Just came back from my driving lesson from a qualified AA instructor.

Man. That guy was really nice and really helpful :o so wise in the art of driving

He said I should be ok for the test: just need to watch-

that i'm looking for spaces, not cars, when i'm trying to turn/merge etc (so I don't lose opportunities)
slower at giveways to save eventual time by not having to full-brake (my excuse is that i wasnt used to the car but that's not good enough)
hugging corner while turning more, esp. left

He says "driving should be boring; if you put the instructor to sleep, you're doing a good job" and then proceeded to tell me how one driving test dude did actually fall asleep lol and wound up @ Bombay hills

William saved me from the unmarked giveway to the right one, but I didn't get the unmarked crossroads one; there's this one in dannemora that was apparently an unmarked but people kept screwing up so they made it controlled intersection.

Also he taught me a simple algorithm (tee hee, algorithm) for parallel parking; come along-side 1st car, fullbreak left, turn until 45degree, straighten if have to (though its only been like 20 mins and i already forget if this step is redundant or not), then fullbreak right until parallel then stop. Advantage of being in perfect position to get out once you need to leave spot (you came in that way so you know you can leave that way)

He had these little model car things that were really helpful lol

and you know when you're parked at the side of the road...and you look in your mirror (rear) and forward, and you look in the wing mirror to your right, do you know why you're looking? It's not to check your blindspot, cause odds that a car is stationary there in the middle of the road is like, zero. It's to look for driveways. And u-turning cars.

Totally worth the $55.