I am proud to announce that, like one of the Coreys (Haim, I think), I am now licensed to drive.

This may come as a surprise to some of you, assuming that most people of my age got their license years ago. I managed to avoid this through a curious mixture of disinterest and city living.

Unlike many of my fellow teens, I didn't care all that much about driving. I was fortunate enough to have older friends who had their licenses, so as I neared the usual age the lack of a license didn't weigh on me as much. So I didn't really do too much to get one (though I did eventually take driver's ed and take a lackluster go at the driving test).

Then there was the good decade or so that I was living in Boston, where having a car is often a disadvantage. I got an ID to take care of the various things that require one, but never really thought about driving.

This did make the time I lived at home a little dicey, not to mention my time out at Babson. There was only so much I could do on foot in either location.

As it is with so many things, it was the wife that got me moving towards actually obtaining my license. And as it is with many of those things, it's probably for the better.

Not that getting it was that easy. In Massachusetts you take the road test with a state trooper (they took over the Registry police force about 15 years ago), and they don't often pass you the first time around. In fact, the first time I took the test the trooper who rode with me didn't even get the stamp that they use to endorse the learner's permit until my test (bad luck for the 2 or 3 people who went before me). Not that it mattered; I was told that I needed more experience. This based on a test whose trickiest element was a three point turn.

The second test went well - until I hit the curb in front of the Registry at the end of the test. The third time proved to be the charm, ironic in that (a) I had a different trooper this time, and (b) I think I drove better during my two other tests.

I've not really taken the car out on my own too much, as I don't often go places without the wife and gas is too expensive to go joyriding. At some point I'll get out on the open road. I'll try to warn you before that happens.