Driving
Last week our car arrived. After over two months without driving I was excited to receive it. My first voyage was driving to church Sunday morning. The roads are pretty empty then so it wasn't too bad. My next trip was driving Sabrina to her friends house on a Friday night. The roads were a little more crowded and the car seemed especially large. The stress level was high and I felt like my chest was going to explode. I had Ryan come with me but I was not as appreciative of his help (back seat driving) as I maybe should have been. I got us there without hitting anyone or anything so I am going to count that as a success, even though Ryan said he would never be in the car with me again. He drove us back home and I said I would never drive again. I think we were both over reacting because I did drive again and Ryan was a passenger. We're still alive and no voices were raised. We're making progress.
On the road today -
I had an appointment at Nicholas' school this morning. It just so happens that all public transportation employees are on strike today. That means all the metro, bus and tram lines are shut down. After hours in the car due to extremely heavy traffic I arrive home just in time to go to my French class. I usually take the metro and it takes 10 minutes to get there. Since the metro is down I took a nice 45 minute walk to class, where I am told by a fellow student that it is cancelled. At least there was a note on the door and the walk was enjoyable.
This afternoon I had a visitor. I have a intercom/camera system so I can see who is at my door and talk to them decide if I want to buzz them in or have them go away. The man on the screen said "This is the police. Open the door now". It really was the police. They had called a tow truck to tow my car because work is being done on the road in front of my house. The tow truck wasn't there yet so they asked me to move my car. I think that every car in the area is out and about today and parked on the street. I found a parking spot near some shops and am hoping my car is okay there for now. I walked back home where the tow truck (and police officers) were waiting for me to pay my ticket. I didn't have the correct change and if the ticket is not paid right away I get another ticket from the police station. I think the system is flawed. After a conference of police officers it was decided that they will come back on Thursday and if I can show my ticket has been paid they will not give me another fine.
On another car related note, after about 18 hours of work, my garage door opener was installed and works beautifully. Too bad my car won't fit in the garage. It would have saved me some money.
Just for the record, I love the metro system. If the metro went everywhere I needed to go I would never drive here again.
On the road today -
I had an appointment at Nicholas' school this morning. It just so happens that all public transportation employees are on strike today. That means all the metro, bus and tram lines are shut down. After hours in the car due to extremely heavy traffic I arrive home just in time to go to my French class. I usually take the metro and it takes 10 minutes to get there. Since the metro is down I took a nice 45 minute walk to class, where I am told by a fellow student that it is cancelled. At least there was a note on the door and the walk was enjoyable.
This afternoon I had a visitor. I have a intercom/camera system so I can see who is at my door and talk to them decide if I want to buzz them in or have them go away. The man on the screen said "This is the police. Open the door now". It really was the police. They had called a tow truck to tow my car because work is being done on the road in front of my house. The tow truck wasn't there yet so they asked me to move my car. I think that every car in the area is out and about today and parked on the street. I found a parking spot near some shops and am hoping my car is okay there for now. I walked back home where the tow truck (and police officers) were waiting for me to pay my ticket. I didn't have the correct change and if the ticket is not paid right away I get another ticket from the police station. I think the system is flawed. After a conference of police officers it was decided that they will come back on Thursday and if I can show my ticket has been paid they will not give me another fine.
On another car related note, after about 18 hours of work, my garage door opener was installed and works beautifully. Too bad my car won't fit in the garage. It would have saved me some money.
Just for the record, I love the metro system. If the metro went everywhere I needed to go I would never drive here again.
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