Giddiness

Do you have repeated attacks of sudden disabling giddiness?

This is symptom number 9 of 21 on the medical portion of the UK provisional driving license questionnaire. I absolutely loved the question and I laughed it up with Mike. I diagnosed myself  with occasional sudden disabling giddiness...interspersed with bursts of tears here and there.

I thought it was so funny I didn't realize that I checked the corresponding box and invalidated my first attempt to procure a provisional license. Because one may not and shall not drive whilst giddy.

Last winter holiday, when Anna was unable to travel to England due to 4 inches of snow at Heathrow airport (chronicled in the post Yes) I was struck by a frightful attack of disabling giddiness mixed with wild crying, very firmly at the tail end of my wits. We received a Christmas gift of a travel journal from our California family. I was reading quotes from the pages out loud to Mike and William, and this one got me going.

One does not discover new lands without consenting

to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. 

André Gide

A lot of truths in that.

It hit me like a donkey kick to my innards. I was living it, and it was getting to me.

At any rate, I started laughing like a crazy person. Then crying. Then laughing, crying, laughing and crying. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I was so beyond control that I scared William. "Mom......are you okaaay?"

The UK recognizes all sorts of drivers licenses from all sorts of countries: all European countries, plus Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland (not a European country?) and Zimbabwe. Some of them I get, some of them I don't. As US citizens, we can drive on our valid licenses for 12 months, then we have to get UK licenses.

The tests are said to be very difficult, both the written and the driving. One of the potential questions addresses how many chest compressions per minute you should give someone who is having difficulty breathing.

"None" is not a choice.

We gave ourselves 5 weeks to complete our tests before the 12 months are officially up.

Beginning the process we realize now how mistaken we were in assuming 5 weeks was enough time. It may take three months, just to SCHEDULE the driving test. Not to mention, what if we flunk it? And, we can't schedule the test until we have our provisional licenses, which may take 4 to 5 weeks.

There are 4 DMVs in our hometown of Tucson.

I know that people who come from other countries to live in the US must get frustrated by the way we do things. In the UK, we are officially frustrated about the drivers license situation.

Trying to address this dilemna, Mike spoke with a guy who suggested he call the home office. Mike asked if he could give him the phone number.

"I don't have it."

"Ok, the home office of what?'' Mike inquired. "The DVLA?"

No, that wasn't right. He seriously suggested that Mike type in the words 'home office' into "a google search engine" and see if he could find the number that way.

The truth is, I don't even want the license. Today I just want to go home.

I miss my children, I miss my home. I am dreading the dark of winter. Today I want to take back my consent to leave the familiar shores of our desert home.

I read the post I wrote last December about moving always in the direction of life, saying yes to life. I need to get that back, somehow find the energy to enjoy this new land and pass that damn driving test!

 

With Mr. Cheese, in tanner days.