On The Road Again

Beware drivers! Jan is back on the streets.

Yesterday morning, Fullo drove my car and I to the driving specialties place to have hand controls installed. K met us there, we left the car, and all went to breakfast at IHOP. It was pretty darn good. When we got back to the car place, the RAV4 was finished and waiting. I had to wait for Darryl, the driving evaluator, to check me out, though.

The other 2 went on their way and I waited for 3 hours. I got to nap, sitting up in my walker, for half that time. This is a newly acquired skill. I used to see people do it in the bus station and just thought they were drunk or stoned. Maybe not, maybe they were just old enough to nap easily.

I'm not sure Darryl was happy to see me, but at least half of his mouth was smiling. The other half was talking, of course. We got in the car, he quickly located the emergency flasher button, which in my car is conveniently on the passenger side, and away we went.

I was soooo happy to be back driving my little car. The controls are good, not obtrusive. In addition to the hand controls and blinker extension, they installed a little knob on the steering wheel that swivels and lets you do turns with one hand. It's very retro, like something you'd see on a jalopy in the 60s. At first I thought I'd hate it, but I soon discovered that a person would have to have 4 hands to drive without it.

We went 'round and 'round Gold River for an hour. Then I was certified and got to drive home. I'm happy to say the drive was uneventful and that once home I got the walker out of the car by myself, and managed to drag it and myself up the front steps without collapsing into a pitiful heap. Thank you God.

This morning I made it to work for the first time since November BY MYSELF!!

It was much easier today than it was yesterday with Darryl in the car. I had a hard time driving and listening to him at the same time. He has a wealth of driving hints that he intersperses with sad stories about his family and occasionally smacking the emergency flasher to get the drivers behind us to back off. It was definitely a sensory overload for me. Finally I told him, "I don't think you're bipolar, I think you're just very good at multitasking. I'm not. I'm a linear thinker. For example, I need to know at least halfway down this block which way you're going to ask me to turn so I can get the steps figured out in my mind." Translate: Please shut up and just tell me the essential information.

Twice he told me, way too late, to make a left turn at intersections with no stop sign. I just kept going straight and said, "You didn't tell me in time, I'm not going to swerve across traffic to do that." Geez.

So now I just have to deal with DMV and the insurance company and hope my legs keep getting stronger. And get a handicap permit.

Are you guys having problems with the "Comments" function on this blog? Aunt S told me, right at the beginning, that it wouldn't let her leave a comment. I think I fixed that. Let me know if that isn't so.

Jan