Majestic mountains and super scones

Well, here I am, sat on a bench, overlooking the bay at Gairloch. The sun is trying its hardest, but the wind is just a bit too fresh for me to remove my coat. Chris is out on test, with one of the Inverness examiners, who do the rounds of the more remote test centres.

The drive over - particularly from Achnasheen onwards - is just breathtaking. The view above is soon after Achnasheen, heading down toward Loch Maree. This is spectacular enough, but, further on, the road runs along the SW side of the Loch and you get tremendous views of the fearsome fortress of Slioch (see below).

In my last post I commented on instructors bringing their pupils here for a supposedly easy test. I take some of it back. The road through the village is narrow and dips and dives as it goes around some sharp bends. Ok, there are no roundabouts or traffic lights, but, in the hour before his test, Chris had to deal with some very casual pedestrians, oncoming vehicles approaching a bit too fast on our side of the road, and a lady herding her sheep through the village. Gairloch to Poolewe should have been perfect preparation for how to deal with faster roads; you have to look as far ahead as possible to judge speed and gears, in order to keep on the correct side of the road.

Whilst waiting for Chris, I popped into a hillwalking supply/bookshop/coffeeshop. I bought a cappuccino, a ginger & date scone and a marmalade scone to take away and was a little surprised to be charged £7.37; a somewhat random and slightly excessive amount, I thought. However, once I started tucking into the huge marmalade scone I decided it was a bit of a bargain, with virtually a whole orange chopped up on top of the scone. In fact, the scone was so big, I was still trying to finish it and lick a litre of marmalade off my lips by the time Chris returned. I can’t wait to see how many kilos of dates are in my second scone.

Having set myself up for a fall in my last post, it was perhaps inevitable that Chris didn’t pass. Strangely, it was coming back from Poolewe, a road that he handled so well in the hour before the test, that he approached a bend too fast for the examiner’s liking. The examiner, quite rightly, considered that this was potentially unsafe, and registered this as a serious fault.

One of the least enjoyable parts of my job is driving the pupil home after they have failed a test. In this case, this meant over an hour’s drive. Fortunately, Chris is a cheerful soul and, with the sun shining on the majestic scenery, it wasn’t so bad. And I had several hundred opportunities to demonstrate how a bend should be approached.

The final frontier

Tomorrow morning, about 6am, I boldly go to the furthest reaches of my (driving) universe - Gairloch.
One of my pupils from Ullapool, Chris, is taking his test there. With only 7 tests a month in Ullapool (and the same in Gairloch), Chris was unable to get a test date in Ullapool until late May, but we found that Gairloch (which is the next nearest test centre) had availability in March. A bit of a gamble, because Chris has never driven there, but he should be fine.

"See Gairloch and you've seen the Highlands. Well, it's obviously not as simple as that, but there is more than an element of truth in it. Because Gairloch can offer a little of everything that visitors come to the Highlands to see. A typically strung out highland village linked historically to the sea; a superb and complex coastline that is both rocky and sandy by turn; islands; lochs; and views that include some the the best mountains anywhere." is what the Undiscovered Scotland website says about Gairloch (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/gairloch/gairloch/index.html). Not only that, but the drive over, on the A832, past Achnasheen and Kinlochewe, is perhaps even better than the road to Ullapool.
As far as Chris's test is concerned, Gairloch does have a reputation as being slightly easier than, say, Ullapool. In fact, it has one of the the highest pass rates in the whole of Britain, so no pressure Chris. In fact, there is a rumour that this statistic has led to certain driving instructors encouraging some of their pupils to take their test in Gairloch, rather than at other, more local test centres. Apparently, there is one instructor (based close to Inverness) who has taken many of his pupils to Gairloch, a 90 minute drive away, for their test, because it is less challenging than Inverness. 'Well, that's fine' you may say. No, it is not. Not only does it deprive valuable test slots from people living in the Gairloch area, but 3 of his pupils have written off their cars within weeks of passing their test in Gairloch. Of course, it may have just been an unfortunate coincidence, but any person who is even the slightest bit cynical may be thinking that these pupils were only good enough to pass at a relatively easy test centre, but were out of their depth once back in Inverness. Even if you are wholly generous in your views about this instructor, you do have to ask why he encouraged them to go to such (geographical) lengths to take their test when there are at least 6 test centres that are closer.
'Hang on a minute', you may be exclaiming, 'are you not being slightly hypocritical?' Well, that is a fair question. Inverness, although slightly further from Ullapool than Gairloch is, can be reached in approximately the same time. In my defence, all I can say is that it was Chris's choice. We reached a point where we agreed that he was good enough to book his test, thinking that this would be in Ullapool. But, as I said earlier, when he could not get an acceptable date, he booked it in Gairloch. I think he is good enough to be out on the road, whether it is Gairloch, Ullapool, Inverness or London, so I have no moral dilemma.
I think maybe I have 'bigged up' his chances of passing a bit too much, so be nice to me if I come back here with bad news about his test. Meanwhile, I shall leave you with another pretty picture of Gairloch harbour.

A shock result (sort of)

I guess it had to happen sometime. I had almost forgotten the last time Liverpool played Man Utd and didn't win. It has certainly not been the best of seasons for us. In fact, it has been especially disappointing after the promise of last season (particularly beating Man Utd 1 - 4 at Old Trafford).
The Premier League and Radio 5Live kindly arranged it so that the match kicked off just as I left Ullapool, so I had the rare opportunity to listen to uninterrupted commentary on the bulk of the match.
A dream start for Liverpool, with Torres scoring so early, but it was perhaps a bit too much to expect that, with each team's respective form, that we would repeat the result of our last three league meetings. Having said that, I don't think I have ever enjoyed a Liverpool loss so much, especially one to Man Utd. Alan Green's description of Gary Neville "having a fit" when things didn't go his way, and his description of Ferguson's childish petulance almost made up for the scoreline. I think that, no matter how successful Man Utd currently are in comparison to Liverpool, just the mere thought of Gary Neville will always reassure me that Liverpool are a much classier act.
I am curious as to what Man Utd fans sing now. Will Man Utd be joining forces with Status Quo again to record 'Come you Green and Yellows'? Or should it be 'Come on you Yellow and Greens'?
And is it any surprise that Manchester was chosen as the focus of the new recruitment drive for sperm donors? After all, they have had plenty of practice, Gary Neville in particular.
YNWA

Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow

'Pot Kettle Black' springs to mind. I wouldn't exactly say that I am the most authoritative person when comes to advising on planning ahead. In fact, the word 'Mañana' was invented especially for me. However, do as I say and not as I do.

Before you can apply for your driving test you have to pass your theory test. There is no way around this. You cannot apply for your driving test in advance of passing your theory. Once you have passed your theory, you have two years to pass your driving test. If you do not pass within the two years, you will have to pass your theory again. Now there are one or two people out there who really struggle with learning to drive, but two years is a very relaxed target. Therefore, you do not have to wait until you are almost ready to take your driving test before you apply for your theory. In fact, I strongly advise that, if you are learning to drive, or are thinking of learning to drive, you should get studying on your theory as soon as possible.
There are two main reasons for this. Hopefully, you will be driving the car from the very first lesson, so it makes sense to know some of the theory from the start (unless you are happy to pay your instructor for more time for him/her to tell you what every single road sign/marking means). The other main reason is that, presumably, you are learning to drive so that you may go out on your own without an instructor/friend/family member sitting next to you. Presumably then, you want to pass your driving test? Ok, now do you want to pay for a lot more lessons than necessary? No? Ok, so do you intend having 20/30/40 lessons then taking a few months off while your instructor waits for you to pass your theory?
Some examples: The very first day I started instructing, in February 2007, my second ever pupil was Reo. She struggled initially, so I (mistakenly) didn't think there was any rush for her to pass her theory. Then, her driving began to really improve and I thought it was time she got her theory out of the way. She kept putting it off and, by the summer, her driving was getting close to test standard. Eventually she took her theory test, but failed. Each lesson I would ask her if she had re-booked her test. "I will." was her usual answer. Meanwhile, she continued paying for her weekly lesson, but reached the point where she could drive with barely any help from me, so she wasn't really getting full value for money. A year after she started learning, I moved to a different area and a different instructor took her on. I bumped into her a few months ago and asked her how she was getting on with her driving (expecting her to tell me that she had passed her test and was loving her freedom). It was a mixture of surprise and disappointment when I learned that she hadn't yet passed her theory and had finally given up with her lessons. The daft thing is that she could drive. She could drive very well. Who knows, maybe one day she will want/need to drive and have to go through it all again, but she could easily have been driving around years ago with just a little more application to passing her theory.
There have been other similar stories. I'm not going to name (any more) names, but I have 'lost' a few pupils because they had learned to drive to a good standard, but never taken their theory. Understandably, they didn't want/need to take endless lessons while we waited for them to pass their theory, so they just drifted away.
The reason I write this is because one of my pupils this morning has yet to take her theory. She started her lessons last autumn and, from time to time, I would ask her how her theory study was going. In late November, when I asked her, she replied "Oh, I just want to get Christmas out the way first." Hmmm, ok. Since Christmas has been and gone I have been gently reminding her that, although her driving is improving quickly, we cannot think about her test until she has passed her theory. Today's lesson went really well and we were both very pleased at her progress. "When did you say your theory test was?" I asked (knowing that she would not have booked it), "Oh....erm....well, I was thinking I just want to get Easter out the way first...."
Perhaps I should give her the benefit of the doubt. It could be that she is a priest and Christmas and Easter are busy times for her. Or it could be that she will join the ranks of those who have spent hundreds, maybe thousands, on driving lessons, and never get round to passing their test because they 'can't find the time' to work on their theory.

Oi! Get orrff moi blog.

Well that was annoying. For the last few days, whenever I tried to access this site, it redirected me to some random, unrelated site. It turned out that, in trying to provide you with 'stress-relief paintball', this enabled some bottom-holes to redirect viewers to their own site. Scandalous! Anyway, it all seems to be okay now, so apologies for the interruption.
Too tired to write anything else for the moment, so I will leave you with this stunning photo of morning rush hour on the Kessock Bridge, Inverness, taken by my colleague, Anne, from her house in North Kessock.

Just a reminder

A kick in the clutch

Four weeks and four and a half thousand miles on, how are we getting on with the Fiat? Every time I have met another (non-BSM) instructor recently, they all want to know what I think of the 500. Sometimes they ask in a mocking tone, as though they expect me to confirm their preconceptions and say "Urgh...Don't ask. It's a piece of crap." But others seem quite interested and want to know more about it. I really like it and, although it is not perfect, I would definitely consider it if I were to leave BSM and become independent.

One of the most popular topics currently, on the BSM instructor website, is all about what different instructors think about the Fiat. Of those that don't like the car, the main gripe used to be about its size (because it's not too bad in the front - I am 5'11" and have more legroom than I did in the Corsa, and I have no problem with width, even though one particular pupil seems almost as wide as he is tall), but now the most common complaint is about the sensitivity of the clutch and accelerator. Several instructors are complaining that their pupils are constantly stalling and they, themselves are also stalling. Come on..... we are instructors. We should be skillful enough not to stall.
The change from the diesel Corsa to the petrol Fiat has caused some of my pupils problems. With a diesel engine you can control a car at low speeds without any pressure on the accelerator. This makes clutch control on manoeuvres relatively easy and it also makes moving off easier. This is a bit of a lazy way to drive - the examiners don't like it - but why use the accelerator when you don't need to? On the positive side, with petrol engines, you can brake to a lower speed before the engine struggles and, ultimately, stalls. Four or five of my pupils were initially frustrated by repeated stalls, particularly during manouvres. It was time for me to tweak the way I teach.
In a diesel, I asked my pupils to find the bite point on the clutch before releasing the footbrake/handbrake. Unless you are very careful, this will result in a stall in a petrol car. To avoid this, the driver simply has to 'set the gas' (apply light pressure to the accelerator) before finding the bite point, then maintain those revs as the clutch is lifted - balancing the clutch and accelerator. A few of my pupils had problems because the engine is very quiet, so keeping the revs up seems wrong to them. So, when I asked them to bring the revs up before finding the bite, they would sometimes rev, then drop the revs as they brought the clutch up, resulting in a stall.
Yesterday Anna had her first attempt at the practical test. You may have read me writing about Anna back in December. I was unhappy because her test was cancelled (in December, but before all the snow and ice came) when the temperature was 6C (although there had been a frost in the early morning). Her test was rescheduled for early January when, of course, it was cancelled - quite rightly that time, due to the thick blanket of snow everywhere. Anna then went off to University and has not been back for a lesson since. She arrived home on Tuesday evening and spent the evening practising in her parents diesel Astra. She had never driven the Fiat before. Yesterday morning, I picked her up an hour before her test and she really struggled with the Fiat's clutch. I spent the hour concentrating on clutch control at low speeds, reversing and hill starts. By the time we arrived at the Elgin test centre she had got herself into a bit of a state, her confidence shattered. I kept my fingers crossed, but, after stalling four times, she asked the examiner if she could just go back to the test centre and was very upset when I met her.
Ultimately, the blame lies with me. Ok, so Anna could have tried to get back for some extra lessons. But her driving was fine, so I was confident that I could get her to adjust to the Fiat in the hour before the test. But, as pupils and instructors know, stalling knocks confidence.
Perhaps those instructors who criticise the Fiat's clutch are correct, perhaps it is Fiat's fault and not ours. It was tempting to think so after Anna's test trauma. I still disagree.
I have only had two pupils who have not been happy about the Fiat after a couple of lessons in it. All the others have either adapted immediately, or have done so within two hours. These others range from those who have had over thirty hours in the diesel Corsa, to complete beginners. So, if they can master the Fiat's clutch, ANYONE can.
After Anna's test I had two hours to drive the 95 miles to Ullapool. I had advised Anna to spend the afternoon cursing the examiners, me and BSM, and to walk round spitting on Fiats (I am fairly confident she wont actually do this, at least not the spitting part). Meanwhile I was cheering myself up by enjoying the brilliant blue skies, pristine white mountains and Wilco's Summerteeth CD playing loudly in the car.
The rest of the day was VERY concentrated: 8 separate one-hour lessons in 9 hours. I was literally dropping one pupil off then picking the next one up within 5 minutes. Two of the pupils were brand new; neither had ever driven a car before. They were both a pleasure to teach and, guess what? Not one stall between them.

All's well that ends well.

A strange day. One that never seemed to be going to plan, but just seemed to fall into place.

Arran’s test, his first attempt was at 8.40am, so I had arranged to pick him up at 7.30am for an hour lesson/‘warm-up’. Usually I would get a clear run through to Inverness at that time of morning, but some slow traffic ahead meant that I was 5 minutes late getting to Arran’s. I was therefore surprised to find myself waiting for him, especially with only an hour to go before his test. Just as I was about to call him, his mother came out on her way to work.
“Is Arran on his way?” I asked.
“Erm….. I’ll check.” A minute later she came back. “He says his lesson is at 8.40.”
“No, his test is at 8.40, but we agreed on an hour lesson beforehand.”
“Oh….” and back she went (presumably making herself late for work) to check with Arran.
Arran came to the car a few minutes later, looking as though he had not long woken up. “Sorry, I got it wrong.”
In what little time we had remaining before his test, we had a brief practice at each manoeuvre and I gave my usual pep talk, mainly to reassure him that it would be just like a driving lesson and that he was easily good enough to pass.
I remember the lesson before my own driving test. It was horrendous and did nothing to give me confidence. Arran was having a similar time. He stalled a few times, made a mess of some of the manoeuvres and was causing me to give far more instruction than I would have liked. We quickly ran out of time and headed to the test centre. Ewan, the Senior Examiner met us. “I’m sorry. Your test will not be going ahead.” (It was ‘only’ -2C, but much of last week’s snow had turned to ice. This was especially disappointing for Arran as his test had already been rescheduled once after being cancelled due to snow in December.
“How long do you think Arran will have to wait?” I asked, dreading being told ‘April or May’.
Ewan looked out of the window at the clear, blue sky. “Can you do this afternoon?” Was the surprising reply (he obviously presumed the ice would melt). I had other lessons and appointments, but I might be able to rearrange them.
I looked at Arran for his reaction (but I already knew he had the whole day off). When I didn’t get a reaction I said that we should be able to make the afternoon.
“I need to make a call,” (presumably to one of the examiners) “but, shall we say 2.30pm?”
I was very impressed. It would have been all too easy for Ewan to say ‘You will receive a letter giving you your next test date’, which would have been a shame for Arran.

I dropped Arran back at home, rearranged my 12.30pm lesson, made a nuisance of myself in the BSM office, took Kevin for his kindly rearranged lesson, then returned to Arran’s. He was looking a little more awake, but the few hours wait had done nothing for his nerves. I reassured him that he WILL be nervous for the first few minutes, but those nerves will pass once he gets going and, if he concentrates, the 45 minutes will fly by.
It did the trick. Arran came back, with a slightly shocked smile and a blue pass certificate, with only three minor faults - excellent. Obviously, Arran is not a 'morning person'.

The rest of the day progressed in a similar vein: Problems, troubles and niggles to begin, but everything working out perfectly as the day went on.
I like this kind of day.