What made me happy today?

[Louanne Learning]

Ain't that the truth.

I should qualify this was in the west part of Ireland.

I declined the opportunity to drive in Italy

I'll be driving in Italy in September. Ain't afeared at all.

 

[TrevorD]

I drove all of italy last summer. Not good.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

I drove across Austin, TX , not only during major road repair season, but during South by Southwest as well. I'm calling it a once in a lifetime experience because I sure as hell don't intend to repeat it.

What makes me happy today: I am NOT driving across Austin.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I'm in Greece, but I know there is an English version of the test. Let me see if I can find something...

There: Driving licence (Adeia odigisis) to drive a car in Greece CATEGORY B

Obviously, the 800 questions are split into a million categories, so I guess you can pick whichever one you think you're most likely to pass.

If I pass, maybe I can set myself up as a ringer for a bunch of Greek kids who don't want to study! Rule #1, make the other guy brake. Rule #2, stop signs are negotiable. Rule #3, stick your arm out too far and it will go home with another car.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

I finally summoned enough courage to sign up for driving school. I'm due to take a theory exam sometime in May. Then, I'll do practical lessons to obtain the license. They say the practical part doesn't take much more than a month, so I should have it by July.

Whether I will actually make it and pass all the tests remain to be seen. If I do get my license, I really want to spend sometime in the summer driving to some nice places—within reason, of course! I am not trusting myself with long distances until I have built up some experience. But some good local places will do. Crete is full of those.

I'm trying to summon up the courage to sign up for driving school. Not because I'm afraid to drive, I got my US license when I was sixteen and I'm in my (gulp) mid-fifties now, but because it's so damn expensive. Around 2-3000 USD (about 300,000-400,000JPY) for a two-week intensive course.

But Iain, you already know how to drive, why take a class?

Well, two reasons (three?): One is that Japan drives on the "wrong" (i.e. left) side of the road, so there are some things I'd need to unlearn and recalibrate. I have lived here for 25 years now and ride my bicycle mostly in compliance with traffic laws, but 9kg of bike is different from however much a modern car weighs when it plows into someone or something. Reason 1.5 is that Japanese traffic laws are different from US laws in ways that I still don't understand. Like, police cars drive around with their flashy roof lights on all the time and no one pulls over. They have the flashy roof lights on to show people that they're out and about, and this makes the population feel more secure and protected.

Really.

But I honestly don't know how to know if you're being pulled over. Yeah, easy enough to look up, but that's just one example of how Things Are Done Differently Here (differently. I'm moving past "wrong" or "whacked).

But the second is the concept of amkudari. From Wikipedia:

Amakudari (天下り, amakudari; "descent from heaven") is the institutionalized practice where Japanese senior bureaucrats retire to high-profile positions in the private and public sectors. The practice was increasingly viewed as corrupt and a drag on unfastening the ties between private sector and state which prevent economic and political reforms.

When someone retires from the... uhhh, transport ministry? I'm honestly not sure which agency is responsible for driving tests. Anyway, a not insignificant number of them allegedly get jobs at driving schools. And if you go to a driving school, you get a certificate and documentation about your course, your grades, the number of paid practice hours, etc you took. And allegedly if you took the course with sufficient practice hours and don't screw up the test badly, you'll get your license. But allegedly if you didn't pay for a driving school, even the most minor mistake can allegedly cause you to fail your test.

Allegedly.

If the allegations were true, it would mean that public officials are ensuring that everyone has to shell out for driving courses because, on their retirement, they'll ensure their ability to get nice cozy jobs at driving schools.

Counterpoint: Who better to teach you how to pass the test than someone with decades of experience in administering the test? It's not corruption, it's expertise. And the inspectors may be worried that you haven't had sufficient expert instruction so that one minor mistake could be an indication of an even greater depth of ignorance and recklessness than the system is designed to plumb. However, if they know you've had a sufficient course of instruction from the section chief who retired last June, well, damn son, you're good to go.

Allegedly.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

If I pass, maybe I can set myself up as a ringer for a bunch of Greek kids who don't want to study! Rule #1, make the other guy brake. Rule #2, stop signs are negotiable. Rule #3, stick your arm out too far and it will go home with another car.

#4 If driving makes you nervous, have another beer.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I'm trying to summon up the courage to sign up for driving school. Not because I'm afraid to drive, I got my US license when I was sixteen and I'm in my (gulp) mid-fifties now, but because it's so damn expensive. Around 2-3000 USD (about 300,000-400,000JPY) for a two-week intensive course.

But Iain, you already know how to drive, why take a class?

Well, two reasons (three?): One is that Japan drives on the "wrong" (i.e. left) side of the road, so there are some things I'd need to unlearn and recalibrate. I have lived here for 25 years now and ride my bicycle mostly in compliance with traffic laws, but 9kg of bike is different from however much a modern car weighs when it plows into someone or something. Reason 1.5 is that Japanese traffic laws are different from US laws in ways that I still don't understand. Like, police cars drive around with their flashy roof lights on all the time and no one pulls over. They have the flashy roof lights on to show people that they're out and about, and this makes the population feel more secure and protected.

Really.

But I honestly don't know how to know if you're being pulled over. Yeah, easy enough to look up, but that's just one example of how Things Are Done Differently Here (differently. I'm moving past "wrong" or "whacked).

But the second is the concept of amkudari. From Wikipedia:



When someone retires from the... uhhh, transport ministry? I'm honestly not sure which agency is responsible for driving tests. Anyway, a not insignificant number of them allegedly get jobs at driving schools. And if you go to a driving school, you get a certificate and documentation about your course, your grades, the number of paid practice hours, etc you took. And allegedly if you took the course with sufficient practice hours and don't screw up the test badly, you'll get your license. But allegedly if you didn't pay for a driving school, even the most minor mistake can allegedly cause you to fail your test.

Allegedly.

If the allegations were true, it would mean that public officials are ensuring that everyone has to shell out for driving courses because, on their retirement, they'll ensure their ability to get nice cozy jobs at driving schools.

Counterpoint: Who better to teach you how to pass the test than someone with decades of experience in administering the test? It's not corruption, it's expertise. And the inspectors may be worried that you haven't had sufficient expert instruction so that one minor mistake could be an indication of an even greater depth of ignorance and recklessness than the system is designed to plumb. However, if they know you've had a sufficient course of instruction from the section chief who retired last June, well, damn son, you're good to go.

Allegedly.

A new license in Rhode Island costs $44.50. Road test cost like $30. Lessons would off course be more, but I think those are all privatized.

 

[Set2Stun]

I still remember the one question I got wrong on the written test. Had no idea what blue flashing lights on a vehicle meant, even though I'd seen them my whole life. Just didn't register as something that would be important to know. They're for snow removal vehicles.

I did okay for the road test, though everyone hates the parallel parking section. The testing guy said I missed a school zone speed limit change and could've failed me, but let me pass anyway

For lessons, most people I know took them, because you get a lower insurance rate. I couldn't afford lessons; was something like $400-500 twenty-five years ago.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

I paid $46 to renew my driver's license on Monday.

My grandson got his first license in January. Driver's ed is taught in high school here.

 

[Set2Stun]

A driver's ed class in high school is a wonderful idea! Damn, that should be offered everywhere.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

A driver's ed class in high school is a wonderful idea! Damn, that should be offered everywhere.

I'm always surprised to hear it isn't. I took it in summer school in 1971. Students alternated between classroom time, simulators, and real driving experience.

Living in a rural area is different than living in an urban area. Both my children started driving on dirt roads when they were about 9 and managed quite well by the time they were fourteen. My grandson was maybe in kindergarten when my son stood him up on the seat of the pickup, put the engine in granny gear, and let grandson steer the truck across the pasture while everyone else bucked hay bales onto the trailer. At the end of each pass, son hopped in the cab, made the turn, and then returned the steering wheel to grandson.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

Yeah, my first lessons were a summer school class in high school. Could have taken Driver's Ed in lieu of gym class for one semester but that would've meant waiting on account of when my birthday falls. I've had to take the test twice more because my birthday falls when school is in session here, and my home state wants us to show up for an eye check every so often, so by the time I get home I'm outside the easy renewal grace period. Hence thinking about getting a Japanese license. Also, you can only drive on an IDP if you have a tourist visa, which I've never had here. Permanent resident for how long now? Probably time to just suck it up and get the license. I won't be living in America ever again, will I?

 

[Set2Stun]

I'm always surprised to hear it isn't. I took it in summer school in 1971. Students alternated between classroom time, simulators, and real driving experience.

Living in a rural area is different than living in an urban area. Both my children started driving on dirt roads when they were about 9 and managed quite well by the time they were fourteen. My grandson was maybe in kindergarten when my son stood him up on the seat of the pickup, put the engine in granny gear, and let grandson steer the truck across the pasture while everyone else bucked hay bales onto the trailer. At the end of each pass, son hopped in the cab, made the turn, and then returned the steering wheel to grandson.

I grew up in the bush, didn't spend much time in the "big" (100K pop) city til I was about 19-20. I wanted to drive the dirt roads early, but my mom wasn't for it til I was about 13-14. My dad had me shifting gears for him when I was a tyke, though. Mom would let me drive us up to the fishing spot on our road, but would not have me go anywhere else without a license when she was in the truck with me.

I did get pulled over once while driving my dad's motorcycle with no license and no insurance, so I guess she had a good point. I could've been absolutely screwed, but the cop let me off and called my dad to come pick up the bike.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Ain't that the truth. I've driven in Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, France, Belgium. Despite the absence of road markings and tendency for cyclists to appear from everywhere, the Belgians were the most courteous and even tempered of them all. I declined the opportunity to drive in Italy on the same bases, only opposite.

When I visited Italy, I think I saw some people park their car sideways into a parking spot (i.e. at a 90-degree-angle to the footpath, not parallel to it).

Need I say more?

I still remember the one question I got wrong on the written test. Had no idea what blue flashing lights on a vehicle meant, even though I'd seen them my whole life. Just didn't register as something that would be important to know. They're for snow removal vehicles.

I did okay for the road test, though everyone hates the parallel parking section. The testing guy said I missed a school zone speed limit change and could've failed me, but let me pass anyway

For lessons, most people I know took them, because you get a lower insurance rate. I couldn't afford lessons; was something like $400-500 twenty-five years ago.

I almost failed the parallel parking section, but the instructor let me pass. I don't think I ever had to parallel park since I took the test, and that was many moons ago now.

I'm in Greece, but I know there is an English version of the test. Let me see if I can find something...

There: Driving licence (Adeia odigisis) to drive a car in Greece CATEGORY B

Obviously, the 800 questions are split into a million categories, so I guess you can pick whichever one you think you're most likely to pass.

I tried four categories, and got 100% on the "Alcohol" and "Accident" sections. I missed a few questions in the "Emergency" section (especially the warning triangle -- I've no idea what that is, we don't have them in Australia) and did badly on the "Highway" questions (only 17 out of 27? Must do better next time!) ;-P

But yes, the "Alcohol" and "Accident" questions are common sense. Don't drink before driving, huh ... because if you do, your reaction time will slow down and you'll get over-confident while behind the wheel of a big vehicle. Gee, what a great idea.

Here in Australia (and everywhere, I'm sure), road safety is taken very seriously. Here's an ad that was made by our road safety people, the TAC (Traffic Accident Commission) about how dangerous drink-driving could be:

 

[CatrionaGrace]

I spent my late teens and twenties operating heavy farm machinery, then worked on a roadcrew as a scraper hand for a while. Once you've parallel parked a few times in a piece of machinery the size of a small house, passenger vehicles aren't much problem. HOWEVER: to my shame, I never did learn to back a horse trailer properly. I can only conclude I am missing a horse-trailer-backing synapse in my brain.

 

[Luxuria]

I just bought a really, really nice keyboard for my desktop.

 

[Stuart Dren]

I just bought a really, really nice keyboard for my desktop.

You can't tell us that without mentioning the switches.

 

[Louanne Learning]

really nice keyboard

I've been thinking of changing mine to one of the ergonomic ones.

 

[ps102]

I had a nice Dell keyboard from 1997 with ALPS switches. It was my favourite. But I uh... accidentally melted the keycaps a couple months ago. Don't ask the how. It's a really stupid and long story.

A Taiwanese company seems to make compatible replacements that are even better quality than the originals though, so all is good.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

I'm in the mood for a long, stupid story...