Day 2: Tuesday
Got there in good time, for my 12.30 start. Ended up with the director of the company, Rob Smith for the afternoon. Took great pleasure in taking the mickey out of his “Chicken strips” (lines on the edge of his tyre)from his motorbike…I paid the price…He caught me out on a number of occasions for stuff that is in the highway code…pull over when safe…you have failed your test…etc etc etc…just proved to me how much I had forgot since the last time I looked at it (15 years ago?)So I have now got my mitts on a copy and am studying its intricacies.Had some good banter the rest of the afternoon. Did my reverse, got that nailed 
Controlled stop, check Hill starts check By the end of the day, I was feeling uber confident…
Day 3: Wednesday
Got there again in good time, had a brew and waited for my instructor. Another new face…He turned up stony faced, handed me the keys, “Check the oil and water” I went and checked them, got in the wagon and sat waiting. He got in, started filling in forms, then says “out of the yard, turn right” Now I don’t know if this was a good cop bad cop thing, but I felt a little uneasy. This coupled with a phonecall I got before I went to training (my daughter had looked after someones cat for 2 weeks, and now had fleas in her house…she was a bit upset 
) but I had forgotten everything I had been taught the previous 2 days. My gear changes went out of the window, everything turned to brown smelly stuff…I was sweating like a (insert sweating joke) in a (insert end of sweating joke). I said to the instructor, “Its no good…I need to pull over and gather myself up for 10 minutes” He said ok…We did, I got some air, chatted for 5 and carried on as I had the day before, with no major problems…I know what Rog means by woeful Wednesday now… 
Day 4: Thursday.
Thursday started very weirdly indeed for me… I was sat on the bog at home, minding my own business… When the house shook…(Nothing I had done 
)My Mrs came up the stairs…“Did you feel that? It was an earthquake!” I shouts back “I shouldn’t have had that last onion bajee!” Oh how we laughed…
I gets into the training centre, to be met by one of the “Two K’s” Definitely Keith this time, I made a concerted effort to look at his face this time LOL. The most nicest chap a man could ever meet! I started with a few reverse exercises. First one ok…second one ok…third one ok…but as I was sat in the bay for the third time there was a shake…“Oooooh I thought…another earthquake…weird…” and thought nothing more of it…Did some controlled stops…ok…Then off we went…What a contrast from Wednesday…never put a foot wrong, all my blindspot checks a1…everything was on the ball We set up for a hill start…there was a rumble and the wagon moved…“There…did you feel that?” I asked Keith…“That earthquake has been following me around all day!..” “Ya daft sod!” Keith replied…“its the suspension levelling itself!!” How we laughed… We made our way back to the depot. I must have done something right, as Keith says “Ask for me when you do your C+E, I’d be happy to take you” Left that day with a smile.
Day 5: Friday (test day)
Hardly got any sleep Thursday night. To excited/nervous. Woke up at 6.50, made sure I had some breakfast. Got to base, made a brew…sat waiting for my next instructor. He turned up…bit of banter, got some reverses in, some controlled stops. My test was at 10.30. We leaves around 8.40 and starts driving around. Same as yesterday, making sure all my checks are going in, blindspots, right gear for the situation…then we head for the test centre…
We are sat in the waiting area, and there were two other candidates waiting with there instructors. You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife…so I did…“Lets have a look at your driving licence piccy”…he hands it to me, I look and start laughing…this sets of a frenzy of licence passing and laughing between us all…that broke the ice better than a well timed ■■■■
In come the examiners one by one, and we all shuffle away one by one…like a dayglo train
Show me tellme questions…like a breeze…
Reversing…Done
Controlled stop…would have been ok if I could have got up to speed Couldn’t get it into 6th…“Ok reverse back and lets have another go…” Nailed it second time round.
Onto the road…Pretty uneventful really,missed a gear here, forgot a blindspot there, just drove and thought, what’s the worse that could happen?
Gets back to the test centre…“How do you think you have done?” he asks…hmmmmm…a trick question maybe? “Errr alright?” I reply…
Congratulations I am pleased to say you have passed your test…
WOHOOOOOO! (In my head that is… )
Thanks very much…
All the formalities were taken care of…and I went back to the training centre as a passenger with a big daft grin!
8 minors if anyone’s interested…
