So, I managed to drive around a pretty populated district by Medicine Hat airport. Guess what? No one died. I turned, I parked, I turned some more. Getting to be pretty confident with this stuff. Then we went on the highway, and I proceeded to split shift, no problemo. Split shifting involves engaging a thumb button on the gear shift that puts you into the high version of whatever gear your in and drops your revs about 250 rpm. Say you're in 5th with out the button engaged. That'd mean you're in low 5th. Your revs get up to about 1700 - 1800 rpm, and you push the thumb button forward, your rpms drop 250 and you're in high 5th. That's splitting 5th. Easy, huh? Well, there's 18 flippin' gears in that monster, and you gotta know where they all are.

Speaking of the airport earlier, when I got in to Medicine Hat last Sunday, Jan 1st, the first thing I noticed was that there were quite a few cats in the terminal. Now, the terminal isn't that big, but there were four cats sitting there gaining loads of attention. They had water bowls, and I'm not sure if I saw a food bowl or not. I found out, and should have figured for myself (well, I did actually), that these were the airport's mousers. They keep the building rodent free, and, I guess, are a sight more welcome that mice.

So, anyway, I got Mabel back to the school's lot which had turned into such a muddy mess due to the warm air and melted snow that Mabel's tires were spinning if I wasn't too careful. I proceeded to perform driver's side and blinds side back ups and they, too, went off without a hitch. Score two good days in a row for Derek.

Now, tomorrow is air brakes day. 10 hours of calss work. Long day. So I'm going to read my air brakes manual and get some much needed sleep. Oh, and I'm attaching a picture of me and my new girlfriend, Mabel. Isn't she a beaut?