I did the Driving School tasks in San Andreas tonight, and although most of them were reasonable, there were two that were fairly frustrating: a cone slalom where the camera made it hard to see where you were headed after pulling a handbrake turn, and the final task that sent you in a car with terrible handling across the city and back within a time and damage limit, which was subject to all sorts of bad luck. I don’t think I’ll bother trying to get all gold medals in those. I did wind up getting a gold on that cone slalom, but that was pure luck, as it took dozens of attempts and none of those were even a bronze.

After that I did a couple more gang missions, and then headed back to Los Santos to restock on the sniper rifle (it’s not available in the store yet, so I have to get it from a ground spawn), and to finish dating Denise.

Yes, you can date girls in San Andreas, though it’s not really all that deep. Once a day you can take a girl on a date, either to a restaurant or bar for food, or to a disco for dancing, depending on what she asks for, to raise your standing with her. You can also give her a gift (flowers, a dildo, or a vibrator) for a bonus, though it’s a pretty small one. I eventually maxed Denise out, which gives me a pimp suit in my wardrobe. I hope I never see that damn dancing minigame again though, as it’s always the exact same song…