The clerk at the
Livingston County, Texas DMV office instructed me on the use of their
exam system. “It works better if you use the pencil eraser than
your finger [to answer test questions],” she said, pointing to a
small screen and chair in the corner of the office.
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I sat down at the
testing station and entered my DMV number. Up popped question 1: How
many inches off the ground can mud flaps be on a commercial truck?
How the frack should I know!!! I made my best guess. Eight
inches. “Correct. 1 of 20,” read the screen. Next question: Which
of the following vehicle types is not required to have mud flaps in
Texas? Crap! I don't know this one, either!
And so it went.
Turns out I had studied the wrong section of the Texas commercial
drivers license manual. It was my university general chemistry first
semester final all over again.
Our carefully
thought out plan to become licensed Texas drivers was now at risk.
Even before Leonard and I had entered the DMV office to take our
written exams – a pre-requisite for taking the road skills test –
completing the licensing process was proving to be more difficult
than either of us expected. We had a narrow window between the time
we arrived in Livingston until the time we needed to depart for
Topeka, Kansas to accomplish the deed. (For reasons I won't go into
here, a late arrival in Topeka was simply not an option.) By the time
we completed everything needed to schedule our written tests (see
previous post for details), we had enough time left for just one of
us to book an appointment, thereby becoming a fully-licensed Class A
non-CDL driver.
Leonard was the
obvious choice since he had logged so many more miles towing Kong
than I had. What's more, unlike Leonard, I had never backed up the
KongZilla combo. So, I would get a learner's permit, giving me until
my birthday of 2020 to take the road exam. Meanwhile, I could drive
KongZilla when accompanied by a Class A licensee (and drive
Truckzilla without restriction). Failing my written test would force
Leonard to bear the entire towing burden solo until such time as we
could return to Texas when I would retake the exam. While I have
absolutely no problem riding along the nation's highways being
carried like Cleopatra sitting in her barge down the Nile, it would
be neither fair nor safe to place all that responsibility on one
member of our two-person team.
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RVers are exempt from getting the full commercial
license. My advice? Study sections 2 and 14, 14, 14!
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Don't panic,
Sally. You can do this!
As with that college
final, my guessing skills and some deep breathing carried the day. I
passed. The clerk printed out my temporary Texas learner's license.
Now, it was Leonard's turn.
He sat down at the
terminal. A very short time later, he stood up, looked at me and
shook his head from side to side. Oh, no!
Undaunted, Leonard
returned home and spent the rest of the day studying. He passed the
exam the following day and even managed to talk the examiner into
scheduling his road test for our last day in Livingston. And, yes, he
passed that with flying colors. Phew!
Today, we trek
northward in our rolling condo. Just two real Texans and a beagle. Git along, little doggie!