So, I've finished my BDVL (Bus Diver's Vocational License) course and test. Am awaiting my vocational license! It will allow me to drive a bus that weighs up to 2.5 tonnes! Yay!
In fact, I'm still waiting for my proper TDVL ID card. Apparently the machine at LTA has broken down and there's a queue ahead of me to get the ID card. Right now, I am licensed to drive a cab but carry with me, a small green piece of paper from the authorities that says so.
The 3 day BDVL course/test was nothing like TDVL (rolling eyes). If you can survive the TDVL course and tests, BDVL is a piece of cake. Having said that, I was still one of the last few to walk out of the testing room. I could have been the first few but that's just me. Simpler than the TDVL tests it may have been but I was in no hurry to leave (like many of them). Instead, chose to check my answers carefully.
Looking back, I feel that our TDVL class was very, very blessed to have had the trainer we had! My BDVL trainers on the other hand were...erm...in a 'class of their own'!
Some people wonder why I am even taking these classes. Well, I feel empowered. Being bullied at work last year was a wake up call for me. I will no longer stand for it and I am ready to walk. I didn't want my only options to be to go back to teaching or tutoring or worse still, to start work anew at another office. I am now prepared for a salary loss but a gain in dignity. If I lose my job today, I will start driving a taxi full-time immediately and who's to stop me? I couldn't say this last year but I can now.
I also need to state for the record that I do not really care any more what people may make of my decision to be a licensed taxi driver. I feel it is safe to say that at this point in my life, I would like to have real people around me. If they stick up their noses at this job when I myself do not, then saying good-bye to them won't be too hard for me. Pfft!
I have been looking very unglam in my collared shirts and jeans. It is a requirement to wear covered shoes so I've been wearing HIGH-HEELED covered shoes. Haha. Trying to make the most of it. If I do start driving full-time, I will make sure to still look good. For now, as a tiny, tiny relief, I don't really care much about my dressing while I drive a cab because I still get a chance to dress up in my high heels and tight dresses during office hours.
Hubby and I have been having some peaceful evenings the past few weeks. Is this how retirement will feel like? Well, we aren't retired but both our kids are out of sight in the evenings and so after dinner and some housework, we're able to retire for a short while to our bed. Yes, our bed is our blissful haven to......surf the net and exchange inane chatter. I really mean inane. Mostly, it's me yelling out in pain because hubby has jerked his knee into my leg or something. Do NOT ask me how he does it. He can do it accidentally while turning to show me something interesting on his iPad.
Just last Saturday, I slipped and fell because he had left a sheet of transparent plastic on the room floor (we were fixing some film onto the window). My knee landed with a thud on the floor and is still very painful today. I actually landed right next to hubby and instead of picking me up, he kissed the top of my head! (OK, that was very sweet and wasn't missed by me, but hello....could he have picked me up???)
Last night, we talked about how he had promised to apply ointment on my knee but never did. Then he had the nerve to teach me to (for future purposes), yell softly and gently! Relax! It's only a joke, people. Do not get confused. I haven't lost my mind yielding to his commands. We laughed so hard because it's not easy whispering, 'Ouch....' gently! In fact, I was practising quietly and getting quite confused because he was teaching me to say both ouch and yes very gently like a good wife does. It is suggested to not give an intelligent answer whenever I am told something. It is preferred that I just reply 'yes' very gently. When he told me he was intending to go JB the next day, I actually replied, 'Ouch' very gently and it cracked him up that I had said the wrong gentle answer. Sorry, I am jabbering. It's hard to describe to you but it's a relaxing thing we do, laughing and talking nonsense together. On a serious note, I think he has something going on there. Sometimes, in a bid to get things done our way, we fail to see the sty in our own eye. I must learn to listen more and talk less.
We do not ask for much. We delight in simple things (excluding kitchen appliance or electrical gadgets, yes I am aware) and for our pre-retirement days, this is just what we would like to do. I'm not going to work in my current job forever so we will be two taxi-drivers, coming home after a day of driving to exchange inane chatter. I can only pray and hope that my husband and I will have many more years together for this bantering!
