How the driving is going

So, yes. It's now April, which means I have 2 months to pass a road test or start over from scratch with my driver's license.

And though I am seriously questioning why I need a license at all given that I have barely driven since I got the one I have nearly five years ago, I did get out last night to practice. It didn't go so great.

First mistake: deciding to just get out there before I talked myself out of it, with complete disregard for the time of day. Usually I go out in the morning, just after rush hour. I'm used to the traffic flow then and it didn't occur to me it would be different just before 6pm.

First clue I'd made the first mistake: looking at block-long lineup of cars waiting in the road I needed to make a left into. Right! The other rush hour!

It's a two-lane road and normally I make a left into the left lane, then quickly change lanes to the right just like I learned in driving school so I can make a right turn at the end of the block.

This time though - that row of cars blocking me from my left turn. What's the rule about that? Was I supposed to drive straight into the right lane or wait at the corner for some traffic to clear?

I opted for plan A and followed some other cars into the right lane, then compulsively checked my rear view mirror and

Hello police officer!

(and thank you for not following me with sirens flashing, because I don't quite know whether you're supposed to pull over in the middle of a busy stretch of road or go a bit farther where you won't block traffic.)

I reached my Fake-Important destination, parked perfectly, chatted with another driver who has the same kind of car I do and felt like an idjit when he asked what model year mine is and all I had retained about that was, Not one of the ones affected by the recall (and then felt vindicated when he didn't realize our car has Toyota parts in it and later models have been recalled), resisted the urge to say HA, went into a store and came out again, and headed home...

... promptly messing up my timing and nearly hitting another car.

Sigh.

Back in my driveway and still cursing myself, I realized I had forgotten to bring my cell phone with me - if I had hit the other car I wouldn't have been able to call anybody in panic, even.

Then I realized I had also forgotten my housekey.

Isn't it lucky that a friend with a second set was a short walk away?