Speed Awareness Course

When I passed my driving test, back in the late 1980’s, I was a truly terrible driver - writing off one car, and seriously damaging another. I'm now not so bad. I concentrate on driving when I'm behind the wheel, I'm quite considerate, I use the lanes on motorways properly, I don't tailgate... But I will admit that I'm not a good driver. Because I drive too fast.

On a number of occasions over the past 24 years I probably should have been stopped for my driving - and probably would have lost my license if I had been, but I never have actually been stopped - you know - by a traffic officer, for doing anything wrong. Three times I've had the dreaded letter through the door - the 'Notice of Intended Prosecution'. The first was about 8 years ago, in the days when camera sites were still a bit sneaky - I accelerated through a level crossing just after the lights started flashing, and got another sort of flash from the camera on the back of the crossing. Three points.

About six months after those points expired I got three more for just about the most boring reason possible. 58 in a 50, through motorway road-works on the M20. I didn't resent the points although I don't think they were deserved - but I just put up with them on the grounds that they were really for some other misdemeanour that I didn't get caught for.

That was back in 2006, the points expired in 2009 and I'd been happily driving around on a clean license for a while when... Flash...

Bugger.

This time I was driving on a road I know well that I was sure was a 40 limit, but actually turns out to be a 30. Camera said 38. But what was different this time was that I was offered a 'Speed Awareness Course' for £95 in lieu of three points and a £60 fine.

This seemed the obvious choice, so I opted for that. After I signed up for it and got the details, I saw the course was 4 hours. I fully expected a proper wrist slapping and a long lecture, but that’s not what you get at all. Somehow they manage to take a very serious subject and make it fun. There is no exam, no difficult questions – although I was surprised at how many people got simple questions wrong… But the whole experience was actually quite uplifting. I actually came away feeling lucky to have done the course – not just lucky that I didn’t get 3 points, but actually lucky to have been there. As Pip, our excellent instructor said – 85%* of people who are given points for speeding get more points later – 85%* of people who do the course don’t.

So how was my drive home? It was still fun, actually, and still fast – despite the fact that I didn’t break the speed limit, or do anything even remotely dangerous. The Scirocco even managed to return over 38 mpg.

Will this change my driving in the long run? Sadly, I doubt it – but I hope it does. And that’s a good start, don’t you think?

Oh, and one last thing – if you’ve been driving for more than a couple of years (or more than 20, like me) then the last copy of the Highway Code you read is probably now out of date. Get a new one, and actually read it – apparently there are all sorts of new laws you might be breaking without even knowing it.

*These figures may have been made up by me, but you get the idea.

British Wildlife Centre

It was our Anniversary on the 1st May - 13 years, yay us!

We decided to take a trip to the British Wildlife Centre, which is quite local for us, and with a relatively early start and it being just 15 minutes away, we were there in time for the Red Squirrel talk.



This guy seemed very tame, and happily ran around the hand rails of the Copse - a large open space that the Squirrels have free run of.

We then grabbed a bit of breakfast from the coffee shop and then had a walk around. We spent a little while in the wetland boardwalk in the hope of seeing a Water Vole, bit no luck this time - we did see the signs, flat reeds near the bank and nibbled grass.

We saw the Otters being fed - always a joy.



Then we had a special treat - one of the Wildcats has had kittens, and we happened to see her with them.



I've always been a fan of the Scottish Wildcats, but they can be quite tricky to get a good picture of.



On the way out we had another walk around the Copse, and where really lucky as a three Red Squirrel kittens came out of the nest box to play - again, tricky to get good shots through the wire of the fence, but a couple I'm pleased with.







Walking back through the Hedgerow we saw a Mole!

Long Weekend Road Trip

We decided to have a night away whilst having a tour of a bit of the country we're not that familiar with.

Early start on Friday, it was raining when we set off, and all the way around the M25, down the M4 into wales. It eased off as we passed Raglan, and by the time we reached mid Wales patches of blue had appeared.

We were aiming for Gigrin farm to see the Red Kite feeding station, and we knew that the best time to arrive was 1pm, but as we were a little early, we stopped at the (closed) visitor centre for the Elan Valley.



We made it back to Gigrin Farm in good time, and the Red Kite feeding was absolutely fabulous. We had a drive around the Elan Valley and stopped to look at some of the Dams.



Finally, we headed off to Telford to find our hotel for the night. Dinner in the bar was good.



On Saturday morning we headed to Iron Bridge, then on to Stokesay Castle. Very interesting little place and well worth a visit. We headed from there to Kenilworth, and stopped for a couple of hours at the castle.



Finally we headed home.



Oh, and did I mention that I got my new car?

A Weekend walk in the Surrey Hills.

We decided to have a walk at the weekend - starting with a hearty breakfast at the Jolly Farmers.



I can recommend this - really good food that's not swimming in grease. Take note - Breakfast is served 9.15 to 11.15. Up to Boxhill NT car park, and then followed the Nature Walk signs.



We had no real idea how far the walk would be, except that it wasn't the one called Long Walk... It was a good walk, certainly not very tough, the majority of the steep hills were going down, with longer sloping inclines on the return. We heard some birds but didn't really see anything.

My new Walkmeter App for the iPhone recorded it at just over 2 miles.
Map

Cupcakes!

No new posts for a while, so I thought I'd just say thank you to Suzi for bringing home the results of her cupcake decorating course. 2 small jobs for me, one, take a couple of photos, and two, eat some cupcakes.

(Photo courtesy of Suzi - but I took it... If that makes sense)

Study

It's been a little while since I accepted my Open University degree. It doesn't feel like it, but apparently it was 2009. So now I've almost completely forgotten the pain of study, it must be time to do another course.
     If I choose the right course, then that should leave me with a BA (Hons) Literature rather that the non-honours BA Open that I currently have. And according to the online calculator, I just need a bare pass (grade 4) to get an overall 2.1 grade for my degree, or if I manage a Grade 2 pass or above, then I'll get a First.
     I'm sure that this all seems rather unlikely if you knew me at school, particularly if you ever tried to teach me anything - but there you go.
     So, course chosen, EA300 Children's Literature.
Main reason for going for this course is that I've already read half the course material, and I'm worried that some of the other courses might be a bit dry.
     I've fired an email off to the OU to check that I can do what I think I can, and I've pre-registered for the course, starting October 2011.

Update 26/01/11:
     Got a reply - Normally, If you've got a degree you can still use some of the courses to count towards another degree or other qualification - but some courses must be unique to the new qualification, in the specific case of the BA Hons Literature, 120 points, or 2 courses. But because my current degree is specifically a Non-honours Open Degree, then I can do this with only 60 points.
     My original question was 'Can I upgrade my 300 point Open degree to a 360 point Literature degree by doing a single 60 point level 3 course?'
     The answer is No. Because we don't call it upgrading. But if you do the 60 point course (from a choice of 4) then you will then have the qualification you want.
    
So that's Yes. Hopefully.

The first photo.

Looking through some old photos the other day for an earlier post, I came across this:


I know it's not very artistic, or technically great, but it is significant to me. I believe this is the first photo that I ever took.

The subject is my Dad at Wisley Lake in Surrey, probably about 1976 when I would have been about 6.

The Boys. When we were actually boys.

So Justin, you asked if any of us had photos of us as kids... I had a couple, and I borrowed one of Mums albums to get a couple more...


Here, evidence that Kingfield SHOULD be much better at pool than we actually are. This is the bac garden of 59 Selwood Road.
In the photo: Jason Shaw, Justin, Paulino, Andrew Long, Me, Err... No idea who this kid is, My sisters, Nick and Deb, and cropped out of this shot, Situl. Click it to go to my Flickr page where you can see it bigger. For info - this is early 1982.


My big sister Deb's 21st Birthday party in 1st Old Woking Scout hut. October 1985.
In the Photo: Justin, Ant, Me; just out of shot is Glen.
I seem to remeber Justi having a cigar at this party. Tell me again, what did it taste of?


Tessa Ledger and Joanne Page on the way Swanage on a school trip. Not sure of the year, probably 1985.

 
Justin, on the same holiday.


Me and Eddie, I think in the front room of home, 5 the Moorlands. This is about 1986.

Happy New Year

So, Christmas is over - been back at work almost 2 days and I've got a cold starting. Smashing.

Here's a picture of our Chritsmas tree (which is now back in the loft) to try to wring out the last of the Christmas cheer.


I don't do Resolutions - but I've set myself a task this year, in an effort to keep my weight at a reasonable level. I'm aiming to cover 2,011 miles in 2011, and although this would traditionally be Walk/Run/Swim/Cycle, I dont run or cycle and my favorite pool doesn't reopen until 2012.

So far I'm about 20% down with 5 days gone and 360 to go. Maybe I'll need to fix my bike up later in the year to catch up.

And just for reference, I made a huge effort to walk more in 2010 and managed 1495 miles, so the 2011 challange will be a big one.

This year I will not be donating to charity instead of buying cards...

I've seen a few posts, mostly from Facebook contacts saying something like "this year we are donating to charitiy instead of sending Christmas cards."

Well done.

But I really don't see the point. If you feel that you should be giving to charity, and have some spare money, then do so. If not, then don't.

But please don't tell me that you've decided to give the £20 you would have spent on cards and stamps to charity instead, because that just doesn't make any sense.

Not that I'm disappointed to not get a card - Facebook, Linkedin et al have largely blunted the point of sending Christmas cards to those people whom I only ever said hi to at Christmas - I can randomly say hi to them anytime I like now, and I don't have to buy a stamp, or try to remember where they live.

And that's a good thing, as quite a large proportion of my friends have moved abroad. These are exactly the people that I would normally want to send cards to, but wont, partly because I'm not organized enough to buy and send the cards in enough time for them to arrive by Christmas, and partly because I'm too tight to spend all that money on postage.

So, if you didn't get a card from me this year its not because I gave the money to charity instead, its simply that you're not on my Chritmas cards list. I would like to now formally wish you a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2011.

Oh, and one last thing - if you sent me a card this year but didn't get one in return, then this is simply an oversight on my part, or a problem with the postal system - you WILL be on the Christmas card list next year.

Either that, or I just don't like you.