@Stephie Yay!

@Cindy I am very proud of them.

@Stephie You should be! 😀

Locked in on vacation plans yet?

@Cindy nothing booked yet. The general idea is there, the details need to be worked out.

We’ll get there. Literally ;-)

@Stephie I'm sure that you'll all have a great time, regardless of the final details!

I need to find my cooling towel. The heat has been ridiculous this year. And not just here! But it's still getting hotter and more humid.

Heat advisory again today. 😒

@Cindy oh, cooling towel! Learned about them only last week when we were melting in Zumba class. Ordered some...

@Stephie Yeah. They've been available here for a few years. And even though the concept made sense, I was very skeptical of how much difference they could make. Last year I finally got one and, OMG, it was amazing!

I recently got a pair of cooling wristbands but haven't tried them out yet.

Hi @rumtscho! Long time no see.

hi @Cindy

yes, I'm at my parents', and my habits are shifting a bit here.

how are you doing?

Hanging in. How about you?

somewhat stressed.

I am doing a course for a driver's licence, and will have my test on Friday

I'm not really ready yet.

They are quite a difficult affair here in Europe, too. I've heard in the States, you can in some jurisdictions just get a driver's licence without even a test.

Today, my instructor did the first 15 minutes as a "test", with no talking or correcting me, and I passed it

right afterwards, I started making some mistakes

she corrected me, and I started making even larger mistakes

partly in situations I have never been alone in before. For example, I was leaving a roundabout.

She was furious, telling me I should under no circumstances ever stop in such a situation, because it is almost a sure hit from behind

so 1) the physical danger for me is worse than a side hit, and 2) I would be the one at fault (while, if the entering bus had hit me, it would have been his fault).

So now I am slowly trying to entangle why I am so stressed - maybe I am starting being more afraid of passing the exam than of failing it!

I made more mistakes today, all of them things I should have known, and that even before the stress of the roundabout

for example, on a right turn, I shifted to second gear instead of fourth

noticed the car is too quick, reached to correct (while still turning) and got fourth again.

The engine died while still not out of the turn, with other cars behind me.

Yes, different states vary quite a lot. Where I am, you have to take a written plus a driving test. Oh, I hate roundabouts! Sounds like you did well on your own. You'll find that someone in the car critiquing you will make you more nervous and apt to make more mistakes. And you have to remember that while learning the rules is important for passing the test, a lot comes with time and experience. Even experienced drivers make mistakes.

I'm sure you'll do great!

We'll see.

Fingers crossed for you!

The whole thing has brought me quite some stress, but at least, it was a major reason for my boss to agree to this sabbaticall I'm taking, and that's good for me in general.

I scrolled up to your earlier posts, you have a new job. Congratulations!

Thanks! I really need to get back to full time but it's always better than nothing. We've got a lot of hospital bills starting to come in. Go figure, we pay $1k a month for health insurance and then get these outrageous bills. And the co-pay for Hubby's new heart medicine (after insurance has paid it's part) is over $250/month.

@rumtscho I've got to go for now, but it was great to see you! Best of luck on Friday!

Wow, that's a lot to pay. And of course it's one thing you can't just decide to go without.

I hope you'll get something better soon, jobwise. Until then, glad to know you at least have this one.