An ill wind

I really didn't like that..... That was a morning I don't want to repeat.
Last night, I was aware that I was getting low on fuel, but it had been a long day and, after my last lesson, I just wanted to get home. With hindsight, I should have taken ten minutes to go to my usual petrol station.
This morning, I had to set of just before 6.45am. The trip computer told me I had 24 miles worth of fuel left in the tank. I know it's not 100% accurate, but I was confident that I had plenty of fuel to get to the only petrol station in Nairn, 8 miles away, that is open at such a time. I pulled into the forecourt, only to find..... No diesel! Mon dieu! Cripes! and various other expletives. My options were: a) to wait in Nairn for half an hour until the two other petrol stations opened; or, b) press on to the next petrol station in Inverness, 16 miles away.
If I waited in Nairn I would have to cancel my first lesson. If I drive on to Inverness I risked running out of fuel (and then having to cancel maybe two lessons).
Not wanting to cancel a lesson, and being confident of my ability to drive in a fuel-efficient manner, I decided to drive on. I turned off the heater and the music system, then waited until a big lorry passed by, so that I could follow in their slipstream. As I pulled out behind the lorry, my trip computer said that I had 15 miles worth of fuel left.... And 16 miles to the next petrol station. Unfortunately, it just had to be the morning that a fierce gale was blowing straight towards me.... Why couldn't it have been blowing the other way?! So, despite the lorry ahead, I could still feel my car battling hard against the wind. And the miles left in my fuel tank were counting down fast.
12 miles left, 11, 10.... The wind was, if anything getting even stronger and I was having to press quite firmly on the accelerator to stay behind the lorry and not lose momentum. 9, 8, 7 miles and I still had more than ten miles to go. Not only that, but, on that stretch of the A96, there are not many places I could pull over and feel comfortable leaving my car if (when?) I did run out of fuel. By the time I reached Tornagrain roundabout I apparently had 3 miles of fuel left. Thirty seconds later the trip computer said 'Time up..... You are about to grind to an embarrassing halt.' (it didn't really say that, it just said '0 miles', but it might have well had said that). And I still had over five miles to go. I didn't even have a downhill stretch to help me (and even if there was, I'm convinced the wind was strong enough to try and push me uphill). The lights of Inverness and the Kessock bridge were getting closer.... At least now I wouldn't have to walk too far to get a can of diesel. Half a mile to go and I could see the lights of the petrol station teasing me. 200m and just two more roundabouts to go. Please don't run out of fuel on a roundabout. Phew! I got through the roundabouts and, to my immense incredulity and utter amazement, I made it into the petrol station and, thankfully, up to the pump. Never, never, never again do I want to put myself through that.
And I was going to end this post there, but the evening was equally tense.....
The wind didn't let up all day; if at all, it got stronger. So it was an unusual challenge on some lessons when some pupils were quite alarmed to feel how much the wind (especially a crosswind or headwind) could affect their steering. And home was an especially welcome sight for me at the end of the day.
Jane and I were sat, just finished dinner, enjoying some wine and listening to the wind howling around the house. Suddenly, there was a bang, a flash of light and the power went. We half expect a power cut when it's this wild but, looking out the window, I could see that some nearby houses still had power. Then we saw that one of the overhead electrical cables had been blown off the telegraph pole. It had crashed down onto the road, twisting in an arc over my neighbour's car and partly blocking the road. After calling the electricity company and the police I went out to see if there is anything I could do. It had only just missed our cars, so I moved them round the corner to try and create more room in the road. I've seen films and television where a live electrical cable snakes around, sending showers of sparks flying. Would this really happen? I usually have a scientific curiosity, but I certainly wasn't going to be experimenting with what was, as far as I was concerned, a live electrical cable. So, having moved the cars, I retreated to the safety (but darkness) of our front room to wait for the police and electricity company to spring into action.
A couple of minutes later, I watched in horror as the lady in the house opposite stepped outside her gate and, without a second's hesitation, grabbed the cable to try (unsuccessfully) to move the cable!!! She didn't die. Her hair didn't even stand up on end.
Why is it that, when you get a power cut, you get a strong desire for a cup of tea? Luckily, our neighbour, Irene, is a gem, and came round with a Thermos of boiling water (a bit disappointed that she didn't bring any cake though). She was far more proactive than the services - the electrical engineers took 2½ hours to turn up, and the police didn't bother at all! When my neighbour had grabbed the cable earlier I had wondered if I had been a bit silly not wanting to touch the cable. But when I saw the engineers handling the cable with 2m wooden poles I was relieved that I hadn't.

Lighten up

Some of the hardest stuff with learning to drive involves getting used to exactly how firm to press a pedal, or exactly how much to guide the steering wheel. You take all this for granted when you have been driving for a while, but can be quite difficult when you first start learning. Some controls, however, are much more straightforward..... Or so you would think.....
Lights. They are either on, or off. That's it. You don't have to get just the correct amount of brightness. You just have to decide when to use them. It shouldn't be difficult. I have had mini-rants previously, concerning indicators, but the correct use of lights has been my bugbear of late.
Firstly, lights on your car are not just there to help you see, but also to help you be seen. The choice then, is to select the light that gives you the best visibility, makes you visible to others, but doesn't blind others.
Side-lights: In the US they refer to these as parking lights, which gives you a good idea of when you should use them - when parked at night in a speed limit over 30mph (and when you want to make your car more visible when parked). Of course, they can be used whilst driving, but it should only be when the speed limit is 30mph or less. A lot of people seem to think, at dusk and dawn, 'it's only a bit dark.... I'll only put on a bit of light' and put sidelights on. Wrong. At faster speeds sidelights will have little effect on making you more visible, especially if there is a vehicle behind you with headlights on. Admittedly, some sidelights are brighter than others, but if you decide that it is dark/gloomy/wet enough to reach for your light switch, why not just turn it that extra little click and put your dipped headlights on?
Headlights: If you think it is getting fractionally harder to see ahead, then others are finding it harder to see you. So put your dipped headlights on. You don't have to wait until everyone else has done so.
Full-beam: Firstly, you don't need them when there are streetlights. You need them when there are no streetlights and you can't clearly see what is happening ahead (or where the road is going). So, in my opinion, you don't need them at dusk. The other day, after sunset, it was dark enough to require dipped headlights, but I could clearly see what was happening ahead without needing full-beam. Despite this, I lost count of the number of oncoming cars heading towards me with full-beam. And that brings me on to the next thing.... If you can see the arc of headlights swinging round a corner ahead, don't wait until the car is in front of you before dipping your lights. And THEN.... have the courtesy to wait until the oncoming car has completely passed before whacking the full-beam back on.
Fog lights: This crops up as one of the 'show me/tell me' questions, and the answer required is 'when visibility is less than 100m' (or words to that effect). Usually this means fog, but snowfall can reduce visibility to this distance. Rain can reduce vision below this distance, but it would have to be very heavy rain. Putting your rear foglights on during normal rain is unnecessary and can be irritating to following vehicles. Front foglights I don't really have a problem with (unless they are incorrectly aligned). I sometimes hear people moaning about people using front foglights unnecessarily, but I don't see that it causes a problem. Sometimes I am bemused when drivers have front foglights and sidelights on, or, even more bizarrely, front foglights and no other lights - I struggle to understand their thought process - but it is rarely a problem. I read a post from someone claiming that, in very thick fog, front foglights are obviously helpful (not all cars have them), but he claimed that dipped headlights can cause too much of a glare, making sidelights preferable. Maybe, but I would still use dipped headlights - mainly to make me more visible to others - and drive at a reduced speed if the glare was making vision that bad.
Roll on midsummer, when this becomes far less of an issue. I can already feel my next mini-rant brewing - roundabouts (especially lane discipline)... You have been warned!

Sneaking in at the back

I feel a little bit like arriving late to school, or work; trying to sneak in unnoticed without the teacher/boss spotting me. Over eleven weeks since I last set finger on these pages. I used to to think I was slacking if I went eleven days without a post. Shockingly poor form on my part.

"Well? BOY?!?! What is your excuse this time?!"

"Um...."  I can't think of a good reason. I have just been neglectful. There have been many times, these last few months, when I have thought of something I wanted to write about, but then changed my mind; or become so busy with other things that the moment passes and I have lost the urge to write. And sometimes, when I have thought 'I must write something in my blog', I have had a severe case of writer's block and not been able to think of anything worthwhile to say. But so much has happened: We have had new additions to our family ('Hello to Frankie and Dolly') - and one subtraction ('Goodbye Jilly'). I have had a healthy run of pupils passing their tests and being replaced by new pupils. We have witnessed all manner of bizarre behaviour from pupils, other road users, and even examiners. In fact, in such a time of change and surprise, the only thing that seems consistent is Liverpool FC's inconsistency.

So.... Happy New Year. Let's get the niceties and formalities out of the way. I hope 2013 will be the happiest and healthiest year yet. From a business point of view, I will be happy if 2013 is even 75% as good as 2012. Perhaps I should be more positive.... more..... thrusting. But, in truth, I was too busy in 2012. Where I used to claim that I was flexible, as far as fitting in with my pupils' needs, I just haven't been able to always give everyone the time that they wanted in recent months. I have spent ages trying to jiggle my diary around, constantly trying to create space to fit extra lessons in. And I have been lucky in that there has been a much smaller proportion of lesson cancellations, compared to some previous years. But, sometimes, I have actually been relieved when someone has cancelled. I shouldn't say that, I know. But it's true.

I have previously talked about pupils who have wished to remain anonymous, and I will always respect those wishes. And I have sometimes even had pupils ask if I would mention them in this blog - I can't imagine why, but I have done so on occasion. But, usually, I only mention pupils when they have passed their test, or done something else equally praiseworthy. Of course, being so lapse of late, I have not congratulated anyone for months. So.....

Congratulations to Rachel and Jamie on the birth of their baby girl, Frankie. I'm far too young to become a grandfather for the FIFTH time! (But, I'll make an exception in this case). 

Congratulations to Aaron, Alasdair, Alexander, Alison, Alistair, Andrew, Andy, Ashleigh, Ashton, Beth, Bethany, Brianna, Caitlin, Catherine, Catriona, Christopher, Conner, Daniel, Emma, Emma, Erin, Fergus, Gigha, Gracie, Hannah, Hayley, Hollie, James, James, Jasmine, Jean, Jemma, Jennifer, Jennifer, Jim, Joanne, Jodie, Josh, Julie, Kelly, Kerry, Kim, Lauren, Lawrence, Lean, Leanne, Lewis, Liam, Louise, Marcus, Mark, Matt, Melanie, Mhairi, Michelle, Nicola, Nigel, Olivia, Oonagh, Paul, Pauline, Piotr, Rehan, Robbie, Rory, Ross, Ruairidh, Sandy, Sarah, Seoras, Sophie, Struan, Tanja, Thomas and two others, who prefer not to be mentioned, on passing your driving tests in 2012. I wish you all safe driving. (and apologies if I missed anyone.)

Congratulations to Joanne on conquering Kilimanjaro. Various other pupils have done extraordinary things in 2012, but I think Joanne's was the one I was most in awe (and most jealous) of. 

New Year's resolutions? Hmmm....well......ummm......let me see....... I guess I should try to be a bit more organised. Maybe 'organised' isn't the exact word.... Perhaps 'structured' is better. I have done enough 'New pupil dances' (Apologies, Lochrie, for pinching your phrase) in 2012 to wear out several pairs of shoes. The trouble is, I don't like turning work down. There was a few weeks towards the end of the Summer when I seemed to be taking on another new pupil almost daily, but then I would worry about how I could possibly fit everyone in. In fact, I did turn down four new pupil enquiries over the Summer, but perhaps I should have turned down more. So, New Year resolution is to try and make my diary more structured and only take on new pupils when they can fit it around existing pupils. 

Ok.... I don't want to overdo it. I'm out of shape, blogging-wise, so I think that will do for now. 

Wishing you all the best for the New Year and I will try not to leave it so long next time.