☆❀☆

Plans for tonight were: paint nails and watch the latest subbed ep of Di Wang Gong Lüe, as usual.

What actually happened: I ended up driving all over creation because my relatives were stranded somewhere. ????

My dad took my brother out in the boat on the Snye, but there was something wrong with the gas (water in the tank, I think?) and they didn't discover this until they were quite a way out. They managed to get someone to tow them to the Snye boat launch... which is on the other side of downtown from where my dad parked.

So, bro called me up and said I need to do a rescue mission. Needless to say, I was less than impressed, especially since I don't know that part of the city very well - I haven't been down to that area in about ten years (and in fact I took a couple of wrong turns on the way). :V Lucky thing the city is quiet on Sunday nights, heh.

Nail polish: ruined

Mood: disgruntled

Mission: accomplished

I guess this is a thing that I do now? Hmph. ...I rewarded myself wish a slushie for my trouble. :V

Been a bit busy these past few days...!

- I bought a car! It's a 2015 Ford Fiesta. :) And I managed to get it for under half of my max budget, so I'm pretty pleased. (Also, it has remote start!! :D ) It doesn't hit all of the things I wanted, but, it was kind of unrealistic to hope to find something with AWD considering budget.

- Sooo I spent the last couple of days (including half of Monday, blah) running around getting all the relevant forms/insurance/registration/whatever taken care of. I'll be driving it home on Friday. :)

- What's the balance between "trying to do All The Things outside because it's sunny" and "it is TOO HOT and I'm gonna die"? ...I haven't found it yet. :D

Aaaand today is my birthday. Thanks for being a part of my life, everyone. ;) Grumble, mutter, I'll change all of the numbers on various media sites later... when I have time. (When will that be?)

I DROVE BY MYSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME.

I DID NOT DIE OR DAMAGE THE CAR.

Well, glad THAT's over with. :D

First impression is that driving alone is less stressful than driving with a passenger. But obviously, there isn't enough data to reach a conclusion at this time. Going to need to do more research. ;p

Oof, I'm so tired.

My workplace was participating in a fundraiser walk for Threads of Life, an organization that helps people who have been injured in the workplace. It was nice, but it was... very hot out. And since it was implied that the route would be on the trails through the woods, I dressed in a way that would be appropriate for that (long sleeves, bluejeans). But it wasn't; it was out in the open. So, 5km of that, well... needless to say, even several hours later, I feel like I'm going to collapse and melt and ooze all over the floor.

Oh, well.

Upside, I did some driving practice! Parallel + downhill + uphill + construction zone + intersections, and I did not die (as you can see). Probably won't be able to do much in the upcoming evenings before the test, due to working long shifts, but eh. We will see. I'm still pretty nervous about the test, honestly. I've decided that regardless of how it turns out, after the test is over, I'll head down to my favourite restaurant and get katsudon for lunch. I've been craving it for months, so it seems like a suitable thing to do. Whether it'll be celebration katsudon or consolation katsudon, well, that remains to be seen. ;V

Every time I look at the calendar, I can't help but feel exhausted. Appointments... scheduled things... ugh, no thanks. But at least I have Eurovision to look forward to next week! :D

Okay, so. I had another driving lesson this morning. It went well enough, which means the next step is to schedule the driving test! I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Downside is, I ended up feeling anxious for almost the entire day, but... ehh, not sure what happened there. I practiced driving with my mom yesterday, and I felt fine, so I think it might've just been the lesson part (+ in unfamiliar vehicle with unfamiliar person) that made me feel all jittery.

Look like I won't be able to take the test until the 11th or so, so I have a little while longer to practice. That's good.

Ugh, May is going to be such a busy month. Well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. ;~;

( Notes to self from the lesson )

☆ Letter for Screen Exchange is complete (Voila). Requesting VME, Frozen, & NiF. I'm a little concerned about matching - I don't care if I go out as a PH, but this seems like it will be a very small exchange, and I'm worried that I might end up not having anybody to write for. Ah, well, if I have to drop out, I'll just save my ideas for later, and write them for myself!

☆ The first aid course that I was psyching myself up for has been cancelled. What a bummer. There'll be another opportunity in June, but still. I'm glad that I don't have to lose a weekend, but on the other hand, I was steeling myself to spend that time, so...! Eh, feels disappointing.

☆ To make up for that, I scheduled a driving lesson for this Saturday. I was planning on doing something useful that day anyway, so, might as well substitute it with something! I'm not looking forward to it, but I should probably get this done. And then do several more. Ugh. It'll be interesting to drive in the daylight; it's been... a while... since I've done some of that.

☆ Things are heating up in SSSS. I have no idea how this turn of events is going to unfold, and I'm not sure I want to speculate. Waiting is frustrating, but that's what I get for following an in-progress canon. Webcomics! They sure are a thing. I find the pacing is fine when it's complete, but ongoing, arrrrgh.... But I'm probably just impatient.

☆ Canadian politics always frustrate me for some reason or other, but this pipeline stuff takes the cake. My province is a big bug-eyed bully, and it's downright embarrassing. I'm torn between getting all angry about it, and wanting to sink into the floor. Well, both. Let's do both. And... see about sending some strongly-worded emails, or something. Ugh, Alberta.

Every day that I spend time thinking about how much I hate my living situation, I'm going to make Absolute Sure that I get some driving practice done on that same day. (Allowing, of course, for availability of supervision).

Considering that I think about this a lot, it looks like I'll be working on this... a lot.

Ugh.

There are a million other things I'd rather do with my time! But the only way to learn it is by doing it! Repeatedly! And often! Ad nauseum! Even when I really, really, really don't want to!

I swear, as soon as I have my license, I'll stop whining about this. Promise. Cross my heart. :D

In order to fix my current living situation, I need the following:

Driving license -> Obtain vehicle -> Obtain apartment -> Move out

And it's driving me nuts that none of these are quick things that I can fix on my own. Or, well, the license is the worst, because I literally can't do it on my own, since I can't legally practice by myself. The other stuff, I could probably manage it if I absolutely had to, even though it would be nerve-wracking as all hell because of anxiety and such as, but the driving is just the worst. ABSOLUTE WORST. I HATE DRIVING, AND I HATE DRIVING PRACTICE.

I am consoling myself with the fact that after I do have that license and my own vehicle, I will never have to wait at a bus stop in -30C ever again. Unless I want to, of course. But the point is, I'll be able to make that decision.

Dad says I'm good enough at parallel parking now.

That just leaves left turns.

Anything to do with intersections sucks, but left turns are the worst, especially when there's something oncoming.

BUT, YOU KNOW.... Gotta' get it done, I guess. Ugh.

There is a stat holiday toward the end of February, so maybe I should see if I can book some time on that weekend for a professional lesson.

I haven't been talking about much else lately. But then again I haven't been doing anything else, really.

Ugh, driving practice is driving me insane. (Heh, driving, get it - oh, shh.)

I wish I could just be magically good at it now. Obviously, that's not going to happen.

One of the frustrating things is that most of the time when I practice, it's:
-In the dark
-On snowy unploughed roads
-At 7-ish in the evening, when I have been up since 5 AM
-In a very large vehicle

...Because there just isn't any other way to get it done.

Grumble grumble grumble argh. Upside, once I'm able to do it in this, I'll be able to do it anywhere. It's just, you know, getting there is hard.

Also, other drivers terrify me. I'm mostly okay as long as there's nobody else on the road, heh.

I'M JUST going to have to find more opportunities to drive, especially during daylight, or something. It's difficult, considering I work, but I'll have to figure something out.

Jesus fuck, I hate driving.

(Yes, Yuu, we already knew that.)

Took an unexpected trip all over the goddamn city, trying to find a gas station with a working air pump hose... thing, to fix the tire pressure in ma's vehicle. Original mission was just to go to the library and the bank, but nooo.

I mean, ugh. I guess I needed practice entering/exiting from major roads into that sort of parking lot (it's difficult and scary) but I sure as fuck didn't want to do it tonight. :T Hmph.

Upside: I did not die (obviously). And my father assessed that most of the difficulties I'm having are because the vehicle I'm practising with is huge (twice the size than it reasonably needs to be, but you didn't hear that from me). Which we knew already, but it's good to have that, like, confirmed. I have trouble parsing it spatially because it's just too big. Damn it, when I get my own vehicle, it'll be a normal car, thank you very much, not some fucking SUV.

Anyway.

Lesson with the instructor in the morning... ugh. Well, I'm sure it'll be fine. Main concern here is whether or not she'll say she feels I'm ready for the exam. If the answer is yes, I'm going to book the test for a couple weeks from now, if I can. I really, really want to get my license by the end of the year. It's possible that I'll fail the first time, possible I'll fail more times than that, but I really need to try.