All done with School

Wow - I can't believe I finally got here - to the end result. Well there first part of my 'end result'! lol Finishing truck driving school!! Woooohoooo!

After failing my skills last Monday (5/17) and then 3 others from my group did too (I guess you can say - we stick together!!) We went back to the school and practiced on Tuesday with Andrew - who is a great kid and yes I say kid, he is 23, but has a HUGE heart and genuinely cares for his students! He taught me alot about driving and that is where I'm most comfortable! He even said to me that if he had to drive with me anywhere, he would totally feel comfortable sleeping in the sleeper while I was driving! That was huge to me!! So thank you Andrew for that! On Wednesday I went back to school with my new found friend and partner in crime - Barb, she is a great woman and we have alot in common and we instantly clicked! She is also going to be teaming with her hubby but with Werner. But the both of us went back and Wednesday because Juan who is another AWESOME instructor there wanted to work with us in his truck, because he said his truck is alot easier to do skills in. At first I was like - yea, OK whatever! But WOW!! HUGE HUGE difference between the two instructors! Don't get me wrong - there both good - but they teach totally different. Juan teaches visually, with markers and such and that is me!! I'm a very visual person. Give me a mark, tell me to go here or there and I got it. So on my alley docking, he shows me his way. All I can say is WOW!! It was a huge difference to me! There were times when I got it with Andrew, but never had that AH-HA moment. But after maybe 3 times doing it with Juan's way - I had the biggest Ah-Ha moment ever with my ally docking!!! It felt sooo good! We then had Thursday and Friday off and came back Monday and Tuesday and practiced more with Juan. I felt good - I actually felt ready to go to the DMV on Wednesday!

I wake up Wednesday morning - feeling really good, not nervous or having a panic attack (which I'm good at! lol) Drove down to the school to meet Barb and Juan had us do the skills in the yard before we drove over to the DMV. I nailed it - so my confidence was growing! haha So we get to the DMV and pay our $30 to take ours skills test again and then wait! They're down to 4 testers because other 4 are off having to be tested themselves by Federal because in July there are BIG changes coming to be able to get your Class A. So Albert - our tester - comes over to us to get things started. Johnny went first because he had to to his Air-Brake and walk around test. Then Steven went next and did his skills - he passed! I went next and I was walking to the truck, I was thinking... Ok girl your in the Dunes and your backing up your toy hauler.... I nailed it!! No pull-ups on my alley dock. I missed 1 point out of 10 possible. And it wasn't on the alley docking - it was on my right turn because I went too wide. But hey - I will take it! Then Barb and Johnny did there skills and they also nailed it! Not one of us did 1 pull up on the alley docking! One of the other testers - Kenny - came up to us and said Barb and I were putting all these guys waiting to take there skills to shame! hahaha SWEEET!

Next came our drive test, Steven went first and he passed!! I went next, I was a little nervous, but kept telling myself - you love this part - you love to drive. So I get in the truck and I had to sign the next part of my test and Albert started talking about my tattoos and the skulls I have! Score!! That helped alot. So off we went, I was still a little nervous and yes I grinded a few gears in the beginning but things started to get smoother. I took my turns pretty good and the whole drive took about maybe 25-30 minutes! We got back to the DMV and Albert said I did really good! He even mentioned while I was driving that he could see I was a natural!! haha He told me I only missed 9 points out of 44!! We got out of the truck and I was so happy I asked if I could give him a hug! lol He had to test an independent and then take his lunch, so we had about and hour and half to kill. We went and got some lunch and then it was Barb's turn. Unfortunately she hit a curb on a right turn and that is an instant fail :( So now she will have to start all over, even taking her permit test over. But I have ALL the faith in the world in her and she can do this!! I mean, if I can get the alley docking skill, she can get the drive!

So I have put in my call to my Schneider recruiter for my phone interview and of course got his voicemail. So now I just wait for his call back and see what's next!

Much Love!

Muthatrucker

Day before my DMV driving test.....

It's Sunday and for the most part I've been okay.... But now that my day is coming to an end, I will be honest and say that I'm starting to freak out! My big test is tomorrow - my driving test at the DMV!! Ive had a GREAT instructor and he keeps insisting that I will do good on the test - just don't let my nerves get the best of me!! lol

My schooling is done and I did pretty good. I did have some some stressful days and some overwhelming days, but on those days I leaned on my friends and family and another female trucker "Gi-Gi Roxx" who also works for Schneider. She has helped me alot!! Make sure to check her blog out too!!

And I have to say that the school I went to - Advanced School of Driving' was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting there Class A here in So. Cal. The Instructor I had was awesome and I cant stress that enough!! I think it also helped that the group I was in was a big bonus too! It was a great group and we all helped each other out and I know we will be there for each other tomorrow too!

Wish me luck tomorrow!! I will need everyone's happy thoughts, prayers and whatever other mojo you want to send my way!!

Much Love!!
Muthatrucker

Day 3 - DMV

omg!!! What a day!! I mean seriously - it started out great, felt pumped up about my test and studying for it. Got to the DMV around 10am, waited in line for about an hour, got up to the information counter told the guy why I was there, he asked to see my Social Security card, so I gave it to him... Well...... it's laminated. It's been laminated for over 20 years, never had a problem with it before, but I guess today was my day to start! lol He told me that they can't accept a laminated card (even says on the back: "DO NOT LAMINATE") but he even asked around and then made a phone.. Still a 'no-go'. So I left - just about in tears!! Called Scotty - my rock and 'wah-wah'd' to him! He told me to take a deep breath, call the Social Security Office. So I did and found one that was actually really close to the DMV that I was at. I went over there, waited for another hour, got a really friendly girl that told me not to worry, she can replace my card and get me a certified copy to take back to the DMV!! woohoo

So I got back to the DMV at 1:30pm, went back to the information counter and this time the girl I got didnt ask to see my SS card!! Go figure! lol I got my number G142. They were on G100 - yay me!! lol Around 3:30 my number got called, gave the guy my stuff and he asked to see my SS card, gave him what I had and of course, right off the bat he said he cant take that. So I went into the whole explanation of what happened, so he went asked someone and came back and said I was good to go.. WHEW!!! He processed everything and said, "Ok, go take your picture" (WAIT A MINUTE?!?!? picture??? I was soooo not prepared for a picture!! LOL - Oh well) Took my picture and then went to the test area, got my test papers ALL 5 OF THEM!!and I was off... Felt good, doing good. Then came to my Air Brakes test.... The one Ive been struggling on.. I felt I did okay... I took it up and got it graded. I aced everything, even the HazMat endorsements, but on the Air Brakes test, I missed 5 and you can only miss 3... Stike 1. So I studied and took it again... Missed 4!!! Strike 2!! WTH!! Lol She asked if I want to take it again.. By then it was 4:20pm, I told her no, I am going to go home and study my butt off (yes - that's what I told her - made her laugh!) and will come back tomorrow.

But I do have to say thank you for my friends and family who totally supported me and gave me their shoulder's to vent on today! Without them, I wouldnt be where I am now!! So much love to Scott, Cory & Angel, Jeanna, Kimmi, Jana and JerryJack for picking up Cole from the airport and then taking us out to a much needed dinner!!

Love to all!!!!

First day in school - 4/26/2010

Boy let me tell you - when that alarm went off this morning at 4am, I wanted to crawl back under the covers! I think I finally got back up and moving around 4:20 and we hit the road at 5am. Got Scott to Schneider around 5:45am and had to go find his truck because he had no jake-brake - so maintenance worked on it over the weekend! So we got his truck and loaded his stuff for the week, said our goodbye's, he wished me luck with school.

I got to school at 6:25am and it was packed with people!! So that made me even more nervous! lol I walked up to where everyone was milling around and you could tell everyone was sizing everyone else up! the instructor had us fill out paper work and asked us for our driver's license and social security cards. After that we watched a couple of videos that talked about the DMV testing and went through the questions. After that he gave us the 3 different test questions and told us to study because tomorrow we will be doing a pre-test before going to the DMV on Wednesday.

After lunch or actually late breakfast - it was 10:30am!! lol We got called up front to get our DL & SS back and our paperwork to go to the clinic for our drug test. Well I had no idea that I would also be doing the DOT physical and that our blood pressure would be taken!! Because on our drive down, I drank a venti-size coffee!! But I passed the physical and got my very first DOT medical green card!! yay me!