Tour of Utah

Tonight is my last night in Utah. Just for this trip. My mom and dad and I left Boise on Friday afternoon and have  managed to see 5 National Parks. Its only Monday night! My goodness!!
We saw Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. What a trip! Every place is so unique you can't even compare them to one another. Each time you think you've seen the most amazing cliff, or butte or mesa or pinnacle or hoodoo or arch you drive down the highway only to be blown away again! Its amazing!
The one thing I love about National Parks is that the people there are all international. They come from everywhere to see these places. As a "local" US resident I forget that people from Germany don't have the same kind of thing. What fun. We can all appreciate what the other has! I also collected 34 different state license plates. People around this country definitely get out and about.
Right now I'm staying in Monticello Utah. Quaint little town. Not much to it. we went to a restaurant in town and everything about it seemed weird but the food was SOOO good! Which was kind of a surprise, the best part was every table full of people was surprised how good the food was. The weirdest part was the little family running the place. A young mother and about 4-5 kids (I was never sure, more of them kept appearing) and they would bring the bread, clear the tables, seat the guests. It was kind of weird. They were barely tall enough to see above the table tops. They weren't like a well trained army of children they were kind of a messy wild bunch. It was so funny.
Tomorrow we go see Monument Valley. I cannot wait!
This whole trip has been part of a preview of my big tour coming up. My goodness these people are going to see alot of stuff! I'm so glad I did this because I'd really have been clueless about some of it without seeing it for myself.

Caught with my pants down!

Literally, I was caught with my pants down, peeing in the desert. Its really an all or nothing thing in the desert, not much to hide behind and the pickup that surprised me by coming over the hill (after I swear I checked) got a view of ALL of it. The best part was I suddenly heard them coming and I fell in the dirt (pants still down) trying to hide behind the one sad sagebrush in an attempt to not be seen. Too bad my big white a** was pointed right at them and I was wearing a bright purple shirt. Yep! They got mooned and I got dusty. Ha! It was hilarious. You'll be happy to know I didn't pee on myself in all that upset! The rainbow marks the spot. No pot of gold there...hehe.

My goodness what a day I had. I left Boise at 6 am this morning. I passed the man in the desert again, he had his tent up today, and he was poised over his dog, protecting him from the highway or something, he looked like a statue today. I wonder if anyone checks on him? Or brings him food. He doesn't move from there. Mile marker #17.
I saw the funny rocks that look like a herd of cows and I saw a weird march of the Canadians today too. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen. 4 or 5 groups of Canadian Geese all in formation but walking into this huge shallow lake I was driving by. It was really such a sight!

I was surprised by the amount of slow moving birds in Oregon too. So much carnage! First thing a truck hits this little black bird and it went flying in spirals up and off the road. There were magpies and pigeons, a hawk and sparrows and a mallard of all things. Bird carnage everywhere. I saw loads of buzzards too which are such a wicked sight. With their big red heads.
When I arrived in Lakeview Oregon I was surprised to see a sparrow pop its head up from the hood of my car. Like it had been along for the ride. I think he had hopped up there to snack on the bugs squashed on the front of my car. It was funny though because I was moving and he looked up like, "Excuse me~ but I'm eating here". It was really funny. Lucky bird that lived!

I had an amazing time at the DMV. Not in a good way. The place closes at lunch time and the parking lot filled up before she unlocked the door. I couldn't believe it, so it was a race to get a number first. The place was instantly full. With its 8 chairs and people standing. So the testing table was in the midst of this crowd...yeah take your big test in a group of grouchy locals who are pissed about having to wait at all.
That lady in there is such a trooper. She handled the whole thing with such patience and that can't be easy!

I passed my tests though!!! That's the most important part of today! First try on both tests and I didn't miss the maximum :) I almost missed the maximum but I'll take what I can get. And I got out of there. It took me an hour for that whole thing. So that wasn't bad either.

Then I had the pants down event on the way back so that about sums it up. Oh! I almost forgot the funniest thing (pre-pee) was that I was speeding down the road about 5 miles over the speed limit and I got passed by the Sheriff, so what was I waiting for? I sped up! I mean, getting passed by the guy I thought would pull me over just goes to show they don't like driving in the desert any more than the rest of us...and those ridiculous speed limits in Oregon, come on people!

DMV girl foiled again!

Its now Tuesday morning. I was able to study for my CDL tests all through the weekend and then Sunday afternoon I took off for Alturas CA to get my drivers tests done. Its a 6 hour drive across the desert, though this drive is a little more scenic than the other route. Past some mountains and a few lakes. So not a bad drive, weather was great too!
I arrived at Goose Lake campground and found a spot for the night. I planned to camp there (just a few miles from Alturas) and then head into Alturas in the morning for my physical and DMV visit. It was a pretty nice spot and I put my tent up without any embarrassing collapses or anything. Usually I get it half way and it will pop out of one of its holds and the whole thing will come crashing down.

Monday morning bright and early I headed to Alturas. Early enough to find the doctors office and go back into town for a coffee. There was a nice man serving coffee out of a drive through window. And I suspected, it was the first drive through in the area because the window was not very convenient for him and there was a table with chairs inside the little place with good ole boys sitting at it. Old habits die hard.
I was telling the nice man that I was headed to the DMV and all about my drive to get there and about my upcoming job and he was really funny, he said, "bring your group by here and I'll get them all fixed up", I told him Alturas (in the northern most tip of California) wasn't really on my route but thank you!
He said the DMV in Alturas is a really quiet DMV and that they only just got a take the number machine so they were moving up in the world. That's what I had hoped to find out, so I was looking forward to the visit.
Once I got all my papers in order from the doc I headed to the DMV. I took a deep breath and opened the door and guess what I found? All chairs full, people standing, and one nice lady helping everyone. Ha! So I took my number and waited in the quietest office you've ever seen. Now all chairs full was 8 chairs. Not the usual 20-30 chairs and one old couple left because they didn't have a few minutes to wait. (apparently waiting at the DMV was REALLY new) so my number was called in record time. The one lady working was very efficient and I heard her say before I got to her that they were hiring new people so she was the only one working, hence the "enormous" wait! Doesn't it just figure. The quietest DMV I wander into in California has been understaffed and had a line. Ha! Makes me laugh.

I got to the counter thinking I'd finally managed to take care of everything and she says "I need to see your social security card please" and I said I'm sorry what!!? And she proceeds to point to the line on my application stating SSN documentation is required. Oops!

My tears of success (or soon to be) turned into tears of sadness as I realized I didn't have it, didn't even know where it was (its packed away) and realized I'd have to drive back to Idaho 6 hours to go find it. She felt really bad for making me cry and she was really apologetic and I told her, if any employee of the DMV's I've visited in Cali lately had spilled the bad news they certainly wouldn't have been as nice as her. So off I went to cry in my car.

I called Mom to see if she might have it in a file but alas she didn't, then i sent her to the storage unit to see if it was in the bin and it wasn't so I decided to come home and find it. I couldn't either. Turns out you can get a replacement card for free and I had all the documentation that I'd need to replace it if I could just get myself to a SS office. There was an office 100 miles away from Alturas. Boise is 400 miles away. Hmmm. I'd like to think it wouldn't have been that simple and I'd have still had to drive back to Boise.
needless to say I was kicking my butt the entire way home. What it boils down to is this. Sometimes when you want something so bad that you fight and fight to get it, means you weren't supposed to be doing that thing. If doors keep closing or things keep happening maybe its not meant to be. On the other hand somethings in life are worth fighting for. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? At what point do you stop fighting and say, maybe this isn't the right path? Or maybe its the right path but wrong thing at the end of it.
Don't get me wrong I'm really excited about this upcoming tour. I mean, its going to be great! But the struggle to get there is really getting me down! I think I'll stick with the idea that this will be something worth fighting for and keep trying. If too many more road blocks appear though I may have to call and say no thank you. :(
We shall see. Tomorrow I drive to Cali and back in a day. That's 13 hours of driving round trip. Its going to be great!

Adventures of DMV girl

Yep, I have to go back to California...I didn't get a very clear answer from anyone and I have to go back to the state and take my written tests for my commercial licenses before they'll give me a driving test appointment. Wow, harsh! So the nearest DMV is 6 hours away from me. Across the desert of southern Oregon. I'll be camping a night and then spending some time with my favorite state DMV. I have to have a physical done by a doctor in California too so I had to find a town that included some medical doctors as well as a DMV. Fun!

Now I study! I don't want to have to go back again! The town I'm headed to is called Alturas its in the northeastern corner of Cali. Then in another week I'll be hanging out with my darling cousin Emily and all the family for her graduation party here in Boise. Oh boy! Then the following week my mom and dad and I are driving a part of my route so I can see what I'll be seeing and scope out some restaurants and sights I can recommend to my group! I can't wait! This tour is going to be great! So many amazing places to see along this route. Its going to be hot hot hot! I'll need a good hat and gallons of sunscreen! Yippee!! Tan me!

I'm really hoping the Alturas DMV is a little quieter, I'll really laugh if its an all day thing!

Beacon of the Golden Arches and other distractions

My goodness. Its now 12:40 am. I just arrived home in Idaho finally. What a day it was. I had to take notes as to not forget anything because the whole day was such a joke. I'm so glad to be home right now!!
I left San Francisco without too much trouble. I was faced with another unexpected stop at the toll plaza. That was really fun. I didn't know it was coming and then they don't post how much until you are right there and can't get off the freeway and get money ( 4 dollars to enter and exit that city~ cash only, be prepared) so I stopped and found out it was 4 dollars and then I began the hunt for every last coin and penny I could find. The lady just patiently waited for me to exhaust every last resource. If I can't manage it she gives me a ticket for 25 dollars,what a mean trick to play on visitors. No where does it say there is a toll? I ask you to show me where it says it!! So 3 or 4 minutes later and a pile of cars behind me I finally come up with the right amount of change. Thank goodness, so I'm cursing California already and its still early.

I get to the DMV in Davis thinking I'll be out of the Bay Area and will walk right into the place and get my test done...ohh no! Not one parking spot in the entire place. I had to go find parking down the street and walk there. When I got inside every chair in the place was full and there was a line around the corner. So I got my number G030 and they were on G020. That was at 10 am. My lucky number was called at 12 pm. This is after I got back in line to make sure I didn't have to have a Cali drivers license to get my Class B Commercial. She said no, I walked out, went to my car and called to make an appointment for the commercial test in July. That lady said no, so I walked back into the DMV hoping they hadn't passed my number yet...of course they hadn't (I'd been on hold 10 minutes by then, lucky me) so I was able to get my test done and I passed barely. You can only miss 6 and I missed 6. Phew! So as I mentioned to the guy I was just needing my Class B license he said oh my gosh, you didn't have to do any of this. I just said forget it, give me the stupid license and I'll tackle the rest later.
So I left the DMV at 12:15pm I'm still at least 9-10 hours from home by this point.

Off I fly down the freeway, trying to just keep up with the traffic and pay attention to where I am headed. In Reno I was trying to find something in my purse and I pulled my hand out only to discover it was covered in melted chocolate! One entire section was filled with melted chocolate. Oh my gosh, what a mess! I had a truffle in there and it oozed out and covered everything. Not looking forward to cleaning that up tomorrow! It was a really hot drive across the desert today! Even with cloud cover it was so hot! I opted for gummie bears instead of anything that would melt in my car...after I washed my hands from the chocolate dip they got.

Once I passed Winnemucca Nevada I had a brilliant giggle about the Golden Arches of McDonalds. ( I drove by one and was bored, okay?!) What if those were set up to send out a signal between the restaurants. Like a government cover-up. They are everywhere and some of those Arches are high enough to be like the Beacons of Gondor in Lord of the Rings. Thats why there are so many, in case of emergency we'll just activate the arches and they'll light up and spin or something fantastic. I'll be waiting to see.

Once it got dark I had the challenge of keeping my eyes peeled for deer and antelope, because they do roam. Every reflective highway marker became eyes after a while. I tried to follow a semi truck but he wanted me to go around him. I had hoped he'd be my point man and knock the animals out of the road by the time I got to them but he must have thought I could do the same for him. Though he'd survive that and I wouldn't have.

Well, here I am again. At my parents house, with little to do but study and wait for my first tour to start. I dread the possible reality of having to drive back to California before July to take the Commercial tests because that is the correct order of business. No one seemed to know. Very annoying. I will find that out tomorrow and then cry about it Thursday if I do indeed have to drive back to Cali for that portion of my test to prove my valor and loyalty.

This tour thing is going to be great but serious amounts of work to get there. California could skip this whole thing if they'd let us drive a 16 passenger van without an endorsement on our licenses. Its so lame! Idaho and Nevada and most other states are not that way. But California has to be different. I hate California. I'm so glad my tours will take me out of state and only a quick turn around before I'm out of it again. Thank goodness. Nothing is ever easy there. Nothing is cheap, nothing is close by. I mean, it has so many amazing qualities and then you get screwed at the toll booth and have to visit the damn DMV. Everyone should try that once to see why Californians hate it so much. Its HORRIBLE. Oh and I forgot to mention after all that they don't give you your license on the spot (oh Idaho, how i miss you already) they have to mail it to you. How lazy is that? Just print the stupid thing up and hand it to me. I hate the DMV. At least the workers were all nice in Davis, I will say that one nice thing but then I'm done.

So nice to be home.

On the Road Again

Its Tuesday at 8 am Pacific Time. I am leaving San Francisco and headed towards Idaho today. I am stopping off in a smaller town along the way to deal with the DMV test I need to take. That way I'm not waiting 3 hours to get to the front of the line only for the system to crash.
I got a call from my boss in McCall Idaho and she said she didn't want to put me to work after all so I'm starting from scratch again when I get back to Idaho. That is also why I'm headed back home, its cheaper there. As I've said before huh?! Once again I came to this state and was reminded how you need 6 dollars for a 2 dollar beer. Lame!
But I am really really excited about my upcoming tours. I start my first one July 24th. I picked up a bunch of reading material for studying. Its going to be a great trip. 3 weeks. I pick them up in San Francisco and drive them all around then back to Los Angeles to finish up. Its going to be great fun!

Last night I went to Union Square by bus and met my friend Sabine from Germany. She was one of my roommates from the hostel when I was here for class. She leaves on Wednesday to go back home. We met at the Cheesecake factory and had a slice of cheesecake. She caught me up on all of her adventures since I'd seen her. She had a list of things to see and tried really hard to fit them all in and she managed it! We had a great laugh too because things happen to her that are funny like happened to me. Misunderstandings mostly. Pretty funny stuff!

Getting there was a cinch too. Though when I walked down to Union Street to find the bus stop I walked past the bar called Bus Stop. That should have been my first clue...but it wasn't. So I walked up and down the street a bit and then missed the bus, as it stopped in front of the Bus Stop Bar. Oops! So now I know better. Ha!
Coming home was the same thing. Sabine and I walked towards this bus line and then it turns out they only run during peak hours (not 10 pm) so we had to walk back (a few blocks...like, might as well have walked home) and I caught another bus home. It wasn't bad really!

So, just getting ready to go here in a minute. Then I hope to pass my written test for my license. I have to get that done before I go anywhere as I'm trying to come back a week ahead of my tour and take the driving test for my commercial endorsement. I have to have a physical before I do that and it has to be done in California, lame! Its cheaper in Idaho but apparently Idaho isn't good enough :) who really knows.

So for the next month don't expect much blogging again. My life will be pretty boring. I'll just be hanging out and studying and exercising before my trip! I like the coming and going so much better. This waiting around thing is really annoying! Though once I start work I do two 3 week trips back to back so I'll be busy until end of August and then I have a trip in September also. So it will be go go go. I hope to have internet along the way because I'm sure I'll want to write about my trips.

Street Festival Brewery and Blues

What a day I had today. Slept in, got up, drank coffee. We walked down the street to Union St and they had a huge street fair today. Wow! Some of that stuff was soooo expensive I can't believe it. But the shops on that street are amazing and tons of great creative people making clothes and all sorts of things. We made a big loop, up one side and then down the other. They had free samples of ice cream with smuckers toppings on them. Yum and a booth to win fandango movie tickets and hummus and pita chips of all things. It was great fun. Sandy and I both sampled a Knish. A potato and spinach Knish. Yummy! A mashed potato, spinach, onion and seasonings then grilled inside a light flour dough. Weirdest thing but really good!

After we about wore ourselves out we headed down to Half Moon Bay to hear some blues at the brewery there and it turned out to be Rasta night. So we sat around the giant firepit and chatted with a whole bunch of people. One group turned out to be a realtor and a company wine man from Napa. So we got invited to a private tour of some of the winery's by them. It was great! What a good connection. They could name the winery's and the people who do the tastings and tell them Poppy (that was her name) sent you. It was really fun.

Jan was really in the mood for blues so we drove back up to the city and went to Lou's Blues down on Fishermans Wharf. I've never noticed it was there but the band there tonight was really good. And the people were hilarious and really into it and it was a great atmosphere. I'd recommend it.

I was thinking today how much I want to get out of this city. Isn't that strange. I like it here alot and there is so much to do and see but why does a Miller Beer have to cost 6 dollars. I mean, are you serious. And a salad is 15 bucks. Its just annoying. The food is usually good but a cheap beer still tastes cheap even when you pay 6 bucks, where is the fun in that!?

It will all be over soon though, I'll have a job and be too busy to spend my money, especially in SF so that will make it easier.

Monday or Tuesday Jan and I will drive up to Sonoma/Napa for the winery visits and then tackle DMV stuff again. I need to get business cards made up pronto, I've needed them over and over again and haven't had them.

Should be a good week and then I'll drive home Thursday or Friday. I think that will be best. Get back to a paying job and go from there. I must be tired and grouchy because right now I feel very blah about everything. Which is amazing considering the few days I've had! What a wild ride!

Bed time I think.

Open the door by knocking them down

Friday night when I got to the reception I realized I'd nearly knocked down the guy who hosted the whole party for us that night. Whoops! We ran into each other literally at the BBQ earlier that day and had a good laugh, though I didn't pursue an introduction which is typical for me. So I got to the party and there he was on the stage talking about Switzerland and how he was happy to be there throwing a party for us. Wow. If only I'd have said hello and how are you and where are you from...I'd have met the ambassador of travel from Switzerland. First thing in the morning I had kicked a guy in the shins on accident (twice~he wouldn't move his legs and he was in the way) turns out that guy was the owner of Collette Travel. Whoops again.

Friday night at the party, after I realized I'd been abusing top people all day, I was telling a lady I hadn't introduced myself to yet that I'd been going around all day hurting people as if I wanted to use that as my opening and it turns out she runs a huge company that does staffing for meeting and events in the Bay Area. Whoops again. I can't seem to win!

Yesterday (Saturday) I hopped on a bus tour to Monterey Carmel and it was great! The sun came out and it was a beautiful day to sightsee. The driver was also the guide and he was a really hilarious Italian man. I took good notes on his style so that I could use some of his techniques when it was my turn. We stopped in a few cute little places and then went to Monterey over lunch time. I wandered way down the road to where the scuba divers were at and found a fantastic BBQ place! Wow, so good! And cheap too. Cheaper than where all the tourists hang out. Its fun to explore like that because when you do find a gem you feel justified in the walk :)
We did the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach and that was really beautiful. I'd never done that drive and I was really enjoying myself. Our bus was just empty enough that we each had our own window seat so we had a great view the entire way. We stopped at Pebble Beach and they were getting set up for the US Open Golf and so there was a ton of activity there. Talk about dressing up just to be somewhere. My goodness, that place is posh! This is a photo of the Lone Cypress which is the symbol of Pebble Beach.

We stopped in Carmel for about an hour but because the bus can only park in one area the beach was really really far away and so I still haven't seen the white sands of Carmel by the Sea.
The people are picking the fruit out of the fields right now too so there are stands loaded with freshly picked produce everywhere. Our bus didn't stop at any of them which was a bummer. The one place he did stop that had produce was selling stuff from Mexico. I mean, what? There were fields surrounding this place and they don't sell local stuff?
It was a great day! I got home and the sun was setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge and that was the first time I'd gotten to see the bridge. Its been in the fog for days. It is again today too.
This morning we are headed to street fair by Jan's place and then to Half Moon Bay for some Blues later on. Should be fun!
Sales tips by Jan:
You have to realize you'll have to ask a hundred times before you'll get a yes. A true salesman's job really starts at no.

Tourism Cares for America-Angel Island

I had the most spectacular day today! Its Friday afternoon June 4th. I was able to participate in a volunteer day on Angel Island, which is in the Bay of San Francisco. What a beautiful place! Lots of neat old buildings and a beautiful little bay to anchor your yacht in and it was just an amazing place!
Our day began at 5:45am. We had to get up and get ourselves to Pier 41 to catch the ferry to the island. Oh man was that early! We had breakfast provided for us on board and we had a good chat with people as we went across the water. It was misting this morning. Locals call that fog, I've never seen fog be so heavy then, but what do I know?! I live in the desert.
We were assigned work groups and were shuttled to our work sites on these really ancient trams. Our job was to clean up a yard of a warehouse and move a few thousand roof tiles. The pretty terra cotta tiles. What a project! When we first arrived there though the Park Ranger we had said he'd open the bay doors of the warehouse and inside this room were canons from the Civil War!! Direct from the foundry, not even fired yet! 1863! They were set on their wheels just as they would have been that long ago! It was really cool!
They provided us with lunch and snacks and then at 3 we had a huge barbeque back at the ferry docks and that was really good!
Once they loaded us back onto the ferry's (where they served free wine and beer) we had a tour of the bay as seen under a layer of fog :) so around the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz and then back to the Pier in SF. Tonight they are throwing us a party hosted by the Hard Rock Cafe on Fishermans Wharf! Fun, fun!
Last night they hosted a reception for us at Neptunes Palace, so we were treated to amazing food and drink all complimentary! I had oysters fresh from the Pacific, the man was cracking them open as we stood there. Oh man they were so good! And seafood cocktail in these little cups with real (Deadliest Catch~thank you) crab meat and shrimp! That was the tables I hovered over of course!

Tonight who knows what we'll have but its nice to eat well and not pay for it! Though we did work pretty hard today so I think its worth it anyways!

Its been a great event. There are tour directors and Tour Operators here and people from within the industry in all lines of work. I met a guy from National Geographic! Wow. I have my picture with him by the canons today!
In our packets were coupons for free tours so I'm taking an all day tour of Monterey and Carmel tomorrow! Oh boy! Then next week Sandy and Jan and I will use our free Rocketboat coupons!  Fun fun!

And of course along the way I'll have to take my drivers tests etc. I haven't forgotten why I'm here!

Back to Oakland DMV

Some of you are saying...why are you in Oakland? Have you been to the DMV before? I thought you were in McCall Idaho. Funny isn't it!

I moved to McCall and got all set up to work for the new restaurant (great food by the way) and then I got a call from the company in California that I'd kind of given up hope of hearing from. They called to see if I was interested in interviewing for a job. Oh sure!

So, long story short (you know I suck at that) I had a phone interview and it went well and in the mean time I decided I'd drive down to San Francisco and start the DMV processes to get this job, just in case. And the Tourism Cares event was happening this week too so I thought I'd rub elbows with some tour operators while I was at it. So I got in the car yesterday (Weds June 2nd) and I drove myself to SF. Wow, what a long trip. Along the way I got a call from the company and got the job officially!

So that brings us to the DMV. My class mate and now coworker Jan was going to Oakland to take her driving test early today so I said I'd go along and then I could take my California written test. hmmm

The last time I went to this exact DMV was years ago when I was working for crazy Mr B in San Leandro and I had to go find a Drivers Manual. Yikes! Long lines, lots of scary people (at that time they were like aliens to me and I was freaked out) so I got the job done with some yelling and death glares from the DMV ladies.

Today it was the same kind of thing. Its a huge place, something like 30 windows of DMV people trying to help us all out. So I get in line to get a number, I get there and she says, fill out an application and then come get a number (the line is out the door) so I get back in line and get my number and sit down. As I'm waiting, I'm reading through the Manual and I look up to see my number pop up at Window 12 and I'm sitting at Window 24 ish so I get up and walk to 12 and she's got a guy in front of her. I waited thinking he cut in line or something and she says too bad lady, get back in line for another number and try again. I mean, seriously? The line isn't getting shorter by this point!
So I go get in line and she grabs me a number and waves at me to come get it which was REALLY nice of her! And so I've got a new number and I'm paying attention, ready to HUSTLE to the window and then 6 numbers shy of my number the computer system stops working. And as time passes a lady comes around and says the problem is state wide and its going to be a while just be patient. Ha! It was hilarious! No wonder people from California get so mad when they go to AAA in Idaho and are sent to DMV. Its a nightmare.
They didn't have the air conditioning on and it smelled like pee in the building and it was hot and humid too which makes that smell worse (is there anything that makes it better?)

Phew! So now I wait and get a physical and then more driving tests before I start work in July.

In the meantime Jan lives in a beautiful place with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge! Wow, its a beautiful place!