Lessons learned

I had my final pre-paid pre-test driving lesson this afternoon. My normally punctual instructor, Lino, had called to let me know he was running late because the heavy rain was slowing traffic down. That suited me just fine.

Eventually Lino arrived and we were off. As soon as I started the car I noticed the low-gas indicator was flashing again. I frowned at the blinking indicator and turned toward Lino, who was smirking. I grumbled, "You weren't late because of traffic. You were late because you were driving around in order to show up here with an empty tank." His denial was unconvincing.

"You know what?" he said. "I've got a student who is exactly the opposite of you. He loves the smell of gas, and tar, and rubbing alcohol, too." Better you than me, driving around with that kid, I thought.

After I had filled the tank, I reminded Lino that we had practiced gassing up twice but had not yet covered night driving or driving on gravel. "Those come later," he explained. "The first thirteen modules are geared to get you to pass the test, which you, uh, at this stage, well, you wouldn't, um..."

I made sure to drive on the sidewalk on the way home.