Wow, I can't believe I have not posted anything for 2011. This year has slipped by so quickly. I will work on that since the year is almost over.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wet Feet
I used to have a car a while ago. It was a Toyota Corolla. This was back in the
80’s. I remember it having a problem with the air conditioning. Something got plugged up in it somewhere and every time I took a left turn, the water would drain into the car on the passenger side.
Well, I was reminded of this while doing a road test. I got into the Toyota Corolla; the carpet was wet and had a lot of mold. The car also smelled quite bad. I started my speech. The first turn was to the right (no problem) our second turn is to the left (whoohoo) I got my free foot wash. I was not happy. The young girl was so nervous. She kept apologizing over and over. I moved my feet so as not to get wet again. She ate up all her points in the parallel parking and the backing in. We made a left turn to go and do the quick stop and the straight line backing. Yeehaa! I held my feet so they would not get wet again. I was prepared this time. Again more apologizing from the young girl. Quick stop was good, however when she was backing up, she was weaving and she ran her tires on the curb. Well….too many points. The test ended with a failure and two wet feet.
80’s. I remember it having a problem with the air conditioning. Something got plugged up in it somewhere and every time I took a left turn, the water would drain into the car on the passenger side.
Well, I was reminded of this while doing a road test. I got into the Toyota Corolla; the carpet was wet and had a lot of mold. The car also smelled quite bad. I started my speech. The first turn was to the right (no problem) our second turn is to the left (whoohoo) I got my free foot wash. I was not happy. The young girl was so nervous. She kept apologizing over and over. I moved my feet so as not to get wet again. She ate up all her points in the parallel parking and the backing in. We made a left turn to go and do the quick stop and the straight line backing. Yeehaa! I held my feet so they would not get wet again. I was prepared this time. Again more apologizing from the young girl. Quick stop was good, however when she was backing up, she was weaving and she ran her tires on the curb. Well….too many points. The test ended with a failure and two wet feet.
GOING OUT WITH A BANG!
Ok, so I’m doing a vehicle check on the next driver to test. I’m also watching another vehicle going through the course. (doing their parallel parking and backing in) There is another examiner in that vehicle, a Ford truck. I’m thinking to myself……..the truck is not doing well. He has probably eaten up all his points for the parallel parking and for the backing in. He has knocked over cones in the parallel parking and I didn’t recall blinkers from where I stood. Same thing with the backing in. Then I saw the vehicle move to the other side of the course. This is where the “Quick Stop or Emergency Stop” as well as the “straight line backing” takes place. When I heard tires skidding, I knew this person could not have passed the maneuvering with the points needed to get out onto the road. I thought at this point they were going to park the vehicle (too many points and you fail).
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road! They left the parking lot! Guess I was wrong from where I stood. I was not inside the vehicle.
I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.
I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, again, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.
When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said “I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.”
After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road! They left the parking lot! Guess I was wrong from where I stood. I was not inside the vehicle.
I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.
I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, again, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.
When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said “I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.”
After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sign
Weird how no one wants to stop at a yellow or faded stop sign.
NO, it's not there to trip you up or make you fail, it just happened that way from the weather. Really!
It still says 'STOP' and it is of hexagon shape.
So everybody get with it and STOP at it!
FYI, I asked a 16yr old girl "why didn't you stop at this sign?"
Young girl "It's not red!"
me: Seriously?
I asked a young man "why didn't you stop at that yellow stop sign?"
young man: "There was a stop sign? Really? There was one there? Is that why the truck beeped at me?"
NO, it's not there to trip you up or make you fail, it just happened that way from the weather. Really!
It still says 'STOP' and it is of hexagon shape.
So everybody get with it and STOP at it!
FYI, I asked a 16yr old girl "why didn't you stop at this sign?"
Young girl "It's not red!"
me: Seriously?
I asked a young man "why didn't you stop at that yellow stop sign?"
young man: "There was a stop sign? Really? There was one there? Is that why the truck beeped at me?"
Monday, October 4, 2010
GOING OUT WITH A BANG!
Ok, so I’m doing a vehicle check on the next driver to test. I’m also watching another vehicle going through the course. (doing their parallel parking and backing in) There is another examiner in that vehicle, a Ford truck. I’m thinking to myself……..the truck is not doing well. He has probably eaten up all his points for the parallel parking and for the backing in. He has knocked over cones in the parallel parking and I didn’t recall blinkers from where I stood. Same thing with the backing in. Then I saw the vehicle move to the other side where the “Quick Stop or Emergency Stop” as well as the “straight line backing” is to take place. When I heard tires skidding, I knew the person could not have passed the maneuvering to get out onto the road.
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road. They left the parking lot.
I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.
I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.
When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.
After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road. They left the parking lot.
I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.
I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.
When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.
After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Gatorade
After my initial vehicle checks, I go around to the passenger side of the vehicle and get into the seat. I close the door. I start my speech. “hello my name is Cheryl, I will be the examiner for today.”
I fling the car door back open and hop out. What the….
I ask the guy “is this seat wet?” His response “well…ugh….I had my Gatorade there, must a spilled a little.” So, I said “oh well, ok here is some plastic on the floor, do you mind if I cover the seat with it. (the car was filthy by the way so covering the seat was a good choice anyway.) He said “no, go ahead.” I covered the lower portion of the seat with the plastic, and got back in. This car also had no air conditioning. So we got to sweat in the 90+ degree weather during the slow maneuvering. Yeah!
When the full test was completed, I felt like a had a pint of sweat on my back…..but noooooooo…..it was Gatorade. It had wicked up the back portion of the seat back, so my waist up was wet from the Gatorade not in the center of the back where the sweat would have been.
I think if a car has a wet seat or even a vehicle that is that dirty again, I will refuse to test. They would need to bring back another vehicle to test in.
YUK!
I fling the car door back open and hop out. What the….
I ask the guy “is this seat wet?” His response “well…ugh….I had my Gatorade there, must a spilled a little.” So, I said “oh well, ok here is some plastic on the floor, do you mind if I cover the seat with it. (the car was filthy by the way so covering the seat was a good choice anyway.) He said “no, go ahead.” I covered the lower portion of the seat with the plastic, and got back in. This car also had no air conditioning. So we got to sweat in the 90+ degree weather during the slow maneuvering. Yeah!
When the full test was completed, I felt like a had a pint of sweat on my back…..but noooooooo…..it was Gatorade. It had wicked up the back portion of the seat back, so my waist up was wet from the Gatorade not in the center of the back where the sweat would have been.
I think if a car has a wet seat or even a vehicle that is that dirty again, I will refuse to test. They would need to bring back another vehicle to test in.
YUK!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Oriential woman
LAST MONTH
I tested an Oriental woman. As I usually do, I greet the people with the vehicle "hi how are you today, are you ready to be tested?" The man with this oriental woman states "she no speak good English. She need driver license. Her husband in hospital and she need to drive hospital." I let him know that I will do my best to say one or two word sentences to help her understand and also give hand signals. "Oh...good good, I appreciate" he says. I start the external checks on the car. "Honk the horn" I say to her. He repeats something in Chinese. She honks the horn. I say, "Left turn signal" again he says something in Chinese she puts on the signal. We go through the whole car check with his little mumbling to her through the window. He then asks if he can ride in the back seat. I tell him "no she must do this on her own and she must be able to follow my directions or she won't be able to pass the test."
So I get into the vehicle and start my little litany of what to expect, how to treat the driving portions in the parking lot as two way streets, at all intersections come to a complete stop, about following Georgia laws and signs, wait for my instructions and if you have any questions let me know and I will explain further so you may understand. During the time I am talking the woman is shaking her head in the up and down direction, she is also saying "yes", "yes" at appropriate times. (I think she is understanding some of what I am saying) When I am finished, she says "Parallel Park? OK...go?" I tell her "no, I will give you direction from here what to do next. I tell her to “come to the intersection in front of us and make a right. When we get to the next intersection, make a left and stop at the gate." Again she says "Parallel Park..ok..go." She starts driving, takes a right turn, (no traffic checks, she did not look left or right and did not use her signals) She then proceeds to take the left turn (again not looking for cars or using signals) she takes a right (past the gate) and proceeds to the left again and parallel parks the car without hitting any cones (however not using her signals). She then continues to drive the car out of the space and completes the reverse parking into the second space. She does not hit any cones; because had she waited for directions, she would have known that she had to pass the space and back in at a 45 degree angle back wards. That she could not cross over the center line of the road into on coming traffic to back into the space. (I am in such amazement of how she could memorize what to do and where to go, that I just sat there to see how far this woman is going to go in the program without any direction.) At this point there are two more maneuvers that I am not willing to complete with her. I tell her to make a left turn and go to the gate and stop. She does not want to make the left; she wants to go right which is where the next two maneuvers are to take place. I keep pointing in front of her and saying turn left, turn left (I get more stern and say TURN LEFT). She finally turns left. We go through the gate and I tell her park the car on the left. (pointing the whole time) She finally puts the car in (well... in-between parking spaces) I have to tell her put the car in park, turn off the key, take your key out. Now I have to explain to the brother that she failed because she cannot understand the language. She failed to follow instructions.
TWO WEEKS LATER
The woman is back for round two. I advise the other examiner who is working with me, that I have already failed this woman last week. Can you please give her the exam so that if she fails again, it does not seem like I have something against her? She agrees. The woman failed again.
TODAY
The woman is back for round three. The other examiner is giving a motorcycle test and cannot give her the test. So I'm up again. Yea!
Same situation as before on the car checks. The brother gives direction outside the car. This time, I let him know "she must listen to me.. and follow my instructions". HE continues with the little mumbling from the peanut gallery. (I roll my eyes as I walk around the vehicle to get in) I thought to myself; give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she has learned something, it has been a while. I tell her "my name is Cheryl; I will be the examiner for today." Her reply is "Parallel Park? OK...go". She takes off. Makes a right, makes a left, through the gate, parallel parks the car, pulls out and starts the reverse parking (again crossing the white line in the road). At no point during any of this driving does she look for traffic nor does she use any signals. Now, at this time the other examiner who is waiting for another motorcycle to drive into the area starts to watch what is going on with the car we are in. He knows something is wrong when she crosses the white line and is heading into the motorcycle field. Then she starts to back up into the parking space for the reverse parking and he starts to shake his head. He knows at this point she has not passed. Again I try to get her to turn left to go to the gate. I keep pointing and saying "left, turn left, go left" (the other examiner is now shaking his head and laughing) I am pointing in front of her face "left, left, left". "park the car, put the car in park, turn your key off, take your key out. She says "I pass?" (I take a deep breath and let it out slow) "No you did not pass". Again the brother tells me how the husband is in and out of the hospital and she needs to have a license to drive to the hospital. I smile and let him know that “we are not just giving out licenses today. She needs to learn enough of the language to take directions from the examiner, not just memorize the route”. I also suggest to him to contact a company that can teach her how to drive as well as enough of the language so she can complete the test. I tell him to take the paperwork into the building to counter number 9.
I tested an Oriental woman. As I usually do, I greet the people with the vehicle "hi how are you today, are you ready to be tested?" The man with this oriental woman states "she no speak good English. She need driver license. Her husband in hospital and she need to drive hospital." I let him know that I will do my best to say one or two word sentences to help her understand and also give hand signals. "Oh...good good, I appreciate" he says. I start the external checks on the car. "Honk the horn" I say to her. He repeats something in Chinese. She honks the horn. I say, "Left turn signal" again he says something in Chinese she puts on the signal. We go through the whole car check with his little mumbling to her through the window. He then asks if he can ride in the back seat. I tell him "no she must do this on her own and she must be able to follow my directions or she won't be able to pass the test."
So I get into the vehicle and start my little litany of what to expect, how to treat the driving portions in the parking lot as two way streets, at all intersections come to a complete stop, about following Georgia laws and signs, wait for my instructions and if you have any questions let me know and I will explain further so you may understand. During the time I am talking the woman is shaking her head in the up and down direction, she is also saying "yes", "yes" at appropriate times. (I think she is understanding some of what I am saying) When I am finished, she says "Parallel Park? OK...go?" I tell her "no, I will give you direction from here what to do next. I tell her to “come to the intersection in front of us and make a right. When we get to the next intersection, make a left and stop at the gate." Again she says "Parallel Park..ok..go." She starts driving, takes a right turn, (no traffic checks, she did not look left or right and did not use her signals) She then proceeds to take the left turn (again not looking for cars or using signals) she takes a right (past the gate) and proceeds to the left again and parallel parks the car without hitting any cones (however not using her signals). She then continues to drive the car out of the space and completes the reverse parking into the second space. She does not hit any cones; because had she waited for directions, she would have known that she had to pass the space and back in at a 45 degree angle back wards. That she could not cross over the center line of the road into on coming traffic to back into the space. (I am in such amazement of how she could memorize what to do and where to go, that I just sat there to see how far this woman is going to go in the program without any direction.) At this point there are two more maneuvers that I am not willing to complete with her. I tell her to make a left turn and go to the gate and stop. She does not want to make the left; she wants to go right which is where the next two maneuvers are to take place. I keep pointing in front of her and saying turn left, turn left (I get more stern and say TURN LEFT). She finally turns left. We go through the gate and I tell her park the car on the left. (pointing the whole time) She finally puts the car in (well... in-between parking spaces) I have to tell her put the car in park, turn off the key, take your key out. Now I have to explain to the brother that she failed because she cannot understand the language. She failed to follow instructions.
TWO WEEKS LATER
The woman is back for round two. I advise the other examiner who is working with me, that I have already failed this woman last week. Can you please give her the exam so that if she fails again, it does not seem like I have something against her? She agrees. The woman failed again.
TODAY
The woman is back for round three. The other examiner is giving a motorcycle test and cannot give her the test. So I'm up again. Yea!
Same situation as before on the car checks. The brother gives direction outside the car. This time, I let him know "she must listen to me.. and follow my instructions". HE continues with the little mumbling from the peanut gallery. (I roll my eyes as I walk around the vehicle to get in) I thought to myself; give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she has learned something, it has been a while. I tell her "my name is Cheryl; I will be the examiner for today." Her reply is "Parallel Park? OK...go". She takes off. Makes a right, makes a left, through the gate, parallel parks the car, pulls out and starts the reverse parking (again crossing the white line in the road). At no point during any of this driving does she look for traffic nor does she use any signals. Now, at this time the other examiner who is waiting for another motorcycle to drive into the area starts to watch what is going on with the car we are in. He knows something is wrong when she crosses the white line and is heading into the motorcycle field. Then she starts to back up into the parking space for the reverse parking and he starts to shake his head. He knows at this point she has not passed. Again I try to get her to turn left to go to the gate. I keep pointing and saying "left, turn left, go left" (the other examiner is now shaking his head and laughing) I am pointing in front of her face "left, left, left". "park the car, put the car in park, turn your key off, take your key out. She says "I pass?" (I take a deep breath and let it out slow) "No you did not pass". Again the brother tells me how the husband is in and out of the hospital and she needs to have a license to drive to the hospital. I smile and let him know that “we are not just giving out licenses today. She needs to learn enough of the language to take directions from the examiner, not just memorize the route”. I also suggest to him to contact a company that can teach her how to drive as well as enough of the language so she can complete the test. I tell him to take the paperwork into the building to counter number 9.
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