and the point was that there is no such thing as an accident, only carelessness.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

see, that's the thing. it's not always a mistake. accidents are often just exactly that. where i drive, the number one cause of accidents is deer collision, and there's nothing you can do anout that most of the time. and that can kill you, and it can cause you to lose control of the car and kill others. if you're lucky it just kills your car.

 

then there's snow and ice, and other bad road conditions, like a tiny bit of rain on a road that's been dry long enough to get greasy, or leaves, or sudden potholes, washouts, trees or power lines down. doesn't matter how much experience you have, that can mess you up good.

 

my best friends once called me in a snowstorm - they were one wheel off the cliff at the side of the road. i have no idea what they thought i could do about it. they managed to maneuver back on, but with all the cliffs and snow here, it goes the other way as often as not.

 

a friend of mine was driving home one snowy night in 97 and had the once in a lifetime good luck to have a tree crash down on his hood. the thing just came down from too much snow weight, and he just happened to drive past as it came down. nothing to do but pray. but when you have an accident, time slows down enough to pray alot. he was super lucky it hit the hood and not the passenger compartment.

 

then there's freak weather and sudden high winds. again, nothing you can do about it. just hang on and pray,

 

and my favorite thing most people never think about - the driver, you or the other guy, has a heart attack, a stroke, a seizure, a sleep seizure, or looks away just at the wrong moment, and boom. or grandma whillikins drives up the exit ramp cause she went old in a hurry.

 

i pray before i drive, every time. and i always prepare to die in the car, because it's the most dangerous thing i do. and because we're rarely, maybe never, in control of anything. if you're not comfortable with the concept of G-d, you can call it the universe, or luck, or fate - but when stuff happens, it happens.

 

sorry about the doomfulness. but if it's any consolation, the prayer really works for me. and the speed limit, and the room i give other drivers, you know, in case of unexpected human behavior.

 

so, good luck with the driving.

 

(and i got dozens of bad car stories, but i'm holding myself back, cause i have way exceeded most of your attention spans, sorry.)

[eclipse0]

And that's why I didn't start driving as soon as I got my license...

 

Ok time to snap Cindy out of her gloominess.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i'm not gloomy. not right this moment, anyway. i'm realistic. and i believe G-d's plan is for the best, and i trust in it. and i believe the next life will be better, and the next one better still.

 

i just think driving's serious business, and more dangerous than people get until they've driven into a few guardrails.

[eclipse0]

 

That's how dangerous

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

you can't eat a pig like that all at once...

[Tiinker]

I started driving recently. It's actually kinda boring after the initial "OMG I'm driving!" experience.. Maybe I need to turn it into something exciting with some good ol' fashioned rocket propellers and a few 007 heat seeking missiles

 

 

 

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

boring is good. boring is safe.

[eclipse0]

Boring isn't anyway to live :P

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

boring is usually the exact right way to live. it is difficult to accomplish. but boring people retire early and laugh their asses off at the rest of us working till we die.

Edited August 25, 2011 by cindy

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

are you just trying to distract me from the evil place? cause i'm too sleepy for it already anyway.

[eclipse0]

Nah, I'm laughing all the way, never at someone, always with someone

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

it's ok to laugh at. all the primates do it. and most of the pets. and hyenas of course.

[eclipse0]

but I's no hyenas!

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i was assuming primate, but it's bedtime, thanks for talking me back down again.

[eclipse0]

Back down? Were you hanging on the ceiling fan again?