Behind-The-Wheel Training

Yesterday, I completed my first lesson of behind-the-wheel training. This essentially means you can drive with an adult over the age of 25 who is licensed. It was two hours of getting acquainted with your vehicle and the road. I must say, once you're on the road, it is quite the rush. It's a lot of fun. If you're looking for a driving school in the San Diego area, check out American Driving Schools. Anyways, you're gonna have to log your driving time somewhere. You'll have to accumulate 50 hours of supervised driving.

Me and My Driving Instructor, Michael Manzi

Learner's Permit

On Friday, I went to my local DMV, took the test, and got my learner's permit. Here's what I've learned from this experience:

Picking the Right DMV

I went to a relatively new DMV. As a result, the people there were significantly nicer than those you see on TV. In addition, the test is all digital. I'm pretty sure that isn't available at most DMVs. I also got to smile for my permit license. It came out pretty good.

Taking the Permit Test

You should know general stuff for this test. Important things to note include maximum legal limit of blood alcohol content for people both under and over the age of 21 (They're different; 0.01% under 21; 0.08% over 21). You should know general speed limits and penalties for illegal actions (Such as abandoning an animal on the road). Otherwise, it is (hopefully) common sense. The red octagon is a stop sign. The answer is usually the safest decision and is fairly obvious most of the time. On digital tests, it will tell you if you got a question wrong as soon as you get it wrong and what the correct answer is. 

Anyways, that's my story. I won't be able to drive until my behind-the-wheel training, but until then, have a great Thanksgiving!

How To Fill Up At A Gas Station

Although it seems like a fairly simple process, filling up at a gas station takes a bit of getting used to. Here's a quick, easy tutorial on how to get gas at a gas station.

Know Your Car

You should know two things about your car before filling up at a gas station. First, you should know what type of gas it takes. Normal, slightly-better normal, premium, or diesel? The other thing you should know is which side of your car the gas tank is on. There is nothing more embarrassing than forgetting which side the gas tank is on.

Pay, Choose, and Pump

First, turn off your car and walk out to the self-service station. Insert a credit card (or a gas card, which will become your new favorite birthday present) into the credit card terminal. Don't forget to choose a grade of fuel. Take off the gas cap and insert the nozzle. Pull on the lever of the pump until it clicks.

Annoying Safety Regulations

Cue annoying safety video music! According to crazy regulations, you should turn your phone off whenever near a gas station. Also, you're not supposed to get back into your car because static electricity can start a fire. 

Finishing the Job

Shake the nozzle in your tank to get every last drop in your tank. Be sure to take out the nozzle before driving away! Remember when I said that there was nothing more embarrassing than forgetting which side the gas tank is on? Well, I lied. There is nothing more embarrassing than driving away with the nozzle still in your car. So many bad things can happen from that. Newer gas stations typically have a different gas hose that prevent those "bad things" from happening. Also, be sure to put back on the gas cap. 

And that's how to fill up at a gas station in a nutshell! I hope this helps! 

Registration Fee Calculator

Registration is something many people don't think of when they think about driving. But, they need to know how much registration fees costs. Luckily, I found a cool tool that can quickly calculate the price of a registration fee for a variety of vehicles.

In essence, all you have to do is input your vehicle, purchase, and residency information. Then, click the "Calculate Fees" button. You'll get a chart of all the costs of a registration fee. It can really add up based on what you put in.

It's a good thing to know this. It can make the difference of you buying a used car instead of a new car. Yes, there are different rates for used and new cars. There are also different rates for out-of-state cars and different types of fuel. Experiment around with this. It can help you find a car within your budget. I hope this helps!

#X

Today's post is about #X (Kudos to AT&T for making it up). Basically iPhones and Androids have the ability to change small pieces of text instantly into a larger text. It's like spellcheck. The idea is that when you get into your car, you text anyone who might text you while driving #X. This will autocorrect to "Can't talk now. Driving…" or something along those lines. That way, you can drive without having to worry about someone texting you unless it's an emergency. 

Here's how to set it up:

On iPhone

Just open the Settings app and go to General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut. For Phrase, type something that tells the recipient that you're driving and can't respond to text messages for a little while. For shortcut, type "Can't talk now. Driving…" (or something else if it's too hard to type a hashtag). Then, hit save.

On Android

Once again, open Settings and go to Language & input > Personal dictionary and find the "+" icon in the Action Bar (top right corner). For the long phrase, type something that tells the recipient that you're driving and can't respond to text messages for a little while. For shortcut, type "#X". Then, hit the back button.

After you've set it up, test it out by typing "#X" in any text field. It should turn into something along the lines of "Can't talk now. Driving…" Whenever you are texting someone and are about to drive, just type #X. That way, you can drive safely in a quick and easy way.

On iOS

On Android