Problems Driving

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Although I am able to drive, we can't afford two cars, so my wife takes the car most days and I get the bus, in fact two buses to work every day. Not that I mind as it gives me some time to read and listen to music; but like you, I do hate waiting around for the connection. A lot of the time I'll be too inpatient to wait and will start walking. I walk quite quickly and so the whole journey takes me about 2 hours 15 minutes door to door.

Well, I used to have problems driving too close to other people. But this has been resolved a couple of years ago and am currently having no problems in regards of driving whatsoever.

i wrote off my driving instrutors car because he called me stupid

Yes! Except 3 times in my case, ha. As unfortunate as it is that you had to deal with it too, it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who had intense problems with this.

Well, my second test is next Thursday! Wish me luck!

It's not strictly that I hate waiting for the connection, although I do, but the more transfers I have to make, the more opportunities for mistakes, the more chances to miss a bus by a few minutes and have that translate into as much as a two hour delay in getting to my destination, I don't want to switch - I usually am comfortable on the bus I do take, and I always have a book with me, and even though I hate people sitting near me if I can read and no one talks to me I can cope with it. The more buses I have to take the more likely things are to go wrong, for me to get lost, to miss my stop, and so on.

Regarding the getting lost thing: I remember once in the 80s I was catching a particular bus that was supposed to take me to NE Portland (near Broadway) but there were actually two buses of the same number that made that same stop, and the other one went into NW or SW toward St. Helens. These two destinations, per google, are about 31.6 miles apart.

The other frustrating thing about bus stops in general is that they're often not near clocks, so I can't tell what time it is, and thus how long before I can expect a bus - I also tend to lose watches. My sense of time is so completely off that without a clock, I'm screwed. 15 minutes can feel like forever and an hour can feel like 10 minutes. I remember completely zoning out at one bus stop and missing my bus because my brain wasn't processing any sensory information at all - I didn't understand anything I was hearing or seeing, and it barely felt like any time had passed, but it added an additional 30 minutes to my travel time - missing buses in general was one of the things that would add to meltdowns. They wouldn't cause it by themselves, but if I was already being pushed that way (and sensory overload from heavy traffic? Cold wind? Rain? People sitting or standing near me at the bus stop with a cigarette or pefume?) it wasn't really that long of a trip.

But yes, if the distance was a mile or less, I'd often skip waiting for the transfer and just walk.

Edit: I don't mean that to be a litany of complaints. My problems with buses are what they are, just explaining.

Last edited by Verdandi on 29 Dec 2011, 4:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

I hope you earn your license, then.

I dislike the transitions because of your reasons, and also because I just like to zone out. More thinking of that nature makes my brain hurt. XD


By the way everyone, it is interesting that we all have similar problems! My dad bought be a GPS for me that tells you what to do with a voice, and even tells you which lane to be in. so hopefully that will ease my problems. XD

Good luck!
<-- Just noticed he's got his eyes closed.
Definitely a no, no on your driving test.

I remember going to a friend's house every week to run a roleplaying game, and having to move far enough out that I required two transfers to get to their house. In less than a month, I felt cognitively exhausted by the idea of going there (two hour trip, take bus to light rail, take light rail to downtown, take bus near their house, then walk a quarter mile). I'd been running that game for about three years every week, and lived in that house for two years. I also ran the game at that house for about four months before moving in (but I knew one of the people who lived there from years back on the internet). Where I lived previously, it was one transfer - take a bus downtown, then take a bus near their house, and the quarter mile walk. So I had this three year long routine, and add one more transfer than I'd had to deal with previously, and I couldn't do it anymore. There were other factors involved as well, but just the thought of taking the bus made me tired at that point, at least with 2 transfers.

I also forgot that I was going to college downtown, so it was really take a bus downtown to go to school, then at the end of the day, take a bus to run the game, with a lot of time to decompress after my classes were over for the day.

I did make a once monthly trip downtown, though, which was only one bus and the light rail, and I could do whatever I want, which often included spending a few hours at Powell's Books doing nothing of consequence.

Oh, and GPS! A friend has one, but whenever it talked it would kill my ability to speak or remember what I was talking about for a bit. But I don't recall that it caused me other problems.

Sounds like a nightmare! Ugh.

Monthly solitary trip sounds like a good idea, actually...

Haha.. It doesn't do that to me. I think auditory input meshes best with visual input for me. I can't do the visual-visual in terms of looking at the road and at directions, too.

The monthly trip downtown was mandatory, as that's when I'd get my money for the month. I could use ATMs and buy things I needed without going too far afield.

Mostly, I stayed near home, though. There was a Safeway, McDonald's, Shari's, Subway, Taco Bell, and some kind of hamburger place that was not a chain. Within one bus ride there was also a Chang's Mongolian Grill.

I'd usually go to restaurants to eat something unhealthy and read, just to get out of the house.

I don't know if my problems with the voice are auditory processing, autistic sensory processing, ADHD, fibro fog, or a combination of any of the above. Doesn't really matter, just makes it hard to use a GPS.

Remember. Blinker, use your blinker.
^One of the two mistakes I made one the test

Yes, your blinker!