Progress on Goals and Resolutions

[ysabetwordsmith]

The internet is rife with dismal observations about how many people fail their New Year's resolutions before the end of January. So I thought it would be nice to check in and see how folks are doing.

Here's my big list of goals. As you can see, I'm smokin' it on checking the list, largely because we're still playing with the Vitamix and making lots of new recipes that I then log. I don't necessarily expect that to last all year, but so far so good. I have started working on at least 10 goals. I have already met 3 goals: selling a poem of 10 lines or less eligible for the Dwarf Stars Award, getting rid of one cookbook that didn't have any recipes we wanted to make, and using a specific storyline as a fishbowl theme. \o/

What's up with your New Year's resolutions or goals?

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[jtthomas]

The thing is, I /know/ the theory. I have my learner's permit, which for MA is the written test. And being on campus, I see how people around here drive, and there's no way I'd trust them to teach me. I've written filksongs about how badly Massachusetts residents drive.

Even a lot of the driving schools have low ratings /because they teach how to drive in MA/ (tailgating just above the speed limit), not how to drive safely and in normal circumstances. It's definitely one of the troubles of living in MA, because I'm fine going 2 miles an hour in heavy traffic. MA doesn't have many straight roads to just learn to trust the gas on or get braking distance down to muscle memory, so the instructors improvise a /lot/. I just need to get the basics down. I don't need tailgating skills or anything MA-specific, considering this is the last place I'd ever want to drive for an extended period of time.

Basically, given that the driving schools wouldn't really teach what I need to know, it's far more going to be finding someone likely not from MA who doesn't have that bias to teach me. And that's difficult.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Wow, that really sucks. :(

Let's see ...

Simulations are still better than nothing for practice behind the wheel.

You could look for non-MA natives.

MA is a tiny state, thus much more feasible to seek out-of-state lessons. A pain in the ass, but probably less worse than other options.

However, if you don't learn the MA bad driving approach, how will you pass the live-driving test if the teacher expects you to tailgate just under the speed limit? O_O

Re: Thoughts

[jtthomas]

You're not expected to pass. Yes, you read that right. In MA, you're EXTREMELY lucky to pass the first time, for this reason precisely. Most of the people my age or within a decade older who learned to drive in MA failed their first test.

Out-of-state lessons are technically illegal; the learner's permit does not allow driving outside the legal home state.

Definitely going to keep looking through simulations, though.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

See if you can get a learner's permit in another state.

Otherwise, ask yourself whether you care more about learning to drive safely, or following the letter of the law. Or whether you need to learn to drive right now in a state that's batshit.

Re: Thoughts

[ng_moonmoth]

Something else to do:

Find a BIG parking lot. Something like the back reaches of a regional mall, or a large stadium or concert venue. This is a place where you can have a bit of a run without having to worry too much about keeping things perfectly straight or running into things. You can find out how the car you're practicing on behaves, and try things out.

After you're getting experience with that, wait for a decent snowfall, and then do it all over again. [puts on raised-in-snow-country hat] Driving in snow is a real-time physics exam. If you did OK in a high-school physics course, and recognize this fact, you'll be way ahead of the eejidts I always see littering the roadsides and ditches when things get dicey. [takes off hat] Get done with that, and you'll be well on your way to being a better-than-average driver.

And above all, make sure you know where your towel's at, and DON'T PANIC!

Re: Thoughts

[kellan_the_tabby]

YES to all of this! My dad had me driving around the high school parking lot when I was 13. I'd teach you myself, if it weren't for the commute ...

& extra-yes to learning to drive in snow. The only way to learn how to control a car in a slide is to go sliding. Should you switch from a front-wheel to rear-wheel drive vehicle or the reverse, you need to entirely relearn, because everything's the opposite. Yes, the Van the Size of the Van the Size of France is, indeed, rear-wheel drive.

Re: Thoughts

[filkferengi]

You're not the only one to write such songs: http://www.mcgath.com/songs/MassachusettsTangle.pdf

Also, it was good to see you at Conflikt.

Re: Thoughts

[jtthomas]

Not me at Conflikt. I'm heading to Boskone in a couple weeks, though. (What is it about me that I seem to have an unquestionable doppelganger in west coast filk/ren faire circles?)