Confidence

Well, today was the driver's test. I've probably driven about 1500 miles or so this month, but California wants to see how qualified I am. I hate tests like that, they're testing a style of driving I never do, and keep me from doing things the way I'm used to. But, I got through the written test, and that was supposed to be the hard part. I figured my experience would lead the way.

I did have a few handicaps. This was a city I've never been in, I'd need to take verbal cues for where to go, instead of following the GPS, or taking known roads, and I wouldn't have the GPS to tell me my speed or the speed limit.

So, we started, and I started driving in "driving test" mode, exaggerating every motion and doing stuff as smoothly as possible. I was nervous, as I usually am when I'm not in control, and someone else decides my fate. We ended up navigating down some residential roads, and they asked me to park anywhere that's legal, so that was easy. Then, they asked me to back up in a straight line. I'm terrible at backing up, that's why I took a car with a rear camera. So, I took cues from Worst Driver, put my arm behind the passenger seat, and tried driving looking behind me. I had no useful visual cues, and I ended up rolling over the curb.

That's a test ending mistake. Apparently, they don't need you to parallel park, but they want that reversing, and I probably took 'back up in a straight line' too literally. The way the tests there work is there's a bunch of minor errors, and you need to be below the quota. However, one critical mistake is an automatic fail.

Now, I'm terrible at knowing where my corners are, so I usually guess very conservatively, and set myself for near impossible tasks. I avoid hitting obstacles that could damage cars, but curbs are fair territory for me, as it's the best thing for me to hit. I've hit countless cement obstacles this month, which are to keep people from parking too far. But, I know what needs to happen. Also, I was driving so passively, that I was dangerously slow. Apparently, I was doing 25 in a 40 zone. I also failed to turn when cars were far away, since I got burned by that on one of my first tests, a decade ago. Seems I should try driving normally, instead of trying to metagame the driving test. However, that requires confidence, and after missing that, I kept doubting my driving the rest of the day. I'll need to build that back up, and return in full force. I have the list of everything I did wrong, so I can check for those.

I tried setting up the next appointment, and I could have one as soon as tomorrow, but I'd rather try that reversing thing in daylight, first, so I'll set it for next Tuesday, since it's the first day I can get when I'll have a chance. I hear the test in Fullerton is terrible, so I'll stick with Whittier. It's closer to work, so I don't need to work from home, and apparently, the testers there aren't as strict. Seems it's commonplace for everyone to pass on their 3rd/last test in Fullerton.

Also, today was another run day. Still at 25 minutes, but the last 5 minutes was supposed to be at higher speed. I had to walk a few pieces, but I'm getting there. Got about 8 weeks to go from 2 miles to...? Next one will also be 25 minutes, but with a few hard sprints mixed in, instead of a long faster session.

Ooh, and my new phone shipped. I finally got my watch on the weekend, and I'm getting a Nexus 5 to replace my old phone, since it's starting to slip on me.

So, I have things to look forward to. We'll see how it goes. I still have some projects to work on.

Not much to say

I didn't post yesterday, since there really wasn't much news, and there isn't much now either.

I ran. Today was volleyball day, but my ankle was still wonky, so I cancelled and planned to run instead. I ended up underestimating the noon sun and had to abort. The volleyball people were still there, so after some rest, I joined them. I then planned to finish the run later in the afternoon.

I went back to the same park, but couldn't do it then either. Not sure if it's the dirt trail, or the plants, but I had to abort that too. So, I tried driving home without the GPS, and guess the wrong way on a turn. I saw there was a small park with trails, so I tried there, and got the two miles, albeit slower than usual. Guess I'll need to stick to my usual spot to build up endurance and speed.

Other than that, little happened. I got my new watch, but I'll need to adapt to the strap again. One of my team leads showed me a new game on Android, so I advanced a good chunk there.

Tomorrow will mostly be uncluttering, as I figure out where stuff will live. Also, try to get rid of all that packing paper.

There are projects I need to catch up on, and stuff I need to shop for. I'll take advantage of the sun when I can, and do stuff the rest of the time. I'm just not familiar with the stores, so I don't know where to get little things. I'll figure it out.

DMV, rain, and running

Things are getting interesting at work... I'm in a weird spot where I'm new enough that people tend to forget about me, but that I'm experienced enough that I'm doing real things. So, it leads to spots where I don't get meeting invites, and teammates need to ask me if I'm going to the meeting they're headed into that I don't know about.

Other than that, the new code is still really raw, so it doesn't quite work yet, limiting my productivity, but there's a plan B I can work on.

Oh yea, today was the morning at the DMV. It didn't go as bad as you'd expect. I had an appointment, so I was able to cut the main line and get the shorter route. Filled out the form, waited a few minutes to see the next person, and got the main stuff going. So, after getting the picture, the last step was the written test. I did binge read the manual a week or two ago, when I was expecting to take the test originally, so I was going from memory and common sense. I was figuring I had a 50/50 chance to pass it, but I only had 4 mistakes out of a limit of 6 (out of 36), so not bad.

It took some double checking of facts, but I will be able to keep my Canadian license (which expires in September), while getting what is essentially a learner's permit in California, while still using my Canadian licence (with passport and immigration documents) to keep going until the road test, which is Monday.

It did rain the most of the day, so the drive back was pretty interesting. And, today is a run day, so I ran in the rain. It wasn't too bad, but the mist kept going in my glasses and cutting vision. It's tricky to dodge ducks when you can't see them. I'll need to get more contact lenses soon. Otherwise, it went pretty well. My shins took most of the brunt this time, but I added some speed, and that park has hills, which will help. Next time, I'll need to try a different park, likely where I play volleyball.

So, the big part of the week is done. There are projects I'll need to catch up on, but I'm pretty open. If the weather clears up, I might try one of the local amusement parks, for good measure. We'll see. Options are wide open.

Getting settled in

Not much to say today, but let's see...

Work's interesting... we're guinea pigs on new ground, so things are bound to have complications. But, I'm in a position where I can't really fix it myself, so I'm relying on others to get back to where I'm supposed to be. However, I can still help others out, so that's nice.

Today was a rest day for running, so I hung out in the hot tub, and things are looking good. I will need to stretch better, but this might work.

Tomorrow is the DMV appointment, so I should be ready for that. I've got the money, I've got the passport, I should be good to go. We'll see what happens. This might help, since my plates aren't in yet, and I will need those for the driving test.

So, tomorrow, I'll also go running, and I'll have a weekend ahead of me, and I will probably hang out with some guys from the football game last week. So, we'll see what happens. But, I've got other projects to work with too.

I ran so far away

Well, today was an interesting day. It went well at work, I had lunch with a few members from my team, and we were talking about a race our team was planning to take part in, so I threw my name in the ring.

It's called Ragnar, and it's a team relay race, where a 12 person team takes turns running from Huntington Beach to San Diego, just under 200 miles away. Now, I've never run 15 miles, so I need to start training. It looks like this is usually a 12 week thing, but the race is in early April, so I have 9 weeks. So, I'll need to get creative. But, it's a good project. I did want to get more active.

So, if I'm going to be anything close to ready by race time, I needed to start tonight. So, the plan was, take the treadmill at my place, 20 minutes slow, to get started, and then I'd go barbeque up some steak, and soak in the hot tub. (Spoiler alert: nothing goes according to plan).

So, I get ready and pass by the treadmill. I turn it on, but the controls seem a bit broken. I can't get it off of it's slowest speed. That's... not going to be useful. So, I head upstairs, get my keys, and drive to Tri-city park, so I can go run around the lake. Now, the main reason I couldn't run much home is because I need summer weather, I have a hard time breathing cool air when I exert myself, and it was about 8:30 by the time I got out there, so it was a bit cool, and difficult, but I was able to power through it. The worst was the halfway mark, but it got better. However, I'm apparently terrible at pacing myself... for what was supposed to be a slow run, I still ran at an 11-minute mile pace, so I may need a lower gear, for endurance.

So, I got back, and turned the BBQ on to grill that steak... I never actually grilled since... I have no idea. So, I read the instructions, and did what I could. But, it wouldn't ignite. There was heat, but that might have been from the last person who used it. I borrowed a lighter, but couldn't start it up. I'll try it out later, when someone who knows what they're doing can show me. I think it involves a long distance lighter. So, I went upstairs, and fried it up in the pan. It was good.

And as for the hot tub, it was like 9:30 by the time I got upstairs, and I never would have had enough time to fry, eat and shower before 10, so I'll wait for tomorrow.

But, all in all, it's a good start. The program has me run about 3-4 times a week, with two 'easy' runs, and two 'hard' runs, building stamina, speed, and other useful things. This could work, and given I already put my name in, I don't have much choice.

Go team!

Rest and song

Today was mostly a day of rest, so there isn't much to say.

I passed by Costco, and got some steak, because there's a grill in the common area at the apartment. We'll see how that works tomorrow.

I was told that non-regulated gas would be problematic, because it can go up and down at will (mostly up), but I don't see it. Gas prices are all over the place, but the low water mark is pretty constant at 3.39, and I'm pretty sure the low water mark was in the 3.40's when I got there, so I'm fine with it. I go to Costco anyway, and it's at the bottom.

One big difference of the big city is how many radio stations there are. You can't tune more than a click or two before finding something new. When I first got the rental car, it was Spanish talk radio, and I kept it on a few days in case I'd pick something. I then found a rock station, and was using that mostly. When I switched cars, I learned of a top 40 channel, but there's too many dance remixes for my liking. I did ask for suggestions, and have a rotation of about 6-7 stations now. I say this because I'm discovering some new music, which is nice.

I've also lost the ability to stream from Slacker, so I sort of lost my custom radio, but I'm slowly teaching Spotify to do something just as good. I'll need to remember more artists, and make more recommendations, but I'm learning about cool new artists, and trying to sell some more obscure Canadian artists to people. Go culture shock!

I also need to work on my guitar chords... I'm still having difficulty cramming all the fingers in there without hitting any other strings. Once I convince Rocksmith I can do one, the rest will probably go easier.

But, I should get sleep, since I'm in the 'get to work around 7' part of the week. It's been a while since I've been at a job with fixed hours, so my father has no clue what to make of it, but I like the flexibility. I might tweak my schedule somewhat, to make a "42-hour week", so that I can take 2 hours off on a day to be determined, which will probably prove useful once I get involved in softball again. Something else for the todo list. The company team probably won't play again for a few months, so I'll need to make a solo effort. I'm also wondering if I've got a fighting chance at hardball, but given I'll probably end up in the "beginner" softball league, I'm guessing no. But it would be cool to try. We'll see.

At least the hard part is over, now, it's time to mix it up and work up to cool stuff.

Puppies!

Because I did a bit of an all-nighter for the robotics competition back home, I slept in a bit. I needed to get set up to watch the Puppy Bowl, so I was working on getting the TV set up better. I went out to get batteries, and ended up finding that all you can eat sushi place again. Given I hadn't eaten yet today, I decided to try it out, and tried four different rolls, before getting stuffed. It was really good, but I have the feeling it would be better if I wasn't aiming for all I could eat.

So, I got back and tried to watch the Puppy Bowl. Unfortunately, it was at 3 pm Eastern, not Pacific. I'll find a way to get it, shouldn't be too hard to acquire after the fact.

But, given it was 3:30pm or so, I went downstairs to see who was watching in the clubhouse, a common area to my apartment complex. There were two other couples there, and along with the girls at the office, who came in on occasion, we had a good show.

Now, I'm not a football fan, but that game was amazing. I never had such a good time watching it, because it was hilarious. Never have I laughed so much watching football. I won't spoil the results, but everything that could have gone wrong did, and it was incredibly entertaining watching a live blooper reel.

But, watching the game with them got us to talking, and we got to know each other a lot better. Afterwards, we talked a lot more, and I found more people to do stuff with. Things are falling into place! We'll probably contact each other in the week to do stuff, which is nice.

But other than that, not much else happened this weekend. I'll want to rest up, in hopes that I get the energy to run the next week. But, one big thing's handled (though I will want to finish the new robotics thing, it's no longer a priority).