By
Rick & Christine.
 .
Test Time!
When I was sixteen years
old and took my first drive test (in my beloved 1966 Oldsmobile 442) to
get my drivers license, I failed miserably. The examiner said I rolled
every single stop sign. I remember walking up to my mother with tears
welling up in my eyes. Well, today I took a much more important drive
test (in a vehicle
much larger then even my
442), and while I DID bring all eighteen of my wheels to a complete and
total stop as required, history still reared its ugly head and repeated
itself… I failed my commercial drivers license test. And this time
Mom wasn’t waiting with hugs for me, and expletives for the DMV examiners.
It is 3:04 A.M. as I write this
and Rick is in the next room slumbering the peaceful sleep of someone in
possession of a commercial drivers license. Wrigley is sleeping
the deep sleep of a being who doesn’t ever have to set paw in a DMV, and
I wish I could trade places with either one of them. I guess I shouldn’t
revel in too much self-pity because I am in a better position than most
of the people in my class, and I’m not the only person who failed today.
You get three chances to
pass the four tests (the in cab air brakes check, the pre-trip test, the
five backing skills and then the drive test) before you have to start the
WHOLE permit process ALL over, including the six written tests. That
means I have two more opportunities to pass my drive test because I passed
the pre-trip tests and backing maneuvers on my first attempt.
The irony here is that EVERYBODY,
myself included, assumed that if I passed the backing skills (which everybody,
myself included, gave me a fifty-fifty chance of passing) and made it to
the drive test, I would get my CDL, since driving is my strongest skill.
However, I hate to make excuses,
but the truck the school gave us to take our drive test in was a piece
of junk that I hadn’t driven since my first day. The gear shifter
was so loose and sloppy that I could not consistently grab a gear,
and I failed for not being in control of my vehicle. My examiner
was MORE than fair and gave me several
opportunities to keep trying,
but he finally had to say lets go back to DMV and you can try again another
day.
So, while I would have liked
to be done with all of this in one day like Rick, I’m trying not to be
too hard on myself. For having eight hours of driving time I’m doing
pretty well. Some of my classmates never even
made it past the backing
skills. They failed three times, have to pay $64 and start at ground
zero again. I only have to pay $30 and take the drive test. And THIS
time I’ll have two things on my side. First I’m going to have my
favorite truck that I drive best, good old #369 with the stiff clutch and
the tight shift pattern that everybody HATES but me. Secondly I’ve
got history on my side, because fourteen years ago in an Olds 442 I DID
pass my second drive test. And that is exactly what will happen when
I return to DMV on Monday.
Wish me luck!
Christine
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