I drove on the motorway!!!
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Anymore (Travis Tritt)
Topic: Driving

Well, drove up to Richard's induction on Saturday and drove down back on Sunday with Tina ... and I did it - I finally went on the motorway - and it was great - it isn't as scary as it seems - well at least the M1 and the M6 weren't as scary - guessing because they only had three lanes.

 I think my next accomplishment would be when I could drive down to London on the M25 orbital - because that one always look a bit scary .

Chester was a nice looking town - but I got really frustrated on the Saturday we drove up, because the map directions we had from the AA weren't corresponding to the road design - so once we reached into Chester - it took us a hour to find our guest house - which unfortunately didn't have any parking spaces - so I just had to illegally park in a place and let Tina dump all our stuff in the room and then she went across to Tesco near us and got us something to eat - and on top of that it was pouring rain.

 But because of getting lost etc. and not having a park, we had to go to the church dressed as we were, so we looked tired and were quite crumpled - but then we got lost finding the church as well, because the postcode I used for the church carried us somewhere very strange - so we were there driving around for about 30 mins looking for the church until I called Jenny and asked her where it was - well, we found it after I went on instinct and said we will just turn where-ever I felt like it (must have been God guiding me - because I was getting so fed up - I was willing to chuck the whole thing in and just go back to the guesthouse - but since there weren't parking until after 6pm - I think finding the church won out in the end).

But I got so lost in Chester - and drove through almost every road there - I think I know Chester pretty well now - I think I know most of the roads - I was even able to tell one person in the congregation where Queens Rd. and Queens St. were located - and how they were far from each other .

Just posting something :)
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Daydream (The Lovin' Spoonful)
Topic: Driving

Well, tomorrow Tina and I are going to be driving up to Chester - we are overnighting in Chester at Pennies Guest House, so hope all goes well. I'm going up for Richard's induction (???). However, I'm planning to venture onto the motorway for the first time - so, hoping all goes well, never ever driving on the motorway as yet, I figure if I can drive on the A5 - the motorway can't be much worse than that. I'll just stay on the leftmost lane and pretend the lane next to me is the only one (so, it would feel like a dual carriageway) - well, that's my plan. If I get scared on it - I'm coming off at the next junction and taking the A roads all to Chester (got my map instructions for any situation arising).

Anyway, so tomorrow I venture onto the M1 and if I'm not to scared then into the M6 - hope all goes well for me.

I bought a car!!!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: I Won't Dance (Frank Sinatra)
Topic: Driving
Well .. on Saturday I bought a car ... a cheap one ... a black 1996 Renault Clio 1.4 RT ... for 825 pounds ... I thought that was a good price ... did beat down the price from 850 - so that's even better.

Insurance price is a bit of a killer ... given I have my licence for 2 months ... and in this country for less than 3 years ... but got a quote with the AA for 602 pounds ... so that was good - considering the other places on the internet were giving some insurance for me like 700-800 pounds, so I think that's pretty ok.

I did buy this car pretty quick, saw the advert on the OU advert sight on Thursday, saw the car on Friday with Rebecca (agreed to buy then) and got transfer of sale on Saturday.

The car came with a brand new battery and alternator ... so, that's quite alright. I asked the guy, Graham, about the brakes (he said they should be alright) and the cam belt (but according to him I shouldn't need changing that anytime soon - because it was changed - I'm guessing around 60,000 miles he must have done it). He did say there was only one previous owner besides himself (a friend of his), but when I looked up the registration plates it said 4 owners ... got me worried a bit, but when I checked the MOT, they were all at the same place from 1999-2001 ... so guessing it might have just been in the family with transfer of names.

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: West End Girls (Pet Shop Boys)
Topic: Driving
I passed!!! Could you believe it? I still can't believe it ... heck, I was nervous not really during the driving but during the manouevres (parallel parking and reverse around a corner) which I really did terrible ... but was still able to pass with that (I just think the examiner was taking pity on me) ... I passed with 9 minors .. so that is great.