Monday, September 16, 2002 So, what Alison says is mostly true - we are hanging out a lot, though we went the ENTIRE weekend without doing anything. Last weekend, though, there was coffee-shop hanging on Thursday, a movie on Friday, pool-playing on Sunday... It's strange, not seeing Alison this weekend. It feels wrong somehow. I'll be honest - a lot of this weekend was spent on the couch. In the living room. Watching TV or reading. I'm now 200 pages into Possession (the reason for this to come soon) but when it comes to classwork - well, I'm vaguely screwed. Lots of guitar-playing and synopsis-writing and studying to catch up on. Just didn't have the energy on Friday and Saturday - will hopefully find it tonight. Things are soon due, after all. Today, though, I had to leave the house, as I had TRAFFIC SCHOOL. Cursed speeding ticket from June. ::sigh:: At least Das Roomie had to go as well, and so we were able to snark about our fellow classmates and play tic-tac-toe and contemplate suicide. Ah, togetherness. I now know: -the stopping distance for a car going 65 mph (305 ft) -when you're legally allowed to use your horn (only in cases where you're directly averting an accident) -the proper following time (4 seconds, rather than 2 as I'd previously thought) -that you don't slam on the brakes when hydroplaning - you simply ease off the accelerator and regain control of the car -that nearly every left turn I make in LA is technically illegal, though impossible otherwise -that Big Brother is watching me, and probably laughing -that motorcyclists have way more rights than any other motor vehicle on the road (Our instructor was a bit of a Harley enthusiast. He had a belt buckle.) Instead of a real test, at the end we all played Traffic Jeopardy, wherein the class of 20 people got into three teams and competed for points. The winners got their certificates signed first and were able to leave before everyone else. So we were motivated. Roomie and I joined up with the nicest older man you'll ever meet, a sweet old lady wearing a turban, this bald FAA engineer, and an older black woman with the same birthday as me. And I have to say, with the FAA guy hitting the legal questions and the older black woman knowing all the Aretha Franklin songs referenced and me and SJ covering classic rock and traffic trivia and the old guy kicking ass with some classic car questions - we DOMINATED. To the point that halfway through, we just stopped playing, because it was mathematically impossible for us to lose. So we just sat back, grinning proudly, while Vinnie the ripped-jeans coke freak and Denise the surly executive tried like hell to rip our victory away from us. Fools. And then there was basketball, and I am POOPED now, and yet there is work to be done. ::sigh:: At least tonight, I'll sleep well. | permalink blog • archives • photos • about • contact This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All content © 2004.