Very strange. I'm watching the BBC news and the correspondent, reporting live from Port-au-Prince airport, is being completely drowned out by the noise of jet engines. What is the point of that? Surely the producers would think it might be better to switch to Kate Silverton, back in the London studio. Ah, the man in Haiti has obviously had a word with the pilots and asked them to turn the volume down on their engines. I can hear what he is saying now.
I'm not sure that that was well-advised: President Obama is with former Presidents Bush and Clinton: Hearing President Bush say '....just send money' (as opposed to blankets or food) is no more convincing than Ronnie Biggs saying the same thing. All the same, it is a terrible tragedy - and another reminder of how we will always be at the mercy of geological processes - and the best ways to help are at http://www.dec.org.uk/donate_now/.
They are saying that the disaster earlier in the week is one of the worst in living memory. That is quite a statement to make, but I am struggling to remember one worse. When it was 1-0, with ninety minutes up, I was convinced that Liverpool were going throught to the 4th round. So to end up losing 1-2 to Reading was certainly a disaster of seismic proportions. My 'friend', Iain, sent me a text informing me that the President of Haiti wished to thank the Liverpool supporters for their 2 hour silence on Wednesday night. To make matters worse, today we suffered further aftershocks by again letting another 1-0 lead slip in the last moments of the game (at Sunderland). Then, on Match of the Day, Chelsea rub salt into the wounds by showing how it should be done - even their defenders (Ashley Cole) have better control and finishing than Liverpool's forwards at the moment.
If you have read previous posts, you may have clicked that a Saturday night post, comprised of my ponderings on television, can only mean one thing.... I am back in a B&B in Ullapool. Quite a contrast to recent visits though. It's a lovely B&B (Creagan House in Pultenay Street), but the last few times I have stayed here it has been a little more chilly than I would have liked. Tonight, though, I am wondering if there are any punka wallahs available because the bedroom temperature is 27C - I might even open a window. In fact, as the weathermen predicted, the temperature here reached 10C this afternoon, enough to melt (almost) all the snow. It is such a relief to get back to proper lesson structure, and being able to teach manoeuvres where the pupil can actually see the curb. Hopefully, this bodes well for a handful of tests that I have got coming up in the next few weeks.
I am hoping that the improved weather will encourage some potential leaner-drivers to take the plunge and begin lessons. I was sat in my car this morning, inbetween lessons, when a lady tapped on the window. She explained that her daughter had failed a couple of tests but is keen to take more lessons and pass her test. I gave her my card and encouraged her to get her daughter to contact me. Later on, in the afternoon, I was writing up some lesson notes in my car when there was another tap on the window. A mother and daughter, on seeing my car, decided to ask me about the daughter taking driving lessons after she turns 17 next week. After a short conversation, I had a new pupil and Becky has the exciting prospect of learning to drive. This is all good news of course. It wasn't that long ago that I was wondering how I would fit all my pupils in, but the combination of the weather and the festive season has devastated my diary, with many pupils not having lessons for almost a month. I am hoping that a thaw will bring an increase in lessons, but, if my pupils pass their tests, I will be short of pupils again.
So, today's developments were very welcome although, looking back, it may have looked slightly dodgy, having women approaching my car and tapping on the window each time I pulled up to the curb.
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