It was held entirely in a parking lot – there was no street driving portion. There were no speed related tests – no braking, no swerving, no cornering at speed. The whole test consisted of driving around a tiny course painted in an area of the DMV parking lot. You have to drive around it twice, once with a slalom around some cones, and once with a couple of straight portions instead. There were no points, just pass or fail. If you drove outside the lines, hit a cone or put your foot on the pavement, you failed. That was it. Crazy.

Also, while I was waiting to get plates issued for my bike, I saw a Chinese lady waiting to take the written test. She was holding what looked like some pages ripped out of a phone book – they even had some English at the top of the page that said something like “Chinese language yellow pages”. The rest of content on the pages was a copy of the DMV multiple choice tests in Chinese, with the answers marked in. What I’m wondering is if this is just an attempt to disguise these study materials, or if there actually is a section in some legitimate phone book that contains these pages…

I do have to calculate repairs into that though – one of my rear brake pads just fell apart last week, so I’m just in getting it replaced. Even with that included it still doesn’t put the cost over the train.

Anyway, I should be back on the road again shortly

Although it meant a bit more work for me, and ended up costing a bit more, I still really like the idea of shipping a container rather than hiring a moving company. At least this way I knew how things were being handled – since I was the one handling them. I felt a lot better about my computer and stereo equipment having arranged the container myself, and knowing that my stuff wouldn’t be transferred between trucks and warehouses along the way. Since I’ve arrived here I’ve seen smaller containers in the parking lot from other moving companies as people move in and out, so I guess I’m not the only one thinking like this.

I’m still going to be living in a hotel until I can get to the POD to retrieve my bicycle and portable bed. The rest of the furniture will have to wait until next week. Oh well.

Also, I went up to San Francisco to meet Florian for lunch on Saturday and he gave me a quick tour of the Embarcadero and downtown. And yeah, San Francisco is as hilly as you’ve heard…

I’m getting the hang of the local transit system, as my motorcycle won’t be shipped down until I get my I-94 corrected, and this morning I found the northbound San Carlos Caltrain platform had been ‘decorated’. Yes, I do know the way to San Jose

Also, while I’m looking for a more permanent place to stay I’ve been staying in a hotel in San Carlos, not too far from the airport and air museum. This weekend there was a helicopter air show, which I mostly missed due to house hunting, but I did pass by the airport and grab a couple of photos:

This little guy was flying loops and rolls and all sorts of other crazy maneuvers. Unfortunately I only got to see the preview on TV – I was in Sunnyvale at the time of the show. This morning on my way out a whole group of military helicopters had showed up:

I’m not going to get to see them in the air either, it seems. Oh well.

I recently made a trip down to the Bay Area to check things out, and see if I couldn’t find a place to live while I’m down there. During most of the week I spent there I didn’t have a car, so I got around by public transit. People told me that I was crazy, but I already knew that.

Between BART and Caltrain the service itself didn’t seem too bad, but signage was occasionally a problem. When there’s no indication at track level as to which direction the train will be going, things can be confusing. Millbrae Caltrain platform 5, I’m talking about you! On my first day, shortly after figuring out that the train headed south to San Jose, a backpacker who had been walking up and down the platform since before I arrived asked me which way the train went, and he was then asked the same question only a few moments later…

On a brighter note, cars seem to stop for pedestrians almost without fail, to the point that people will pretty much slam on their brakes if they see you waiting at a crosswalk. Contrast this to Markham, where you’re lucky if drivers even notice you, nevermind actually stopping.

It was pretty warm there, but according to my new boss you can get by without AC if you’re only at home in the evenings. This is something I have a hard time believing, given the temperatures I saw during my trip, but we shall see. I came away with a few leads for apartments, although given I can’t really go down there until the University gives me my diploma, I’m still a way off actually moving.