I am glad to report I am feeling more relaxed while driving. Today on my morning commute I decided to track my heart rate while driving again, and the average was 94 bpm. it is the lowest ever, since November 2012 when I started driving. It means the route is familiar now, and I am more at ease handling my car. My husband and a couple of friends who have been on the passenger seat tell me they feel safe and that I should not worry too much about it. For comparison I put links to my first ever driving solo log and the one from today's.
- Today's driving log
- First time driving alone log. This was quite a workout, but then I read formula one drivers get their hearts pumping at even higher rates! :)
I have not been updating this journal lately, because this
driving thing is becoming more trivial, but I can write some notes to myself on
my next goals.
Drive to the city center and parallel park.
The parallel park thing I prefer to do it when the snow disappears
to be honest, and I think the city center is designed for walking not for
driving, especially in the winter, but, I may adventure there, with my husband
on my side first. He claims I lack the adventure gene, but I think one should
be on the cautious side, especially when driving.
Get lost more often, and find my way home.
Just make sure I have a full tank before attempting it. This happened to me, although I was not planning
on getting lost, I took a friend and his son along with my son to a party. I
have checked two routes before hand and put the navigator just in case. Well I took
the wrong highway exit and the only thing my navigator suggested was “to turn
around when possible”. I attempted a new route but I took a couple of wrong
exits again or I was not in the right lane to turn when the navigator suggested
it. I was nervous, and when I calmed down and paid more attention to the
instructions (especially the anticipate part, telling that a turn is
approaching) I did it. I arrived safely to my destination and find my way back
home after the party, but when driving there I was very close to go back home
and take a taxi instead, I am glad I did not do it. It was really quite a long ride,
but my friend was happy because her son took a nap.
Drive more economically.
I am actually not so sure how many liters per 100 km is my
car doing, my estimation is 6.2 l per 100 km. It could be less, because this is
based on approximations. I have spend 150 € on gas since I got my car in
November, that is less than my husband averaging 100€ per month. And the car is
doing the job of taking me to work (40 km route on weekdays) and a short errand
occasionally. If distances are short enough I walk, and if I need to go to the
city center I take public transport, it is difficult to find a parking space
there, and indoor parking cost dearly (6€ per hour). Just for the sake of a
challenge, let’s see if I get the Nissan Micra to use less gas.
