"The dullest pencil remembers better than sharpest memory".

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I'm from Portugal and I learnt how to drive in about a month, having classes about 8 hours per week. I believe our standards for the driving tests are higher and we mostly drive manual, so it's totally possible for you to pass you exam.

My great sin origin story:

Coming to the USA my job (sponsored H1-B) included a company car and I needed a full license obviously.

I had only really driven a few times on a learners permit back in Europe and some times on a tractor on a farm bailing and picking up hay.

They asked if I had a license, I decided to lie and say yes, really wanted to terk a jerb, they never asked for it or anything.

I guess in the US, odds are v good a 24y/o would have one.

So I arrived in Boston with a shitty paper learners permit, get a taxi out to the office and pick up my brand new company car, first time ever in an automatic!

I was sweating this moment thinking they ask for my license to photocopy, nope just handed over the keys.

So I get the car, wait for my boss to leave me in the parking lot and figure out how to get it moving, gingerly get it on the road to my new company sponsored apartment (they really took care of me….)

Drove around all day, got a little more “comfortable” but was really white-knuckling it on the I-93 and I-95.

Anyway next day the ask me for my license sometime, I think on my feet and say I have a dmv appt to get a US one, lemme get that and come back.

Go to the DMV do the written test for a learners permit (got one thing wrong, didn’t know you wait for a schoolbus, can’t pass when it’s letting out kids)

Get learners permit, come back and show them that, they ask “learners permit?” Quick thinking I replied “oh yeah because I come from a right hand drive country they want me to redo the test! I tried to do it there and then and but the earliest I could get was next week!!”

They fucking bought it, commiserated about DMV, I scheduled a test for next week.

Test was 4 left hand turns around the block with a chatty MA state trooper who had familial ties to my old country, so we shot the shit, he signed off and I got my new license.

I was really sweating that week

Edit: some stuff I really still cringe on.

On my way to the apartment with my printed out Mapquest directions I got terribly lost and puled over to ask this old dude directions, I had the window rolled down and he was leaning in looking at the map I was holding, took my foot of the brake (car was in drive) and clobbered the poor guy with the B pillar.

Also, one of my tail lights was blown and I got pulled over by a state trooper and had to show my learners permit, I thought was fucked as I would need a full licensed driver with me, he just told me to fix it and let me go

I learner in 3 days. So I think it is possible.

I had to learn in two weeks and I passed, but I wasn’t working at the time and had the money to rent a car for two weeks. I drove for hours a day and also had the money for gas refills, so it’s not like I just drove here and there with a borrowed car. I was lucky to have all those factors at play, not sure if I could’ve done it without practicing non stop for two weeks.

I think the physical card can expire, but you'll be able to either add time or request a new one.

Not that I recommend it, but I got my drivers license at 18. Before taking the test, I probably had about 6 minutes total of real driving experience. Other than that, the only times I ever drove was driving go-karts. Mind you my driving test was in a parking lot, and there was no parallel parking.

I agree with that. Always makes me happy when I see a confident couple like that.

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My advice to to schedule time during the day to do something you enjoy, even if just for a short while. That may help lessen the difficulty of pulling yourself away from it at night to go sleep.

I am not a morning person at all so this next tip has never worked for me, but some people schedule the thing they like to do most for in the morning so that they are excited to wake up and do it.

You may struggle to find an instructor: passes and fails go on their record which affects how well they can get work, and with students booking tests before they have even have lessons you are risking their livelihood. You are a ticking bomb.

Most people drive like they’ve been driving for less than 28 days so I wouldn’t worry too much, driving requires 100% of your attention so just start focusing you’ll get it.

I totally would. I’m confident enough to handle that I think. There are some super sexy tall women out there too.

Get you a tall lady!! Two very good friends of mine are a 5'2" man and a 6'0" woman. They're super *social and go out a lot, so he does get occasional comments from (usually) men picking on him for being shorter than his partner. Luckily he's very quick witted and has developed a thick skin about it. He finds a way to turn it around into a brag on himself, or picks on them for placing their insecurities on his situation.

Edit: said suicidal, meant social LMAO

Yes you can learn how to drive a vehicle in 28 days. But it takes a considerable time to learn how to properly drive on the road with all the rules, mishaps and all the idiots who are driving.

I have a coworker like this. A catastrophist who’ll start the day off with “Man, today is gonna suck”

It’s like, well yea NOW it is, because you’ve decided it will suck.

You think, therefore you are. It requires a big mindset shift, nothing will improve while their attitude refuses to

As someone who rarely splurges on myself, giftcards are sort of like permission to be able to do so - which is why I like getting them.

I don’t live paycheck to paycheck but I do feel mildly guilty anytime I buy something for myself that is “for fun,” though I don’t feel this way about buying things for other people.

If I get a gift card to a place that is purely for fun, all of the guilt is totally gone.

I’ll take Resetting passwords for old people for 200$

People in San Francisco definitely understand this.

It depends on the country and how strict the tests are there. Here in the UK it would be very difficult to do so in normal circumstances, the test is quite difficult and it would usually take months of lessons to pass. I've heard that the test requirements are a lot easier in the US though.

And it depends how much time you have to learn before your deadline too. When I did lessons I had a one lesson per week of an hour or two, and a few sessions here and there where I'd go out with my parents and practice. The general rule was something like 20 hours of lessons to be ready for the test, and for most people that would mean 10-20 weeks. You can of course fit more in though, depending how best you learn. Driving for long periods takes a lot of concentration, especially for a new learner, so it's probably not a good idea to try and squeeze in more than a couple of hours per day.

There are some "intensive" driving courses where you'd basically spend a week doing constant lessons and practice and they claim to be able to get you ready to take a test in a week. So it's definitely doable, but the less time you have available, the more time you're going to need to squeeze practicing in that time.

Yes, especially if you learn on an automatic Find an instructor and drive at least an hour, every day or every other days

Yes. I passed my test without any lessons or practice.

I do that a lot. Especially in airport parking decks so that I remember the level and area where I parked. Saves a lot of misery when you're returning home late after a long business trip.

Girlfriend: We should have Spaghetti tonight

Me: I have to wait until tomorrow, then I'll tell you if I agrree with you

Jokes aside, this is generally a good LPT, if it concerns important decisions or ones that have a long lasting effect. It's always a good Idea to have a night over something, so you aren't caught up by an unrational excitement.