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Friday, May 16, 2008

Spare Change, Changes to License, License Stipulations

Yesterday I was running some errands on Central in downtown Swift Current. I was on my way back to the station, walking briskly and with a little spring in my step (it was a good day) and a man approached me. He was unshaved, wearing a navy blue work shirt, and blue jeans that both looked a little dirty. He was crossing the street towards me and called out to me.
"Excuse me, miss." I stopped and looked at him, ready to back up if need be (years of living in Vancouver have left me with an extreme distrust of strangers who approach me out of nowhere..especially if they look like they might not stop outside of my personal space).
"I'm new to town, and I was wondering if you might be able to spare just a few coins for me?"
I was literally dumbfounded for a moment. I frowned and told him I was very sorry, but I didn't have any money on me at all (which was only partly true...I only had bills on me).
He nodded and said "that's fine, you have a great day. You look very nice today."
I smiled and thanked him and walked away fairly confused.
I know I've only been here a year, but I have apparently gotten very used to the idea of not being asked for money while walking around downtown.
~
In other news, I have now got my motorcycle learner’s license! That’s right, I can now legally ride a motorcycle on public roads! Hahaha! Don’t fear though, I’m going to stick with scooters. The test was fairly easy. There were three written parts; one portion similar to the learners license test, one portion on road signs, and one portion on motorcycles. I got a couple of questions wrong on the first section, but I attribute that to it being 10 years since I first took the test, and it being a little different for Saskatchewan. (Nothing major though, don’t worry). I only got two questions wrong on the signs portion, and they were just silly mistakes. And, for someone who has never even looked at motorcycle beyond noticing the color, I think I did pretty well on that portion! The questions about bikes that I got wrong had to do with things about motorcycles, like which hand controls the front brake. I have no idea. I remembered glancing at that in the handbook, but I didn’t really put much into memorizing it. Would have been easier if I’d actually looked at a bike before. But regardless, I passed. Now I can get my scooter! Where, I’m not sure, but I can go ahead with it! Yay!
The downside of the whole thing is that I need to get prescription sunglasses. After the learners test I had to have an eye exam and we discovered I can’t read the little notes without my glasses, so I now have a restriction on my license. Sigh.

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