And with a smile / I'll take you to the seven seas of Rhye

The problem with driving isn't that I'm inexperienced (read: really not that good!), it's when I'm inexperienced and other drivers are bad too. Some day I'm going to startle and slam on my breaks when the car behind me is riding my backside so tight I'm contemplating a harassment and paternity suit, and then there will be busted crumple zones, tears, recriminations, and duelling insurance companies. It's like Mendelian genetics! Two good (dominant) drivers will be okay, a good and a bad driver will be okay, but two bad drivers? Lethal recessive.

Today I gave myself sunburn and a late afternoon victory lap of Eisenhower Ave with norabombay, because I drove myself to her place like a pro, and she's been trying to get me in a car for years. I've got the basic driving toolbox down. At some point I need to refine the tricky parts* but I'm past the beginning of the beginning and into the middle of the beginning of driving. Yay!

*"Tricky": brake or tire crisis management, backing and/or parking in tight spaces, left-hand turns, driving in weather, high-speed driving with rush-hour Beltway lunatics, maneuvering in garages with support pillars in scary and unexpected places, fast short merge lanes, driving with rowdy passengers, mountain-style hairpin curves - seriously, barely at the middle of the beginning. All I can do now is drive uneventfully and in an unflashy way in good weather.

When you have nothing really interesting to say, quote ashcomp on sushi: "it's a delivery mechanism for spicy green stuff."