My Grand Marquis Diary

Finally made good progress with everything I need to do! Yesterday, I finally got my new driver's license with my updated name (after finally waiting a week for my new social security card) and used that to transfer the title to my name! I've scheduled the inspection/maintenance for tomorrow, so we'll finally be done soon!

Not driving for a year though has turned me into a not-so-great driver. 😅 I've definitely got some relearning to do. I almost caused a car accident on my way home from the PA Department of Transportation yesterday, which left me a bit shaken even though it was very minor. There was a small bus by the Department that had its blinkers on for a few minutes. I decided I would just go around it and the driver took that moment to start moving and started to turn. They luckily stopped, but only about 2 inches from hitting my car. Shaken from that, I almost drove through a stop sign a few minutes later. Luckily there were no other cars around to watch my humiliation when I slammed on the brakes, just one guy waiting at a bus stop.

A couple interesting things happened after I slammed on the brakes that I didn't expect:

1. The car drifted slightly to the left, edging into the lefthand lane as the rear swung slightly to the right.
2. The second was that the car wouldn't move anymore and the check engine light came on. That sort of thing never happened with my old Pilot. I put the car into park, then turned the engine off then back on and it was restored to normal working order and I continued home.

That experience definitely brought back some of my trauma from my first car wreck, when that guy turned into me as I was going through a green light. Now everything I see moving towards me from the sides is making me freak out and step on the brakes. That's dangerous and I need to cut that habit. That wasn't even how I got into the car wreck! What the heck, brain?!