Cross Into the Blue
I am now officially qualified to drive a Department of Defense 1.5-ton 45-passenger bus.
And my father-in-law, the retired Army Colonel who killed people in Vietnam with a number 2 pencil, finds it hilarious that I was sent to the Air Force Institute of Technology and will leave with both a Master's Degree and a USAF Motor Vehicle Operator Identification Card.
This was all my choice, of course, as I needed to get it done in order to take fellow students down to the Perryville Battlefield next term. (The Transportation Squadron would give me a bus, but not a driver.) So I got up at 7 on Saturday to hang out with a Staff Sergeant for an hour while he showed me how to open the hood, work the lights, and spin a reverse 180 on ice.
No, no.
The only odd thing is that the bus doesn't have a "Park"; you put it in "Neutral" and then push in the emergency brake. The sergeant said most people's first mistake is to think it's in "Park" when it's actually in "Reverse." Which would be "Bad."
I drove around the outskirts of the base for a few minutes while I got the hang of it, then back onto the more populated areas, and then, feeling confident, even drove off-base around town. The trainer said I was a "natural" and I was glad I didn't hit any curbs or cars. He asked if I was using my mirrors much, and I told him I honestly wasn't. I felt like I was the biggest thing on the road, and if people couldn't see me, that was their problem.
We'll see how it goes April 7th, when I get out of a familiar neighborhood, and I'm responsible for 30 souls snoozing behind me.
And my father-in-law, the retired Army Colonel who killed people in Vietnam with a number 2 pencil, finds it hilarious that I was sent to the Air Force Institute of Technology and will leave with both a Master's Degree and a USAF Motor Vehicle Operator Identification Card.
This was all my choice, of course, as I needed to get it done in order to take fellow students down to the Perryville Battlefield next term. (The Transportation Squadron would give me a bus, but not a driver.) So I got up at 7 on Saturday to hang out with a Staff Sergeant for an hour while he showed me how to open the hood, work the lights, and spin a reverse 180 on ice.
No, no.
The only odd thing is that the bus doesn't have a "Park"; you put it in "Neutral" and then push in the emergency brake. The sergeant said most people's first mistake is to think it's in "Park" when it's actually in "Reverse." Which would be "Bad."
I drove around the outskirts of the base for a few minutes while I got the hang of it, then back onto the more populated areas, and then, feeling confident, even drove off-base around town. The trainer said I was a "natural" and I was glad I didn't hit any curbs or cars. He asked if I was using my mirrors much, and I told him I honestly wasn't. I felt like I was the biggest thing on the road, and if people couldn't see me, that was their problem.
We'll see how it goes April 7th, when I get out of a familiar neighborhood, and I'm responsible for 30 souls snoozing behind me.
posted by Dan at 7:21 PM
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