Last Tuesday was a nerve racking morning. I have not had nerves like that since I was 17 (and that was a long time ago). Tuesday morning I had to take a driving test\u2026. something I had not done since that day way back in 1999.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately living in Washington State there is no reciprocity to Australian Driver licenses so it means I needed to get mine to prove residency and so I can do things legally over here. It was the last of my legal paperwork that needed to be done. Thankfully they give you 12 months of arriving to do this.<\/p>\n
Licenses are cheap in WA (that\u2019s Washington not Western Australia) compared to QLD. $25 for 5 years, what is silly is that as no reciprocity means I have to qualify as though I was a first timer. That requires a written and a driving test. The written test was pretty easy and similar to back home (from what I remember anyway as hell that was even longer ago I got my learners). The worst part about my written test was that I had to wait almost 90 mins all up to take a test that took 5-6 mins. Wait times for licenses here are huge I\u2019ve heard of 3+ hours :\/ but that\u2019s a whole other story.<\/p>\n
Once you pass your written test only then can. You request a date for your driving test, at a time convenient to the testing agency (Yay for more time out of work). There are less complicated maneuvers than the test I remember but I had to take it in. my vehicle. Crap. A driving test in the truck, Damn. Situation worsens, you have to parallel park (reverse park) as part of the test. Crap+++<\/p>\n
I can drive the truck, I love the thing. It cruises effortlessly, has good pick up but it\u2019s hard to park. Plus it\u2019s new so I do watch every little bit to make sure I don\u2019t scratch it at all.<\/p>\n
Reverse parking the truck is another matter. Half the time I did the even try as I prefer to find a spot that I can easily get in and out of and if that means walking a bit further so be it. But it was part of the test so I have no choice really. Can\u2019t do much about that at all. I suck it up and spend most of my free time Sunday practice parking. I think to myself, yeah I can do this.<\/p>\n
Nope! Test day comes & things start out bad when I lock the testing official out of the truck before we even start. #fail. Then I put the truck in reverse to pull out from the curb, not drive. Damn nerves. But then the dreaded park which I totally botched. Not even remotely close. I kick myself, I was pissed I would need to take more time off to do it again etc, just annoying. But he passed me! Yay!<\/p>\n
Maybe he took pity on me, maybe he didn\u2019t instant fail me cause its not a big deal here, either way I didn\u2019t care! I had passed.<\/p>\n
So now I\u2019m a licensed driver in the state of Washington. I am a legal resident of the USA. This is kind of a dream come true. I am a little bit more American now.<\/p>\n
But I still can\u2019t park for shit, at least in the truck.<\/p>\n
PS David if your reading this, yes I can sit at the big boy table now.<\/p>\n
PPS – Managed to recover this, thanks google!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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