June Showers, July Flowers?

I'll take a gander that whoever first came up with "April Showers, May Flowers" wasn't living in Michigan. Here it snowed through April, and dipped below freezing in May. Now the temperature is up, along with the humidity and cloud cover. I spent all of last Saturday without a shirt, but it didn't get me anywhere, as the sun never came all day. Now it's terrible humid and pouring outside with a high chance of thunderstorms tonight... and I left the Cheerios box open this morning. Goodbye crunchiness.

I passed my Michigan Drivers' Test!

That means I am now a licensed Michigan driver. Now all I need is something to drive! I'm currently considering a moped. It's bigger than a scooter, but more comfortable and less powerful than a motorcycle. In fact, mopeds are by law allowed to go no faster than 35 mph. They are less expensive to own and insure than a car, and most get at least 100 miles to the gallon. Considering the price of gas, a moped would be perfect for transportation around town, at least until October when the weather turns sour. Then I'll have to start borrowing John's car, and/or get a job and save up.

Twenty Six Point Five Hours

That's how long I played Grand Theft Auto IV this three day weekend, according to the in game timer. That's right, between Friday afternoon and Monday evening I played video games for over a full day, minus bathroom breaks. One would think I'd have beaten it by now.

18th Birthday Coming Up...

Wowzers, its been almost two years since I left LA for San Jose, then Michigan. So much has changed since then... Most noticeably, I've gained 15 pounds (mostly muscle, I hope!) and gotten about 1,000 shades paler (I once thought that wasn't possible). I can't wait for the summer!

Speaking of summer, I get to go home one last time before I turn 18. The main excuse I'll give to my coaches is to get my wisdom teeth pulled while my dental insurance is still covered under my parents. I seriously don't think my wizzies are ready to come out (two are still under the gumline), and my dentist doesn't use anesthesia (I know, they're crazy), but they've gotta go. But what I'm really looking forward to is seeing all of my school and CCLO friends before most of them graduate. After June, they're likely spread to out to every corner of the country, and I may never get to see some of them until a distant high school reunion (that said, I wonder if I'll qualify for Westchester's).

So the plan for now, although no plane tickets have been ordered yet, is to fly home right after school ends (June 13) for the weekend of June 14th, plus a couple weekdays after that. Besides taking a Saturday ACT at my old high school (WHS) and some serious teeth pulling on Tuesday, I'll spend all my time seeing everyone I possibly can. I'm shooting for a party on Sunday the 15th, if everyone isn't too busy studying for finals.

I won't get to spend my actual 18th Birthday in my hometown, nor get to watch all my old schoolmates walk the stage on the 19th, but one can't have everything. I'll just make the best of the time I have.

Got My MI Permit!

It was a very complicated and arduous process, but I changed my California driver's permit to a Michigan one. I'll spare you the details, but I'm so overjoyed.

So today John taught me how to drive stick in a parking lot. After twenty minutes, I drove the three miles home. At one point I stalled three times in a row before I finally got going. As I went to change gears I realized it had been in fourth gear all along. John says even for a seasoned manual driver, a fourth gear startup is pretty impressive.

John says I should be ready to take my Michigan driving test in a couple of weeks.

Care To Drive Stick?

So the new plan for my license is this. Transfer my Cali permit to a Michigan permit. Learn how to drive John's two manual transmission cars, then take the driving test in Michigan. Easy as pie.

My Trip Back Home

Jordan's flight landed late Thursday night. On Friday morning, he went to the DMV to renew his provisional driving permit, which had expired after a year. Only after he renewed his permit could Jordan schedule a driving test to get his license. All of he closest DMVs were booked until April 16th or later, but Jordan needed to find an appointment before he left on Tuesday the 8th. By some miracle, a cancellation opened up an opportunity at the North Hollywood DMV at 10 am Monday morning.

On Friday night, Jordan saw his sister, Sarah, in "Gypsy" at the local Westchester Playhouse. The performances were spectacular from a cast spanning all age ranges. However, Jordan thinks the plot could have been more quickly paced. Maybe it was because the play started at 8 and ended at 11:30, which felt like 2:30 to our jet-lagged friend.

On Saturday, Jordan took a refresher driving course with Tatem, an instructor from California Driving School. Keeping within immediate neighborhood, they practiced left and right hand turns, U-turns, 3-point turns, backing in a straight line, and even some 3-point [parallel] parking. Having not a formal driving lesson since the days after his first permit 14 months prior, Jordan felt the lesson was a real big confidence booster.

Saturday night brought Jordan to another musical, this time "Les Miserables". It was playing at Beverly Hills High. It was awesome.

Jordan woke up Sunday morning after a dream that he didn't pass his driving test.

To make a very long story short, Jordan failed his driving test on Monday because he drove too slow (23 mph) on a 35 mph street. That's not the full story, but let's just say the rest of his test was perfect. He just got an asshole tester.

Then Jordan flew back to Michigan and was really bummed out. End of story.