DÉJÀ VU, I’VE JUST BEEN IN THIS PLACE BEFORE!

HIGHER ON THE STREET, AND I KNOW IT’S MY TIME TO GO!

In a repeat of what happened last October, my dad – in yet another petty fit of rage – literally pulled the plug on my wi-fi. His reasoning this time?

NASCAR.

No, he did not get angry at a driver wrecking, but rather, was angry at me for making it such a priority.

Here’s an explanation:

A day after my 18th birthday in July, I got my driving permit. Since then, he was insistent on teaching me how to drive so I could get my license. Simple enough, right?

The first drive went well outside of a very awkward incident in which I backed the car up into a tree, uprooting it. Other than that, I was able to drive the car home without any incidents. If I was a race car driver in his debut, I would’ve been quite satisfied with my performance outside of the “wreck.”

A second practice drive scheduled for a week after was postponed because we went to Southern California for family matters. Because of this, I was unable to watch the NASCAR races at Watkins Glen, which also made it impossible for me to update every driver’s Wikipedia page with race results, as well as forcing me to ask a colleague to write the race report for Overtake Motorsport. Kudos to those who filled in for me.

As a result of the postponement, it was rescheduled to today at 1 PM, but, having already missed a weekend and was discontent with doing it again (especially with a vacation in Las Vegas scheduled for next week), my mother and I asked if it was possible to practice at 4 PM, which would allow me time to watch the Mid-Ohio Xfinity race and get everything ready before the drive.

My father is a pretty stubborn man and he issued an ultimatum: do it at 1 PM or else. Well, at least I know what his “else” is.

While I will admit that a NASCAR race is trivial compared to something as important as getting my driver’s license, it’s an overreaction to disconnect the entire house from the Internet because I wanted to put off practicing for a few hours. It makes me wonder if my own occasional outbursts may have been inherited; quite a shame that I didn’t get the calmness genes from my mother.

Unfortunately, the lack of wi-fi for an indefinite period will probably mean I will be unable to update the driver articles (though I can make sporadic minor edits using cellular data on my phone), but I believe I will be able to write the OM race report.

I don’t know when the wi-fi will be back, but I suppose this means online activity will probably be more frequent while at work on weekdays instead of the weekend. It sucks, but I suppose I can try to wait it out until the time is appropriate to begin negotiating/reasoning with him.

With a week before the trip to Vegas, I have a feeling it will be very awkward if talks break down.

UPDATE: Crisis averted.