So my neighbor is a Driver’s Ed teacher and from my office …

Every time he misses, he pulls out and they head around the block to line up and try it again.

We are lined up for attempt number 4... Come on kid, you got this!!

Attempt 4 was a failure... He cut the wheel the wrong way. I do that all the time... With 25 years of driving under my belt, I can say the key is to not overthink it and have good insurance. Works for me.

Around the block we go again.

Drove right by, didn’t even try to land it. I’m thinking he was just doing recon, vaguely hoping his practice spot has been taken up by our other neighbors and one of their 3,762 cars. No such luck.

Ok, here we go... Lined up for attempt number 5. Kid means business. Every window in the car is down (it’s 30 degrees out, so that’s commitment), he is tweaking the mirrors, and he’s at perfect 10-and-2.

Feeling super good about this. He has got it.

Aaaahhhhh... Cut too hard, too early. No way he can correct it. Currently sitting at a near 90-degree angle in and out of the road trying to calculate how he can fix it.

There is no fixing it.

Standby for take 6.

On our second recon trip around the block. I think we were going to go for it on the second trip, but there was oncoming traffic and a pedestrian with a dog on the sidewalk. Too much pressure.

This poor kid, he has been trying to do this for more than half an hour. Nobody wants to start the New Year this way. I admire his dedication, though. I didn’t care enough about driving to take lessons at 10am on New Years Day.

Side adventure: I scared the crap out of the lady & her dog... She let her dog take a dump on the sidewalk in front of my house & it looked like she was going to walk off. Think again, lady. I stood in front of the window like the Evil Queen & yelled “hey man!” Poop removed.

Meanwhile, we are on to attempt 7, already in progress. Windows down, 10-and-2, he went for it. This was absolutely the YOLO attempt... He cut the wheel and zoomed backwards hard & fast.

Did he mistake gas and brakes?

Probably, but from here it just looked like confidence.

Ok, so he’s in. There is roughly 3 car-lengths of space between him and the car in front of him, but he is in. There may have been an out-of-window fist bump and roof slap. Kid is hype. I’m hype for him. 2021 had its first win.

So despite the 3 car lengths of space, our departure from parallel parking was a bit shaky. Kind of cut it a bit close on the right side, but he neither noticed or cared.

He parallel parked a driver’s ed SUV today.

PLOT TWIST... HE IS BACK & GOING FOR ANOTHER ATTEMPT.

He is in position, I can see my neighbor in the passengers seat coaching him, using his hands to explain how it’s done. Judging by his gesturing, the football field between him & the other car was too much & has to try again.

We are still sitting and waiting.

Teacher neighbor’s wife is now on the front porch watching.

Kid is just staring ahead. I think he’s trying to calculate if he can make it in rural NH without a driver’s license.

Spoiler alert: you can’t.

Still waiting. Neighbor gesturing with his hands how to do it, again. My neighbor is an awesome dude, but clearly a hard ass drivers ed teacher.

You can cut the determination in the air with a knife. He wants this.

I just can’t believe he still has the windows down.

Ok, we have motion... We are in motion...

IT’S GOOD!!! IT’S GOOD!!! IT’S GOOD!!!! NAILED IT!!!!!!

Neighbor in the passenger seat did a fist pump (and scared the crap out of the kid, btw, which was great), the neighbors wife on the porch jumped up and down and cheered...

No celebration from the kid. He just slouched back in the drivers seat and stared at the ceiling.

Dude... Kid is out of the car taking pictures of his work. Then a selfie with the instructor, perfect parking job behind him. Thinking that pic is headed to Instagram.

Wife still cheering. I stuck my head out the door and cheered, got a thumbs up back. Kid is just relieved.

So apparently, this wasn’t a lesson, it was his driving exam/road test.

Somebody is starting the year with a shiny new license when the DMV reopens next week. I asked where he’s going to drive first, he said Dunkin Donuts, but not the drive through because that’s “too much.”

Well that was fun... I’ve gotten literally nothing done this morning, LoL.