Sunshiny days

Non-stop rain seems to have been temporarily replaced by non-stop sunshine. The sky is the bluest of blues, the sun dazzles from above and from the trillion reflections on the water. Everyone is happy, so far, but I'm sure it won't be too long before I hear people complaining that it is 'roastin' and that we need some rain.
My mum is currently on holiday in Portugal. She sent me a text telling me what a lovely time she is having and made a point of telling me how it is hot at 8am. I resisted from replying that it is the same here, in the north of Scotland.
I recently bought a cast-iron grill thing. Over the last few days this has seen continuous use on the barbecue. Char-grilled Sea Bream, Squid with chilli, asparagus, grilled polenta... whatever it is, it all tastes fantastic cooked outside, and with TMS on the radio, the garden in full bloom and not a cloud in the sky, it couldn't possibly be more Summery.
Last week, the change in weather seemed to have disrupted everyone's immune system because I have never known so many of my customers to have colds. I caught one too. My daughter sent me a text recommending various pills I should take. I replied, saying that I had bought 17 satsumas for vitamin C and 4 cans of Guinness for iron. The good thing about Guinness, I added, was that I could put it in a paper cup and my customers would assume it was cappuccino. She was quicker than usual to realise that I was joking.

Seven tests this week. Five passed; so congratulations to Ashleigh, Tom, Jean, Beth and Lewis. The other two surprised me, as I had no doubt about their ability to drive. A bit too much rush rush cost them this time, but I'm sure they'll be fine next time.

It's been very busy of late. The other regular instructor in one of the areas I cover has moved away, so I have inherited lots of new pupils. If I get a pupil who has had lessons with another instructor I never try to 'undo' what they have previously learned, I just try to build on it. However, sometimes I do find certain aspects baffling: One of these new pupils was having a lesson the other day and I asked him to pull over. He checked his mirrors, indicated, then, as he moved towards the curb, messed up his position because he was too busy cancelling his indicator.
"Why did you want to cancel your signal?" I asked.
"Because my (previous) instructor told me not to indicate if there was no-one around."
To be fair to the other instructor, it could have been a misinterpretation of what he had said, but there was clearly a lack of understanding about the use of signals.

There was one sour note to the week: I had a pupil with a test booked last Tuesday. She had been very hard-working and dedicated in her lessons. A couple of weeks ago she cancelled, saying that she couldn't get back from the hospital in time. The next week I had no replies to the two texts I sent. Then, last Friday night, she sent me a text apologising for not replying and explaining that, only a couple of weeks ago, her sister had been diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, her sister died last week. No wonder that driving lessons had been the last thing on her mind. Understandably, she wanted to cancel her test.
It was too late to move the test to a different date without having to pay the fee again. However, I had another pupil, Jean, who had a test booked in June, but who really wanted a test as soon as possible. So I thought I might be able to swap the two tests. That way, the DSA wouldn't have a vacant test slot and it would suit the needs of both my pupils. I called the DSA. They could cancel the Tuesday test and move Jean to that slot, but my other pupil would have to pay her fee again because it was too short notice.
I emailed the DSA. I understand the reasoning behind no refunds for late notice cancellations, but I was hoping for some discretion. After all, I have known pupils who have been not been able to get to the test centre due to snow at their house (although the test centre was clear of snow and still conducting tests), or a bridge being closed (preventing her from getting into Inverness). Those pupils had their tests re-arranged without being charged. But if an immediate family member dies, well, as far as the DSA is concerned, that is just tough.

Texting and driving

Don't do it. It's bad.

I have found a useful little app to handle incoming texts. Called, simply, 'Driving text answering machine'. It uses the GPS on a phone to detect your speed. You can then select a speed - say 10mph - then, if anyone texts you when you are traveling above that speed, e.g. when driving, it will send an automatic text reply explaining that you are driving and cannot immediately reply. You can tailor the reply message to say whatever you want. Very simple, but it takes away the temptation to read the text while driving.
I use a slidey wipey keyboard thing (SlideIT) on my phone. Once you get used to it, it is very fast. But you have to be careful because it doesn't always predict what I am trying to say with 100% accuracy (as you may have noticed in previous posts). I was emailing a pupil about his test. I typed "Contact the DSA to book your test for a date in July." Or at least that is what I thought I had typed.... What was on my screen was "Contact the DSA to book your test for a dare in July."
Not really a message to inspire confidence.

It could be worse though... On my old Nokia, whenever I typed 'Inverness' it would try to correct it to 'Governess'. So I had to be really careful if ever I thought about sending the following text to my wife... "Will be late home. Currently in a very wet Inverness."