Crikey! It's nearly February already. Time flies by when you're the driver of a train.....( as people who remember Chigley will know.)
An unbelievable amount of stuff has already happened in 2014 and I haven't even recapped last year yet.
So... 2013. A pretty good year. I didn't win the lottery, but I didn't have anything disastrous happen either. No major ups and downs, just a gentle swell:
As far as driving lessons were concerned, it was probably my busiest year yet. Certainly, I have never had so many pupils. But, much more so than ever before, there were a lot of people who already had a full licence, but were wanting some refresher/improvement lessons. Meanwhile, I decided to cut down the area I cover. With Inverness becoming increasingly busy for me, and Ullapool nice and steady, I decided to stop instructing in Elgin (and the surrounding area). Typically, the very week I made that decision, I had three enquiries about lessons in that area. But I stuck to my guns and recommended other instructors in Elgin/Forres. Earlier in the year I had gone further in the other direction, right up to Kinlochbervie, close to the far North West tip of Scotland. Although the driving was a bit limited, I really enjoyed my weeks up there, but, one by one, they passed their tests, and it no longer made economic sense to continue teaching there for a handful of pupils.
Congratulations to Adam, Aisha, Alasdair, Alison, Amanda, Arran, Audrius, Beccy, Beth, Cameron, Cat, Christopher, Ciara, Clare, Clarke, Daniel, Danny, Darren, Dylan, Eachann, Eilidh, Eireann, Elaine, Elisabeth, Emily, Emma, Erin, Euan, George, Georgina, Graham, Hamish, Hughie, Iain, Ian, Isobel, Jack, Jacqueline, Jade, Jake, James, Jamie, Jessie, Jo, Joanna, Jodie M, Jodie S, Joe, Jonathan, Josh, Joshua, Katie, Kelera, Kelly, Kirsty, Kyle, Lachlan, Lewis, Louis, Matt, Matthew, Melissa, Michaela, Niall, Niki, Peter, Rachel S, Rachel T, Ruaraidh, Ryan, Sabeel, Sarah, Scott D, Scott P, Shona, Shopan, Sophie, Stephanie and Tom on passing their driving tests this year - three more than last year, perhaps we'll break eighty next year. It's nice for me to look back at all these names. Some of them passed very quickly, but, perhaps because I spent more time with them, I get more satisfaction thinking about the ones that took longer to pass. There are a few people there who took over fifty hours of lessons, but I think their achievements are no less than the ones who took less than twenty.
A few weeks ago, one of my pupils asked me if I ever 'drop' any pupils. I struggled to think of any. There had been maybe two or three people over the years that I have 'dropped' because they continually messed me around by cancelling lessons. But he was asking because he has a relative who is a driving instructor, and he, apparently, has dropped pupils because he told them 'they would never be able to drive'. I thought it was the job of an instructor to teach people how to drive?! Looking through that list, there are a couple of people who, in the early stages, I thought 'this will take some time', but both of them passed first time, so it just goes to show that everyone can drive. It just takes a bit of effort from them and me.
The other significant news, as far as driving was concerned, was getting my new tuition car when the lease on my Fiesta ended. I haven't written much about it, but I am very pleased with my Alfa Romeo and my pupils all seem to like it. Not only is it a very comfortable and rewarding car for me to drive and spend so much time in, but the positive steering and the power and flexibility of the engine seem to make it a very sure-footed and secure car for my pupils. In addition, they really like the stop/start system (they simply press the clutch down to start the engine if they stall) and I really like the heated leather seats on frosty mornings. One day, I promise I will get around to writing a bit more about it: just like I promise that I will write more (hopefully) helpful stuff on various Inverness roundabouts (which is what seems to draw most people to these pages).
As far as driving lessons were concerned, it was probably my busiest year yet. Certainly, I have never had so many pupils. But, much more so than ever before, there were a lot of people who already had a full licence, but were wanting some refresher/improvement lessons. Meanwhile, I decided to cut down the area I cover. With Inverness becoming increasingly busy for me, and Ullapool nice and steady, I decided to stop instructing in Elgin (and the surrounding area). Typically, the very week I made that decision, I had three enquiries about lessons in that area. But I stuck to my guns and recommended other instructors in Elgin/Forres. Earlier in the year I had gone further in the other direction, right up to Kinlochbervie, close to the far North West tip of Scotland. Although the driving was a bit limited, I really enjoyed my weeks up there, but, one by one, they passed their tests, and it no longer made economic sense to continue teaching there for a handful of pupils.
Congratulations to Adam, Aisha, Alasdair, Alison, Amanda, Arran, Audrius, Beccy, Beth, Cameron, Cat, Christopher, Ciara, Clare, Clarke, Daniel, Danny, Darren, Dylan, Eachann, Eilidh, Eireann, Elaine, Elisabeth, Emily, Emma, Erin, Euan, George, Georgina, Graham, Hamish, Hughie, Iain, Ian, Isobel, Jack, Jacqueline, Jade, Jake, James, Jamie, Jessie, Jo, Joanna, Jodie M, Jodie S, Joe, Jonathan, Josh, Joshua, Katie, Kelera, Kelly, Kirsty, Kyle, Lachlan, Lewis, Louis, Matt, Matthew, Melissa, Michaela, Niall, Niki, Peter, Rachel S, Rachel T, Ruaraidh, Ryan, Sabeel, Sarah, Scott D, Scott P, Shona, Shopan, Sophie, Stephanie and Tom on passing their driving tests this year - three more than last year, perhaps we'll break eighty next year. It's nice for me to look back at all these names. Some of them passed very quickly, but, perhaps because I spent more time with them, I get more satisfaction thinking about the ones that took longer to pass. There are a few people there who took over fifty hours of lessons, but I think their achievements are no less than the ones who took less than twenty.
A few weeks ago, one of my pupils asked me if I ever 'drop' any pupils. I struggled to think of any. There had been maybe two or three people over the years that I have 'dropped' because they continually messed me around by cancelling lessons. But he was asking because he has a relative who is a driving instructor, and he, apparently, has dropped pupils because he told them 'they would never be able to drive'. I thought it was the job of an instructor to teach people how to drive?! Looking through that list, there are a couple of people who, in the early stages, I thought 'this will take some time', but both of them passed first time, so it just goes to show that everyone can drive. It just takes a bit of effort from them and me.
The other significant news, as far as driving was concerned, was getting my new tuition car when the lease on my Fiesta ended. I haven't written much about it, but I am very pleased with my Alfa Romeo and my pupils all seem to like it. Not only is it a very comfortable and rewarding car for me to drive and spend so much time in, but the positive steering and the power and flexibility of the engine seem to make it a very sure-footed and secure car for my pupils. In addition, they really like the stop/start system (they simply press the clutch down to start the engine if they stall) and I really like the heated leather seats on frosty mornings. One day, I promise I will get around to writing a bit more about it: just like I promise that I will write more (hopefully) helpful stuff on various Inverness roundabouts (which is what seems to draw most people to these pages).
I had intended to write a lengthy, poetic appraisal of a variety of aspects of 2013. But that is all behind us now. Time to get on with 2014 (maybe with the odd 2013 flashback).
