Qing's arrival and beyond .

[mustfocus]

I can say that teaching a wife to drive can be frustrating, also so can a drive instructor.  Better teach her yourself and by the way, teach her where the steering wheel and brakes are first!

By the way, shades of chevy chase in xmas vacation, thats a nice tree, are the neighbors still looking around their yard for it....:icon_cheesygrin:

Not sure about down there...but up here, you get discounts on your insurance if you use a recognised driving school.  Might be worth it.

[Arnold]

No problem Maxx , you bring out good point's as alway's . One is not to jump into anything unknown to the outcome , I know LOVE will make you say and do many things ... one might think over ... when actually face with them . Like her driving lesson's , here I thought of course .. HOW hard can they be ? It only took two / three and I know , it's no cakewalk . Especially the backing up . I'm looking sooo forward  to the parallel Parking ... NOT .

Thanks Jim . Her English is good enough to understand simple instructions , but she is very nervous about it all . This is where it's better for me to hang in there and teach her the best I can ... to be at least somewhat confident if the Driving School is needed later .
I'm also glad she likes the Americanized chinese Food at least . It's bad enough , she would not have any fast food like Mc D's / KFC and the like .

Rocky , also good point . I'll do my best of course . It's good to see a X-mas tree again in my Home . Up to now , I had no reason to go this far after my first wife passed away .

Must Focus , I know the Insurance  part will be going up either way here . But I will keep the mileage down on paper , as to how much she is going to drive a year ( like 10 miles ) haha .

[Chet Sams]

I want photos of the parallel parking arnold. Isnt too many people that can perfect it. And use orange cones for the cars.

[mustfocus]

Thanks Jim . Her English is good enough to understand simple instructions , but she is very nervous about it all . This is where it's better for me to hang in there and teach her the best I can ... to be at least somewhat confident if the Driving School is needed later .
I'm also glad she likes the Americanized chinese Food at least . It's bad enough , she would not have any fast food like Mc D's / KFC and the like .

Must Focus , I know the Insurance  part will be going up either way here . But I will keep the mileage down on paper , as to how much she is going to drive a year ( like 10 miles ) haha .

Actually, I find KFC is usually quite popular with chinese of any stripe... the only reason people hesitate is because it's so freakishly expensive compared to so many other places.  I refuse to buy KFC except for special occasions (and only if requested) because for the same dollar value, I can get so much more value from most other smaller non-chain restaurants.  And if it's chinese, all the chinese supermarkets in my area also offer hot food take-out.  As for the other chains...well, burgers aren't looked at too kindly around here.  We do have a few other "chicken" places, but still quite expensive...

As for the insurance, I know different places handle insurance differently, but I would not lie to an insurance company as that will also cause your rates to go up...And I heard that in the US, many of the companies have started to check mileage to get lower rates...going to hate that when it comes up here.

[Arnold]

Chet , the Cone part is a good idea . But , no Pictures during parallel parking .. sorry . I also agree , 9 out of 10 DON'T know how to do it GOOD ( without bumping both Car's or taking 10-15 minutes to do it ) . I see it happening all day long across my Workplace . Makes me wonder , how they received a License or from whom ?

[Chet Sams]

Well here i have seen alot of the same. And when i took my driving test many many moons ago. I saw alot of peoples test passing cept the parallel parking. So as long as they making a passing score on the test, they get to drive on. Which really sucks. Since alot of people cant even drive with a license as it is. And those people get there license from a old fashion cracker jack box.

[shaun]

Arnold,

I think all of the men her can compromise with the no picture policy here IF you will shoot a video and post it. :icon_cheesygrin:

Shaun

[RobertBfrom aust]

Arnold , go find a local hire a gokart track and have a fun couple of hours , Qing will then get an idea of balance and when she turns the steering wheel what happens , and it will get rid of her nervousness , regards Ying and Robert .

[Vince G]

Arnold, Did you check to see what is needed to get a lic in Calif? To get driving lessons you need a driving permit (?) you need a SS# for that? Or can something else be used?

[rockycoon]

In Calif, you need birth certificate, or passport, to prove your age and place of birth. You do not need a SS card as it does not have a picture on it. You also need a drive instructor with nerves of steel and a bottle of nerve pills.  I think there are only 20 questions on the test.  You also need a very comfortable pair of shoes for standing in line for hours or take a folding chair. and State farm probably has the lowest insurance check them out.

[Sylvain D]

haha, talking about kart... well, that could be any funny experience, but that would also help, I think. But for sure, the difference with "real cars" is very big.
Glad to see how things are doing so fine for both of you, Arnold, that's always a pleasure to follow your story, from China before, then, in your country right now. I wish to live the same, later, that's also what I'm dreaming about, day by day

[Arnold]

Thanks for all the advice Guy's . Believe me , I've had all this going through my Mind . About Qing's third lesson , I had her even going around serveral blocks near my House . I had to show her , that when you make your turns ( 90 deg . ) too slow that the steering wheel will not return by itself and told her to look in front of the Car not look at the steering wheel , which she is so involved with .. she forget's where she's going . But I see improofment in realizing all is a little easier with a little accelleration . She is now very comfortable with statrting the Car and putting it into gear and ready to go . Had her also make U-turns going up the driveway and down the street where it ends . She did those part's great . I'm proud of her process . She does want me to teach her , as she would be too nervous with a stranger .
I will get the Permit when it's time to do so . She has her Green Card ( which is good for two year's ) and S.S. Card already .
About the ESL classes , I'm trying to get in contact with that darn place .. as they have no Phone number listed anywhere . The one we found now , is a little less then 6 miles away . She is willing to walk this . I would drop her off in the morning on my way to work and she would need to walk home after . Of course , I'm somewhat uneasy about her walking alone .. even during the day time . I've have told her , that most likely many Car's / People will offer her a ride . Not to get to close to any Car's , no matter what . Have Pepperspray will travel . She does want to start the Classes ASAP , even they run from Aug. to May each year .

As myself concerns , I caught a bad Cold and was in Bed early last night with a high Fever . As luck has it , Martin called my House and Qing answered and had a nice talk together from what I learned this morning . I do feel much better , as I broke the Fever ..but still had about 99 deg. going to work this morning . Which of course worried Qing tremendously as she would have stayed home in Bed if it was her . But , us Men are too stubborn to do that .
She also had a call from my Neighbor's Lady and she will take Qing to the Mall this afternoon . Am I worried about her spending too much ? Not at all . She does have her own Money and I know she will not waste it on anything not 100% needed . What a big plus , these Women are ... compared to our western Women .

Ps: Sorry Ed , to have missed your Birthday . Hope you had one to remember .

[Sylvain D]

Nice to see that Qing is progressing, by driving lessons wit hou, Arnold and for sure, man can understand that she prefers to be with you as a teacher, instead than with anyone else. But later, when she will have to drive with any drive instructor, maybe will she be more "sure" about herself and her driving skills so that she would be less nervous
About your health, good to see you're better, even if you were not so fine yesterday. by the way, how is weather by your side? is it really cold, by now, over there?
Concerning money, I agreee with you, chinese women know much more than western women how to "save" money. That is also a good thing, that gives a little bit some more difference, too

[Arnold]

Thanks Sly ,
it has been raining alot the last few day's here and we also had a cold wind to deal with . But , I still think .. I picked it up from somebody else . I have not had a Cold in many year's and I do take care of myself quite well .. weatherwise . But dealing with Customer's and all the crowd's in the Malls , easy to catch something .. unwanted .

[Ed W]

Arnold. I've still been giving some time to this whole driving issue and your lovely wife. Something I have planned for my duaghters is to take them to an indoor gas powerd racetrack. These are Sodi's I think they're called but get up to about 30-40mph. The intention was to teach my girls about friction. Acceleration, cornering, breaking, all hinge on this, good weather or bad but I thought it'd be good training to help them understand what it feels like to spin-out, to over-break, under-break, take a corner too quick, or accelerate too quickly after a corner. It might sound a bit silly but I felt if they learn what happens when the lose friction then they will be prepared to understand better what can happen in a regular car and will not be totally unfamiliar with the feeling of losing traction while driving. Anyway.... it's just a thought of what im planning to better prepare my most prized posessions..