Thursday, January 05, 2006
Ooooh! The first post....
Well I'm dog tired right now due to reading a tonne of stuff, driving a tractor-trailer, trying to get back into working out (Tyler's going to kill me), and not sleeping properly because I'm not is familiar surroundings. Also, the bed's unfamiliar and I don't have Michelle next to me at the moment and Rylee isn't crawling in between us at 2:30 am. The absence of this actually robs me of sleep. Go figure!
So to sum up events so far:
1. Decided to go to Alberta, Medicine Hat to be precise, to chase down an opportunity that a friend, Tyler, put me on.
2. There is a position that starts in May that is right up my alley and will use that degree I worked so hard for.
3. Due to a lack of experience, and a lack of job, I am to get my Class 1 driver's license and work as a grunt till May (I hope that isn't insulting to ACTUAL grunts. It's just what I've been told).
So this Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006, I started my training. And this is the rundown until today:
Tuesday, Jan 3/06 - Met Willy. Willy is an Indian. Don't tell me they're called Natives because he's the one that keeps calling himself that. Willy is cool! He took me in Mabel, the truck's name, to a back country road of which Medicine Hat and all of Alberta have a plenty. He taught me to upshift. After a little while, I got it. It was just odd not using a clutch to shift. I've heard of double clutching, but Willy says that's hard on the gear box, and who am I to argue with Willy. We end the 3 hour lesson by getting onto the highway, heading back to Redcliff (the small town just outside of the Hat that houses the driving school) and my sphincter begins to pucker. I'm driving tonnes of machinery down the highway at 100 km/hr. That is so freakin' cool. I may enjoy this after all.
Wednesday, Jan 4/06 - Willy teaches me to downshift. This is not as easy to learn as straight up-shifting. You have to press on the stick, tap the accelerator, then immediately rev up the motor to the appropriate rpm so you can slide the stick into gear. Willy says he's going to put toilet paper over the tachometer if I keep staring at it. I stop staring at it. Apparently a good driver should be able to shift be ear. Well, I eventually learn to down shift. All is going well, until...
Earlier on, Willy points left and says, "Take a right here." I say, "Um, do you mean left?" To which he laughs and says yeah. Oh, and I should mention that I acquired this nasty habit of saying sorry every time I heard any grinding noise while I was shifting. Weird! Anyway, it's getting towards the end of the lesson. I've been cornering, and cornering very well according to Willy, when it was time to head back to the school. We come to an intersection, Willy says to turn right and I proceed to turn left. WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING! Willy justs laughs and says that maybe he meant right because he couldn't figure his rights and lefts out earlier. So my little mistake gives us a different approach to the school. I have to turn right onto the highway and left onto the road that takes us to the school.
I made it onto the highway, no prob. However, when approaching the right hand turn I couldn't seem to downshift into the appropriate gear. I just couldn't do it. And while I'm wrestling with the stick and the revs, I'm getting closer to the turn. In fact, I completely forgot to break. Willy reaches over and applies the engine breaks and the trailer breaks and says not to turn. So what do I do? I freakin' start to turn! What the #$%* am I doing!?! Willy yells stop! It takes me a little bit of more shouting to realize he means to apply my foot brake. I apply it and we come to a stop and stall (because I didn't push in the clutch) and there's a little truck right in front of us who I could have just rolled right over. My heart is just beating out of my chest and I mutter, "Sorry" again to which Willy replies that sorry doesn't cut it. He's right of course, it wouldn't. If I would have run over that truck, sorry wouldn't have done a darn thing.
The truck pulls away and I'm pretty sure the drive didn't even notice me or the huge bohemoth that was bearing down on him. I start up the tractor and we head back to the school. I do an air brakes inspection. I finish up and my chest is tight and I feel my worst, not first, pangs of doubt about this whole ordeal. After I tell Tyler about it in the evening he tells me some similar stories that happened to him. I'm relieved, but not much. I have trouble sleeping that night.
Thursday, Jan 5/06 - Today was freakin' awesome. Not only did I come in with a "Get 'er done!" attitude, but everything went as smooth as Exlax (tm). I proceeded to up-shift, downshift, inspect, back up, unhook and hook up the trailer. I did it all! Willy says if I keep going like this I'll have no problem with the test. I just don't want to get too over confident. Also, I went for a ride after my lesson with the next student, Warren. Nice guy, about 25, and just as, if not more, nervouse about driving these gargantuous metal beasts. He even said that he felt like throwing up, he got so nervous. I relax a bit, but not too much. I still have the written test tomorrow, a medical to pass and a driver's test coming up next Wednesday.
So that's it so far. Not too brief, but it really is just a summary. Those of you who know me know that I like to write, even if it is just nonsense. Ty and Mel have been great and really supportive, and Michelle found out that our cell phone family plan has long distance minutes that we can use, so I can call her more often and not have to put up with Skype (internet phone) crackling and cutting out all the time. Nice idea, poor execution.
I'm not guaranteeing a daily write up, but I'll try to post often. Let you know how the career is unfolding and what stupid things I'm trying. Like, uh, being healthy and, uh, not yelling at old people. Yeah! That! I'll give you more of a description of some of my students and instructors later, too. Maybe a picture even. Right now, it's off to bed. Got a test tomorrow, dontchaknow...
Toodles
(PS. Love you Michelle! Love you Kristen! Love you Rylee! You too, Lilly)
Oh! And here I am when I had hair. Fond memories.
So to sum up events so far:
1. Decided to go to Alberta, Medicine Hat to be precise, to chase down an opportunity that a friend, Tyler, put me on.
2. There is a position that starts in May that is right up my alley and will use that degree I worked so hard for.
3. Due to a lack of experience, and a lack of job, I am to get my Class 1 driver's license and work as a grunt till May (I hope that isn't insulting to ACTUAL grunts. It's just what I've been told).
So this Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006, I started my training. And this is the rundown until today:
Tuesday, Jan 3/06 - Met Willy. Willy is an Indian. Don't tell me they're called Natives because he's the one that keeps calling himself that. Willy is cool! He took me in Mabel, the truck's name, to a back country road of which Medicine Hat and all of Alberta have a plenty. He taught me to upshift. After a little while, I got it. It was just odd not using a clutch to shift. I've heard of double clutching, but Willy says that's hard on the gear box, and who am I to argue with Willy. We end the 3 hour lesson by getting onto the highway, heading back to Redcliff (the small town just outside of the Hat that houses the driving school) and my sphincter begins to pucker. I'm driving tonnes of machinery down the highway at 100 km/hr. That is so freakin' cool. I may enjoy this after all.
Wednesday, Jan 4/06 - Willy teaches me to downshift. This is not as easy to learn as straight up-shifting. You have to press on the stick, tap the accelerator, then immediately rev up the motor to the appropriate rpm so you can slide the stick into gear. Willy says he's going to put toilet paper over the tachometer if I keep staring at it. I stop staring at it. Apparently a good driver should be able to shift be ear. Well, I eventually learn to down shift. All is going well, until...
Earlier on, Willy points left and says, "Take a right here." I say, "Um, do you mean left?" To which he laughs and says yeah. Oh, and I should mention that I acquired this nasty habit of saying sorry every time I heard any grinding noise while I was shifting. Weird! Anyway, it's getting towards the end of the lesson. I've been cornering, and cornering very well according to Willy, when it was time to head back to the school. We come to an intersection, Willy says to turn right and I proceed to turn left. WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING! Willy justs laughs and says that maybe he meant right because he couldn't figure his rights and lefts out earlier. So my little mistake gives us a different approach to the school. I have to turn right onto the highway and left onto the road that takes us to the school.
I made it onto the highway, no prob. However, when approaching the right hand turn I couldn't seem to downshift into the appropriate gear. I just couldn't do it. And while I'm wrestling with the stick and the revs, I'm getting closer to the turn. In fact, I completely forgot to break. Willy reaches over and applies the engine breaks and the trailer breaks and says not to turn. So what do I do? I freakin' start to turn! What the #$%* am I doing!?! Willy yells stop! It takes me a little bit of more shouting to realize he means to apply my foot brake. I apply it and we come to a stop and stall (because I didn't push in the clutch) and there's a little truck right in front of us who I could have just rolled right over. My heart is just beating out of my chest and I mutter, "Sorry" again to which Willy replies that sorry doesn't cut it. He's right of course, it wouldn't. If I would have run over that truck, sorry wouldn't have done a darn thing.
The truck pulls away and I'm pretty sure the drive didn't even notice me or the huge bohemoth that was bearing down on him. I start up the tractor and we head back to the school. I do an air brakes inspection. I finish up and my chest is tight and I feel my worst, not first, pangs of doubt about this whole ordeal. After I tell Tyler about it in the evening he tells me some similar stories that happened to him. I'm relieved, but not much. I have trouble sleeping that night.
Thursday, Jan 5/06 - Today was freakin' awesome. Not only did I come in with a "Get 'er done!" attitude, but everything went as smooth as Exlax (tm). I proceeded to up-shift, downshift, inspect, back up, unhook and hook up the trailer. I did it all! Willy says if I keep going like this I'll have no problem with the test. I just don't want to get too over confident. Also, I went for a ride after my lesson with the next student, Warren. Nice guy, about 25, and just as, if not more, nervouse about driving these gargantuous metal beasts. He even said that he felt like throwing up, he got so nervous. I relax a bit, but not too much. I still have the written test tomorrow, a medical to pass and a driver's test coming up next Wednesday.
So that's it so far. Not too brief, but it really is just a summary. Those of you who know me know that I like to write, even if it is just nonsense. Ty and Mel have been great and really supportive, and Michelle found out that our cell phone family plan has long distance minutes that we can use, so I can call her more often and not have to put up with Skype (internet phone) crackling and cutting out all the time. Nice idea, poor execution.
I'm not guaranteeing a daily write up, but I'll try to post often. Let you know how the career is unfolding and what stupid things I'm trying. Like, uh, being healthy and, uh, not yelling at old people. Yeah! That! I'll give you more of a description of some of my students and instructors later, too. Maybe a picture even. Right now, it's off to bed. Got a test tomorrow, dontchaknow...
Toodles
(PS. Love you Michelle! Love you Kristen! Love you Rylee! You too, Lilly)
Oh! And here I am when I had hair. Fond memories.
