Today was one of those days when you do a number of different things for the first time. One first: I got behind the wheel of a car and drove on the road. That was exciting and stressful. I was out at Greenpoint with a driving instructor, on some small, residential roads, in a car which seemt expensive and like something I didn’t want to ding too much. But it went OK, even though when I got behind the wheel everything I’d been trying to remember about the clutch, K-53, and how sensitive the pedals were, kept on fading from memory. But I managed to pull out and do some really slow driving. And all this without any unwanted dings and pedestrian fatalities.
Another first: a cop (not a traffic officer, but a real police officer) asked to see my license. Talk about combing stressors: first time on the road, first time asked for a license by the Law. I wasn’t even doing anything illegal, I was just stopped at a stop street.
Another first: I ran across UCT campus today. Just like being stopped by the cops, this isn’t a first that I wanted to do, but it did stop an umbrella of mine from dissapearing in the nasty clutches of some undergrad. I’d just got off one of the UCT shuttles only to realise that I’d forgotten my umbrella onboard. By now the shuttle was already driving away along ring road. I’d already lost it once already this year (thanks Simon for finding it!), so I ran after it – cutting across campus to run up the stairs (and hill) behind the food court to reach the West Side shuttle stop.
Only the shuttle had already moved on – I hoped only to the next stop, but I was worried it and my umbrella were already on their way to town.
I’d already run half the length of campus, and now I ran the remaining half. I was really relieved that from there on it was all down hill. And yes, the shuttle was still at the South Side stop, and I found my umbrella being kept warm for me in the arms of an undergrad. I was probably a disturbing site: out of breath, slightly sweaty, and really short on words. But I was damn happy to get that umbrella back.
And I really don’t want to do that run again.
4 comments
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July 8, 2009 at 17:34
Alapan
On the driving – good luck!
On the umbrella, ROFL
July 8, 2009 at 17:47
Rudy Neeser
Thanks
Now if I’d of had a car, I wouldn’t have been leaving my umbrella in any shuttle.
July 29, 2009 at 2:42
davenunez
Nice one on the driving. The first couple of mistakes I made it scared the crap out of me, but as you get used to it, you learn what is a big deal and what is not. But at least you have those nice SA roads to drive on – here the lines on the road are really shittily painted, and often you wonder where the middle of the damn road is!
And just about all the roadsigns are written in words rather than using icons. So instead of seeing the red circle with a diagonal line, you might see a sign that says “No Entry” or sometimes “Wrong Way” or sometimes “No Outlet” – it really adds the stress when you are driving around in unfamiliar areas.
July 29, 2009 at 8:57
Rudy Neeser
Ta
The driving has had its ups and downs, but thankfully mostly ups. I think I’ll be ready to do OK in the test in a month and bits time.