The CDL School Student Driver Blues

OK, so, all this past week was spent in the Big Red Truck (which I should have a picture of posted here but don't) doing maneuvers on the skills pad (a really big parking lot type space) and it was all going pretty well, not painless by any stretch of the imagination (my clutching leg and knee...oooh), the first few moves being STRAIGHT LINE BACKING not as easy as it sounds in a combination vehicle over 54 feet long, but after MANY repetitions - back and forth back and forth - I finally got the hang of using the big West Coast Mirror on either side of the tractor to 'see the picture' of what the trailer is doing...and at first it just didn't make any sense, wow, especially in a very wide turn...with the instructor barking at me over and over again "Right! Hard left!! Hard right!! C'mon, turn the wheel!!! Get OFF the clutch!!! Let the CLUTCH OUT!!!! Let the CLUUUUTCH OUUUUTTTTT!!!" I like to ride the clutch because it makes the truck move so slowly but of course the instructors HATE IT when I ride the clutch. Anyway, after a that move we went on to the lane change move, very tough move, many attempts before I got it going on, and it is possible to get into a funk during the learning of these moves. Finally on WED. we started parallel parking...and it was not to hard to get the hang of it, I thought I was doing fine, my mood was high...then the dreadful ALLEY DOCK move came in to play late WED. and aaaaaaallllllllll daaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy Thursday, man, what a tough move to get the hang of. Sigh. By the end of the day on THURS. I had attempted it, like, 15 times and STILL was only getting close to getting it going on. Well, I was beat last nite. I have today off, next week we start OTR training.