WAKWIR: Driver's Ed

Hello and welcome back to another blog post written by the WAKWIR (Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence) himself, David. Since my last post at the end of May, there have been many, many different events that have happened that are worth sharing. And wow, time flies. At one moment it’s the day after school ends, and the next, almost the end of June. June has really gone by fast. But now, without any further adieu, let's get to these exciting events.

Immediately once June started, I began running 3 miles a day 5 to 6 days of the week. Why? Well, there’s a bit of story to that. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m on the Warroad Cross Country team. And one of the things our coach likes to do is the summer miles challenge to prepare for the next season. Between 2 specific dates (usually between the end of May and the middle of August when practice starts) we are challenged to run as many miles as we can. 

There are some goals integrated into the system as well. There’s a 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300-mile goal, each rewarded with a shirt to brag with at the end of the season if you make one of the goals. This year, I’m going to try to get to at least 100 miles, which is the smallest goal, but I’ve never reached it before so hopefully this year I can get it!

So along with running, another big thing happened: Driver's Ed. Now many of you may not know, but I really like cars. I’m 15 years old, which means that I’m eligible to get my driver's permit. To get your permit though, you have to have at least 30 hours of Driver's Ed.  And when my parents told me that I was going to be doing Driver's Ed this summer, I was pretty happy. Once I started the class itself, I was happy to be taking it. I liked that some of my friends were in it and I learned things that my parents didn't know. For example, my mom answered, "Ten feet" on each of the following questions:

1. How far away can you park from a fire hydrant? (A: No less than 10 feet.)

2. How far away can you park from a railroad crossing. (A: 50 feet.)

3. How far should your high beams shine down the road? (A: 350 feet, but visible from 1,000 feet.)

However, when I asked my mom, "What is the maximum distance allowed to park next to a curb?" This one she knew (no more than 12 inches) because she once got a ticket for parking too far away from the curb.  

But I couldn't wait for Driver's Ed to be over because it was 10 days of biking to town, attending class for 3 hours straight, and then biking home. 

The day Driver's Ed ended, and I was given my blue card for completing the 30 classroom hours, I immediately wanted to take the permit test. Although my mom didn’t really want me to take it right away (because I had failed a couple of previous practice tests) she eventually let me take it. After an intense 30 minutes, I finished. And yes, I passed. I didn’t have a perfect score (4 wrong) but I passed. The only downside to that was that my mom was super busy and couldn’t take me to the license bureau right away to get my permit. That would have to wait for the next day. 

As promised, she took me to the DMV on Wednesday to get my permit. Now, I had my permit, but I didn't get to drive right away, mainly because my mom wasn’t ready to have me drive. 

On Thursday, my mom told me that today I can finally start driving. When? After my second dose of the Covid vaccine. I had briefly mentioned my first shot in my last post, and my three weeks were up, so it was time to get my second dose. It was a quick and easy procedure, and after I got it, I was finally able to drive on public roads.

The time had come. I started the car. It wasn’t the first time though. My mom had let me drive our van a couple of times before in the Gardens Arena parking lot (a really nice open space) so I had some previous knowledge beforehand on how to drive a vehicle. After some very careful backing up, I eventually made it out of the clinic parking lot, and onto actual roads. My mom wanted to go shopping, so I drove to Doug's Supermarket, and it was here, where I parked for the first time. Yikes. I made it in between the parking lines, but the car was very crooked. After shopping, I somehow made it through town, and eventually home. Such a fun first driving experience. 

But the fun doesn't stop there. Later that evening my dad came home from work and he had heard that I had driven for the first time. He told me that I might be able to drive again if I helped him replace a cooling pipe in the Jetta. (My dad's prized car: 1986 Volkswagen Jetta.) After it was replaced, he gave it a test drive, and then we went to Cenex to get some gas. He taught me how to fill the car with gas, and some other small, necessary things.

On the way home though, we were driving, and then, all of a sudden, my dad pulled over. He told me I was going to drive. Oh boy, I thought. The Jetta is a manual transmission, and a couple months prior, he had given me a couple of lessons on how to drive one. (mainly to learn how to not kill the engine when I drive it). And just like earlier that day, somehow I made it home. I was able to get the car all the way into 5th gear (the highest) without killing the engine at all. Well, except when he asked me to back up into our very crowded driveway. It might have died there a couple of times. 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this very action-packed post, and I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday. Until next time, I'll be practicing my driving.

David,

aka WAKWIR

aka Wannaskan Almanac (Driving) Kid Writer-in-Residence

On This Day

Historic Highlights (credits)

2002 - Steve Fossett takes off on his record-breaking balloon flight

The American adventurer lifted off from Northam in Western Australia to commence history's first solo flight around the world in any aircraft. On July 3, after having traveled 33,195 km (20,626 mi), he touched down again in Queensland, Australia.

1987 - An ETA car bomb kills 21 in Barcelona

The 1987 Hipercor bombing was one of the bloodiest attacks by Basque separatist organization, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA.

1978 - Garfield, the lazy cat makes his debut

The first Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis appeared in 41 newspapers on that day. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

1964 - The U.S. Senate passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964

18 Senators unsuccessfully launched a filibuster to prevent passage of the law against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Richard Russel stated, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states.” The bill was signed into law on July 2, 1964.

1913 - South Africa implements the Natives Land Act

The law limited the areas of land that could be owned by black people to “native reserve” areas, which comprised less than 10 percent of the country's total area. It was in force until Apartheid was dismantled in the 1990s.

Happy Birthday to You!🎶 

1978 - Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player

1964 - Boris Johnson, British politician

1947 - Salman Rushdie, Indian author

1945 - Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician, Nobel Prize laureate

1861 - José Rizal, Filipino polymath

Remembering You

2013 - James Gandolfini, American actor

1993 - William Golding, English author, poet, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate

1991 - Jean Arthur, American actress

1937 - J. M. Barrie, Scottish author, playwright

1312 - Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall 

Keep reading and make it a great Saturday!

Kim