Re-learning to drive part 2

Wow what a week! As I sit here on Sunday afternoon and think back over everything that has happened I realise just why I’m feeling quite so shattered right now. It has been, to be fair, an absolutely epic week so I will get straight into it typing up about it….

 

Rain drops frozen on the roof of Thomas

Monday morning dawned bright and cold but it was only when I got out to the car that I realised quite how cold it was. Thomas was locked in by a hard frost which took a fair amount of scraping to shift. While I was walking around and scraping all the windows I became quite concerned by the amount of smoking coming from the exhaust; now he has been a bit smoky starting recently which I had put down to potentially worn out glow plugs but this looked a little more than that. No matter, he was running OK once started and after I had cleared my view I was off and up towards my appointment with the driving instructor.

I had arranged to meet at the same place as last week, but half an hour later, and I reached the carpark fine and about 40 minutes early as standard. I read my book and chatted with A and then noticed the car and trailer pulling into the carpark. I hopped straight out to assist putting the cones out for the reversing manoeuvre which is what we focused on for the day. I did it maybe five or ten times over the next hour and a half and asked him to take videos for me so I could watch it back, which proved very useful. I have sped them up for you in the video above as 3 minutes of a car moving very slowly backwards is pretty dull. The most pleasing thing about this session was I was able to complete the exercise successfully every time, even when I made a mistake and got out of position I was able to recover it and end up correctly. Right at the end of the lesson I requested practice reversing up to the trailer to hitch up and was glad I did as I struggled with this (mainly the clutch control) far more than anything else. We were making such progress that Pete gave me an extra twenty minutes for free before I had to leg it to work.

 

Super tasty lunch; all the meats

I dropped Thomas back with the garage as soon as I got to Blackpool and then walked back to the studio to work through the day. On the way back I bought a bag of good food from my favourite butchers including a minted lamb henry for my lunch which I microwaved to get really hot and devoured in very short order. The rest of the day was spent focusing on my day job and it was a pretty productive day all told.

 

Comfortable little bed, and breakfast of biscuits

I had planned on sleeping at the studio overnight and had brought a sleeping bag and fold out mattress for this purpose however as the day went on and I felt more and more tired the attraction of finding a hotel took hold. I would be able to go to sleep whenever I wanted without distractions from staff or bands and also I was starting to really appreciate the thought of a change of scenery. I walked out down the road and found a little gay hotel with a spare single room for the night for not much money and was very pleased with myself indeed. I am not sure if they were meant to be open as they seemed a little surprised when I rang the doorbell and then said they wouldn't have a room for the following night but the “Vacancies” sign was illuminated so I didn't feel too bad disturbing them. I went over after finishing work at about 9pm and slept really well, then broke my fast with the lovely biscuits they had provided on the tea and coffee tray. It was a very good night’s sleep indeed and the only problem was the lack of shower facilities; a stand up wash had to suffice.

The next day was the actual driving day of my lessons and I was over to Preston for 8am to meet up with the instructor. It turned out that we had actually met at the driving test centre so I was able to see what went on and had the process explained to me before we set off on the road. This was a slightly sobering experience as I committed two “immediate fail” major mistakes in the first five minutes and then spent the remaining four hours driving around being told to either go faster (“make some progress, man!”) or slow down (“use the brakes! USE THE BRAKES!”) but it was a fantastic learning experience and at the end I felt like I had picked up some good habits again to replace a fair few of the bad ones which I had fallen into since passing my test. One of the best aspects of this instruction has been the logic and reasoning given behind almost all the expected actions; very different from when I first learned to drive when you were told to do things which made no sense.

Little borrowed car from the garage

Feeling pretty wiped out, but also quite pleased with myself, I headed back to the studio and let Dan borrow Thomas to move a few things from his garage. After this he dropped him back at the garage as Chris wanted to see the cold start smokiness for himself. He didn't have a loan car available immediately but towards the end of the day one was confirmed so I popped over and picked it up; I was able to keep this until I got back from my outing the next day and this took all the pressure off the next morning which was ideal.

 

Another bedroom, this time with shoe-supported-window

Once again I made the decision to book into a hotel and went walking around to find one again at about 6pm. The hotel from the night before did not have its sign illuminated tonight but I found a place just a few doors up which was open and very happy to give me a room. I chose the room with the ensuite shower and headed back to the studio to finish working. When I got back later that evening there was quite a lot of noise from the rooms above with what sounded like kids running around and jumping but it quieted about 10pm and I slept pretty well once more. The window did not want to stay open which is a problem as I have to have fresh air but I was able to juryrig a solution with a shoe.

I woke in the morning feeling rested and jumped into the shower only to find that there was no hot water, no matter how long I ran it for. Today was the Big Day of my test and I was starting to feel a little nervous so, against my plans, I logged into work and did an hour or so before breakfast was served. This did help to keep me calm. I then had to decide whether I was going to take up the invitation to watch the preceding test or stay away and arrive just before my own. After chatting with A I decided to head over and I’m glad I did. It had rained in the night but was drying out as I drove across to the centre but then, as I sat and watched the chap do his manoeuvre (I was convinced he would have to do a shunt but he managed to save it very well) and then the unhitching it began to rain quite heavily. The instructor had called me up to come chat with him so I drove from my spying spot and met up with him.

I think this also really calmed me down a lot and the time we spent chatting about non-driving things, including a quick trip to a butty van for a brew and a bacon sarnie, distracted us both so much that we missed the time and the guy from the test before suddenly appeared, beaming as he had passed with only 2 minors, and went away after wishing me luck. He had completed his test quite early so there was time for me to jump into the car and go for a 15 minute round the block trip which again helped so much. When the examiner finally called my name I was feeling pretty good.

We did the first step of the test (read a number plate, answer some questions) and then got straight into the reversing exercise. Other than being a little too accurate pulling forwards so I wasn't between the cones (which is not a marked part of the challenge) I aced it, with no shunts and feeling fully in control at all times. I did get out to check at the end and then back it up another couple of inches just to make doubly sure, but all in all it was an awesome way to begin. From there it was to the hitching and unhitching and this came off as well without (wait for it) any hitches.

Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

With the manoeuvre part of the test completed we headed out onto the road and drove around some roads which I’d practiced on and some which I hadn't but all roads which I knew pretty well from my time living up there. The examiner was a really friendly chap and was asking me questions about why I wanted to have the B + E and then expressing interest in Bulgaria when I explained my plans. I am sure that partly he was just trying to distract me a bit to make sure I stayed in control of the vehicle at all times but it also helped me to feel comfortable with him as we nattered away. After what seemed like no time at all we were heading back towards the test centre and I pulled up feeling confident, but also pretty nervous. All of that was for nothing though as he confirmed straight away I had passed and with only one minor on the record. What a buzz!

I DID IT!!!!

I shook his hand then went with Peter round to my loan car which had a slightly flat tyre which he pumped up for me and then snapped me standing very proudly with my certificate in front of his car and trailer. I then headed off cheering and talking to myself and feeling so amazingly happy; what a weight off my mind. A was super pleased as well and the fact is this success means I can bring everything we need back with me in June.

 

Nice and tidy front room

That evening I played my game and relaxed at home then got to bed and found that after all the stress building up to my test day I was unable to sleep. At least I had slept well the previous two nights I suppose else it could have worked out otherwise. I did eventually sleep and woke on Thursday to walk to the office for the first time for what feels like ages. It was good to be in there again and see my colleagues who I really do get on with well, but I ended up staying a little later than planned trying to sort a problem out. I got back home and dashed around tidying then legged it to the shop before jumping in the shower and being ready for my expected guests to arrive just about in time.

 

Five nice bottles of whisky for us to taste

Rather than have a large group as usual we had decided to limit the invite list to five of us, harking back to the very early running of the whisky night. Everyone arrived pretty much on time and we got down to the serious business of trying each whisky before we selected our favourite for the night and then drank everything remaining. Every whisky was good, as usual, but Rob had brought our favourite which was Bowmore Darkest.

 

Two good friends, so lovely to see them

With a wee dram having been drunk from every bottle we started round again. Jon was the first to leave as he had a train to catch but he stayed until after 9 and it was such a pleasure to see him again; I hadn't seen him since before leaving last year. After this Lee’s mrs came to collect him and then it was left to myself, Rob and Ryan. Rob bailed about 2am (he was taking his young family to the zoo the next day) but me and Ryan sat up til 4am drinking, listening to music and talking very loudly about lots of subjects before suddenly deciding it was time to sleep.

 

The morning after the night before

When I woke at about 9 the next morning Rob was shuffling around and getting ready to go to the zoo (rather him than me) but Ryan was just a shape underneath the rug in the front room. I ended up having to set up my laptop in the office so as to not disturb him and it was quite late morning before he suddenly emerged. I had already eaten a bacon and egg butty and eventually I persuaded him he would have one. We made a stumbling outing to the shop to get headache pills and Lucozade, though I wasn't feeling at all hung over, and after this I decided I was not going to drive at all today so when Ryan felt up to it we called him a cab and off he went. I managed to hang on in there until about 6pm when, on the way to a shower having rejected the idea of a bath, I accidentally fell into bed and woke up fully dressed at 8pm only to roll back over and go back to sleep.

 

Am man! WILL COOK MEATS!

I won’t say I slept right the way through as I woke again at midnight and got up to sweep up the kitchen and have a milky coffee before putting my head back down but other than that I was asleep until about 6.30am the next day and boy did I need that rest. My busy week was by no means over yet though as I was up and out the house driving down south to Reading to see some old friends down there. Sadly my plans to visit my old studio fell apart on the way as he was unable to get away from another commitment but this just meant I spent more time with Wardy. It was a lovely sunny day and he proudly pulled his brand new BBQ out and proceeded to feed me all the meat! We had a tray of sausages each and two home made burgers each, plus some pasta he cooked. Afterwards I felt like I would never move again.

 

The hotel was a little busy

We sat in the sun until it was time to walk round to the pub to watch the FA Cup Semi Final which had Reading playing Arsenal. He is a Reading fan and even had the shirt to wear, while I’m pretty agnostic to football. It ended up being an excellent game which was really frustratingly lost by a mistake in extra time by the Reading goalkeeper who up til then had been the star of the game. Never mind, it’s only sport and Wardy was able to see that they had played very well indeed. It was a slightly sad pair who walked back to his though and then sat with his wife and two young daughters as they told us about their day. I headed off to my hotel about 10pm feeling quite tired and when I got there I struggled to find a parking space; it was complete rammed!

 

Breakfast time; I was first to be seated

I was straight up to my room and bar a quick surf I was asleep quite quickly. I was a bit disturbed in the night as I hadn’t been able to get hold of A all evening and all sorts of horrible scenarios were playing out in my head but when she got hold of me about 4am I was able to drop back to sleep and slept really well until my alarm went off to get me to breakfast. I actually got down there before they opened but after only a few minute wait they let me in, brought me tea, and I munched my breakfast before heading back upstairs. I took advantage of the internet to have a lovely video chat with A and we agreed the next steps for Bekir and Sally to do after the guest suite and then it was in the car again to drive back up north.

 

The blur is her tail; she was SO happy to see me!

It was not straight home for me, however. Today was a most exciting day. Today was PUPPY DAY! I made really good time and got to the address where Thelma and Louise were waiting for me without having seen a single cash point. I had to go exploring and eventually found one in a corner shop which charged me but today I didn't care; so long as I could get there and pick up the girls that’s all that mattered. I parked back up near the house and knocked on; it was quite a long wait but after a minute or so the door was opened and the friendly lady was there holding both of them in greeting. She passed me Louise and we sat down for a bit chatting about things; she was able to give me a box with the pet food they have been being fed which was excellent. I counted the money out, while trying to stop Louise from jumping off the sofa into some nearby wellingtons, and then was helped over the road with them both by the son.

 

In the car ready to go home

I left the girls in their cage tussling with each other while I dashed inside the Co Op to pick up dinner for myself and then we came home. They were really well behaved and by the time I got back Thelma had actually fallen asleep in the bed, though Louise was still fighting it and clambering around a lot. Their little claws are so sharp they keep getting them caught on things (including my beard and clothes when I am holding them) and the bed was no exception. They seemed really happy though and kept pretty quiet all the way.

 

Playing tug of war with each other

I unloaded the car then brought them in one at a time to the kitchen which is where they’ll be staying while I’m at work during the day. They are such excited and inquisitive creatures it was hard for me to focus on making myself a butty as they gamboled around my feet and played with each other. Eventually I did manage to get the sandwich made and took it into the front room to eat. After that I decided that I should bring them in here with me and I tore open a large cardboard box to cover the carpet in case of accidents which were pretty much to be expected. It was then that I started trying to write this and it proved to be quite hard to stay focused as they both wanted to attack my feet (Thelma’s mouth is large enough to try and eat my entire big toe) and were bouncing around chasing each other very noisily). The first toy they picked up actually was one of their leads so I took that off them and gave them something that is a tug toy and they took to it really well.

 

"You looking at me?"

After quite an energetic hour or so bouncing around the room fighting and playing they slowly calmed down.  For a short while at least. Here Louise is sat in the bed with Thelma sat on the floor near my feet and they are engaged in what seems to be a context of wills. This happened several times: Louise would stare and Thelma would stare back and then one of other would start making squeaking noises and then Louise would be up out of the bed pouncing on Thelma and fighting her only , after a minute or two, going back to their starting positions again. Very strange indeed.

I was being nagged by people to get a video of them play fighting but of course they stopped as soon as I got the camera out. Never the less there is a good example here of how they were bounding around and also just how lovely and friendly they are; I’m already working out that Louise is the one who likes fusses; she’ll stand still for you to scratch under her chin. Thelma is a bit more standoffish but only in that she wants to be in control; she will come running and then run off and play tag with you for ages. They do know their names a little bit already as well which bodes well for their intelligence.

 

Finally settled for a kip

I was really being distracted by them all this time so it was quite a relief as they started gravitating towards the bed and finally settled in it to sleep. They have now been down for about an hour and are both starting to pop their heads up and look however they are still sleeping as I type this. Indeed, Thelma was just snoring for a bit.

I have fish and chips for my dinner tonight and when I stop typing I’m going to wait for them to wake up and then play with them until I’m ready for bed. I hope they sleep OK tonight; they’re going to be shut in the en suite next to my bedroom so I can hear them if they fuss. I need to really work on the toilet training aspect though which is going to be a challenge with me not being around much. Anyway, next week I’m sure there will be so many puppy pictures you’ll all be bored to tears.