I'm back...
... and after dealing with about 1,000 blog posts and spam emails, I found myself knee-deep in moving-house-related forms (there seems to be something to fill in and sign every five minutes, FFS!) and washing (OK, so I lie - C did most of it, and yes I thanked her) and a backlog of other things to read and do and tidy and catch up on and whatever. You know how it is.
I also discovered, much to my annoyance, that The Evil That Is B*bo has cunningly found a new way of making people sign in and click their mouse buttons over and over again; something to do with confirming how you know all your friends on your friends list - I don't really understand it but I clicked anyway - and after all that, I had to ask myself if it was actually worth going on holiday? Yes!
It's a weird world we live in.
I'm pleased to say we had a great week off, despite the dodgy weather. Was sooooo good to get fresh air and chill. Am also pleased (and rather surprised at myself) to say that if you're at all interested, you can see some of our holiday pix in my re-stuffed Flickr account - hell, I even added some random photos here too!
On a completely different note, I have a question for drivers... can I ask - after you passed your driving test, how long did you wait before you tried driving on a motorway, and what was it like? Would be good to get a few views if possible please! You know where the comment box is :-D
Comments
Welcome back :)))))) Lovely photos! The caterpillar web thing - weird!
Driving - I went on the motorway as soon as I got my car - probably within an hour! But do go on the motorway as soon as possible so that don't need to build up confidence from bottom!
Ce xxx
Posted by: Ce | June 19, 2007 1:25 PM
For my driving test...this is what I did:
Booked an expensive one way train ticket (I'm a uni student then) to home from Swansea in the morning.
Early evening (about 5pm) - driving test.
6pm - dinner at home.
8pm - I'm now driving to Swansea at night time, in very very heavy rain and strong winds in a puny B-reg blue Ford Fiesta 1.1 Popular Plus on dual carriageways, then the M4 all the way to Swansea.
Tough with no experience, but next day give me plenty of confidence, but didn't make me cocky though as the night time experience also taught me how important it was to concentrate too - so when I say confidence, I mean that I didn't even think about the car itself at all, and just concenrated on the road - stuff such as signalling etc all came automatically.
Posted by: JGJones | June 19, 2007 1:43 PM
6 months, only because I lived 80+ miles from the nearest motorway / we rarely used them (read once every few years at that time).
First time on motorway was out of Birmingham, via spaghetti junction and onto the M6.
Posted by: Alison | June 19, 2007 3:17 PM
lol !! I think it was within a month... to go to Wolverhampton on a Friday eve.. I went on the fast lane even tho my dad told me not to do that on my first motorway trip !!! Well.. the bloody lorries were going too damned slow so I had to overtake them... as you do !! I attempted my first trip to London and conquered the M25 at 8.30am on a Sat morning about 2 and half months after passing my test and made it to Tanya's in one piece !! x
Posted by: Suze | June 20, 2007 1:29 PM
The main thing about motorways is to remember not to brake or start slowing down when you've moved back into a slower lane after overtaking !! Other than that, it tends to come naturally. I had plenty of practice along the national speed limit dual carriageways between Preston and Blackpool before my first motorway trip. Give that a shot.. it's good preparation for the motorway and a lot less intimidating. It was roundabouts that were my weak point for a long time !! x
Posted by: Suze | June 20, 2007 1:34 PM
Well young 'un I'll tell thee... once they had built them go faster car parks we know as Motorways I went on 'em a lot, course there weren't many built when I passed my test.
One of my worst experiences driving to Nottingham not long after my test was trying to rescue a Jack Russell who had been thrown out on the M1 ...sadly he didn't make it. :(
Posted by: opd (grandma) | June 20, 2007 2:05 PM
J, I actually had a driving lesson on the motorway after I passed my driving test. If you're a bit wary of the motorway, ask your driving instructor to book you in for one final lesson, and drive a couple of junctions down the motorway.
Btw, driving on the motorway is piss easy compared to driving on the contraptions called "roads" with all their speed limits, traffic lights, junctions, crossings, roundabouts and of course, other drivers! Yes ok, there are other drivers on the motorway, but we're all going in the same direction, which helps!
Posted by: Rob | June 23, 2007 4:40 PM
You remember my driving holiday couple of weeks after I passed mine.... sticked mainly to country roads but went onto motorways only for 2/3 junctions to get the hang of it and gradually built it up... it depends if you feel confident enough to... But like some peeps have said, you can book your driving instructor for a extra lesson to concerate on motorways...
Posted by: Gems | July 9, 2007 9:21 PM