Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve updated this journal. Well, lo and behold, here’s an update. Are you happy now? HUH? ARE YOU?!?!

*ahem* Sorry. Coffee was a little stronger than usual this morning.

Friday night was the latest installment of the D&D game I’ve been running. Jen, Berek and Pita were able to make it this week, but unfortunately Carrie and Bryce couldn’t. So, I ran a few side scenes with those present, which mostly involved a burning city, a Bruce Campbell look-alike, and an ambulance made of Halfling skeletons. Next week, if everyone is present, the main storyline picks up again.

I hope. The PC’s have this way of running off with the story, hard-planned plot be damned.

So, that was Friday night. Saturday morning, I got up at 8:00 to get ready for my driving lessons, which started at…

… yes, you read that right. Driving lessons. I’m learning how to drive, after nearly 30 years.

Where was I?

Oh yes. Getting ready.

The driving instructor got to the apartment at 9:00 sharp, and I met him out front of the building. I’m taking lessons through California Driving School, which apparently has a decent reputation in the LA area, and the instructor pulled up in one of their signature “double steering wheel” cars. We talked for a few minutes, then I drove up to the North Hollywood area and maneuvered around the side streets for a little while. Granted, I was a little nervous at the beginning, but over the course of the next hour and a half I gradually got more comfortable with it and relaxed somewhat. I can see how people can enjoy just getting in their car and driving around for a while… seems like it would be therapeutic.

Of course, the “relaxed” part didn’t last long. A little before the lesson ended at 10:30, I started driving back toward the apartment, down Lankershim Blvd. One of the first things the instructor told me when the lesson started was if he said to “give him the car”, he meant for me to take my hands off the steering wheel and my feet off the pedals, and let him control the vehicle from his side. Here’s what happened on the way back:

Instructor: “So, how are you feeling about driving?”

Me: “Not bad – more confident that I was before.”

Instructor: “More confident? Really?”

Me: “Yep, I’d say I’m more confident.”

Instructor: “Wonderful! Give me the car.”

So I did. And the first thing he does is make a quick right, and head down the entrance ramp of the Ventura Blvd. entrance to the 101. Halfway down the ramp, I hear:

Instructor: “The car’s all yours.”

Talk about your Baptism of Fire. I was now suddenly driving twice as fast as I had ever handled a vehicle, on a road three times as wide and with ten billion times as many cars as any other road I had ever been on. Overall, I did okay. I think I forgot to use my turn signal to change lanes at one point, but I managed to get to the Coldwater Canyon exit without being crushed by a big rig or driving off the road. We went down the ramp, turned around, got back on the 101 going the other way, and drove back to the Ventura Blvd. exit, where we got off the freeway and came home – but not before being cut off by some joker from North Carolina, who thought it would be a good idea to turn right from the left lane of the exit ramp (directly in front of me).

And with that done, I drove home.

My next lesson is this Saturday at 9:00 – there’s an off chance I’ll actually have my license by the end of October. As long as I get it before my 19-year old sister, I’ll be happy.

I went back upstairs and crashed for a little while, until the people from the delivery company called around 3 to bring up some furniture Jen and I ordered from Z Gallerie (a dresser and a nightstand). They were gone by 3:30, so it gave the two of us some time to relax a bit more, then head out to Burbank to catch a showing of Collateral. Definitely one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. Tom Cruise being non-suave, and Jamie Foxx being non-comical… who would have thought it would work? But it does, and it does well.

Sunday, we lounged around in bed even more until we met up with Berek and Pita later in the day. We headed out to Pasadena to the Game Zone (a game store), got some food at Taco Bell, stopped off at Sav-On quick because I cleverly forgot the armbands that keep my motion sickness in check, then went to the Virgin Megastore on Sunset and the Pleasure Chest on Santa Monica. After all that, we came home, Jen and I watched a DVD, and called it a night.

Today I’m back at work. It’s a short week (our department is going to be closed Friday and Monday for Labor Day), so things are a little on the busy side trying to get everything done.

More updates as they happen.