RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 I passed my test 3 months after turning 17 & Dad paid for my first car (old 1947 Morris Ten which I loved) incl tax & insurance. He'd promised to do that providing I never got a motor bike as he'd lost his leg on one in 1942. I did point out that he'd been blown off the bl##dy thing and that wasn't likely to happen to me but he prevailed! (although it didn't stop me from going on them but he never knew at the time) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcombe Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I passed within a month of turning 17. I learned (officially) in a Hillman Imp but on the day of my test the instructor was taken very ill, he never recovered, I had to take it in my Mum's Mini Countryman (Fiesta Yellow!). Bloody hard learning to do hand signals in a Mini in half an hour with those stupid sliding windows... Of course, that first night drove the lads out into the countryside to a Pub in Doddinghurst. Oh, what it is to be young. Best, Pete. I took three attempts to pass my driving test, twice in a Hillman Imp but then on my third attempt, the Driving School had double booked so I had to drive Dad's Ford Corsair, in which I'd rarely reversed or done three point turns. Amazingly, I passed! This was in Crawley in July, 1968. Prior to that I'd been tested twice by the same grumpy examiner who admitted that he didn't like women drivers! Hence the change of Test Centre which paid off! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2014 evening orl. Safely ensconced in South Shields now, with other friends. Better interweb here in civilisation. Today I have mostly been coming to terms with being 55. Mostly to the good, that means I can take my superannuation now........ We're off for a curry with massed old friends tonight, looking forward to that. I may get a drinky or two. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 South Shields and Civilisation in the same sentence???????????? (ducking) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2014 The kids can drive at 16 on Fraggle Rock, this is not necessarily a good thing but it keeps me in a job. Or it did. We were both bikers with full bike licences when we met, and didn't drive a car until after we were married. When we bought our first house the guy opposite had a driving school who did us cheap lessons as he was a pal of my Dad's. Debs passed first time so the pressure was on me to do so too - which I did manage with some stress. I had an examiner of examiners in the car too, which was rather un-nerving, turns out the instructor had 'volunteered' me for that as he thought I was sure to pass...just as well I did then! South Shields and Civilisation in the same sentence???????????? (ducking) After half a week in Allenheads - yes! Google it.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 Do I detect an NHN birthday? If so Happy Birthday! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 After half a week in Allenheads - yes! Google it.... Now that looks like my idea of civilisation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 evening orl. Safely ensconced in South Shields now, with other friends. Better interweb here in civilisation. Today I have mostly been coming to terms with being 55. Mostly to the good, that means I can take my superannuation now........ We're off for a curry with massed old friends tonight, looking forward to that. I may get a drinky or two. Good luck. I can remember being 35 and a colleague with an almost the same birthdate, reminded me that 35 was halfway through your "three score and ten". Time then seemed to accelerate. I don't remember 55, but from the big "Six Oh" everything is downhill. Not trying to get you down, the opposite in fact. Have a great time and make the most of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 Happy Birthday Neil! That's definitely a good reason for a couple of drinks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) Happy birthday NHN - I think I can remember when I was 55 but as I'd been retired from full time work for nearly 3 years by then I'd stopped counting Ah, Driving Test - had a couple of hours off school to do mine as I could only get a weekday test date - just imagine what would have happened if I'd gone back into the classroom having failed but fortunately I didn't so all was well. And well done Pete's daughter - a big step when you're a youngster and a sort of coming of age in its own little way. Edited March 13, 2014 by The Stationmaster 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 ... I don't remember 55, but from the big "Six Oh" everything is downhill. Not trying to get you down, the opposite in fact. Have a great time and make the most of it. I started going downhill at 29 so I had plenty of practice for when I got to 60! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) I passed my test on the third attempt, actually my fourth test as on one test the car broke down within minutes of leaving the test centre. No one was more surprised than me when I did pass my test as I'd thought I'd messed up in the first few minutes, that had probably made me relax for the rest of the test. One of my former line managers said that exactly the same happened to him when he passed his test. Edited March 13, 2014 by PhilJ W Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 Spook! Me too, I went to pull away from the test centre and realised the indicators on the car were not working. I stopped, we checked and confirmed my suspicion. The examiner was very complimentary about my awareness and honesty, but that was that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AndyB Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2014 Evening all. A foggy night ahead. That'd be a couple of pints of fff Moondance! A friend shared this link - I think you might like the first photo?! Well, you might like all of them, but the first one might be fun to model! Night. Andy 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 13, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2014 As Aditi had gone to the study to do all the work related stuff that she can't do at work I decided to go out to the garage and wire up the fiddle yard. This was going quite well until my favourite soldering device ceased to work. I've had that Weller soldering gun for about 40 years. I was able to continue with another iron though. My test loco seemed to go everywhere eventually. I have a Hornby 08 shunter with sound and it is very good at showing up any dead spots. I'll have to tidy up again, the workbench looks like a tip again! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Spook! Me too, I went to pull away from the test centre and realised the indicators on the car were not working. I stopped, we checked and confirmed my suspicion. The examiner was very complimentary about my awareness and honesty, but that was that. I seem to remember, when I sat my test (many years ago!), that if that happened you could (and should) continue, using hand signals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 60 is the new 40........I feel good at 62. My favourite decade was my 30's but I was totally shagged out throughout it.....(for reasons that I've explained before). Best, Pete. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 60 is the new 40........I feel good at 62. My favourite decade was my 30's but I was totally shagged out throughout it.....(for reasons that I've explained before). Best, Pete. Excellent - then I'm just 45 - the Mrs WILL be pleased! Sleep well ERs - still +7 here at 10:30PM 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Morning all, Congratulations to all for birthdays and various successes - it's always nice to hear about the small (and not-so-small) triumphs of life ...Ah, Driving Test - had a couple of hours off school to do mine as I could only get a weekday test date - just imagine what would have happened if I'd gone back into the classroom having failed but fortunately I didn't so all was well...I got my first driving licence in the US, passed first time and promptly drove into a ditch on the way home. When I returned to the UK, I couldn't just swap my US licence tor a British one, I had to take the test (again passed first time). When I mentioned to the examiner the fact that I had been driving for years in the US but still had to take the test in the UK, he informed me that had I had licence from one of the Commonwealth countries (even those sparsely populated places with a stoplight every 200 miles or so), I could have just swapped it. Apparently the powers that be consider surviving the freeways around Washington DC not to be adequate enough for preparing one to drive in deepest, rural, Hampshire..... My Swiss licence test consisted of showing my valid UK licence and an eye test.... Mrs iD and the HM are off to the holiday hovel today, so will have a weekend to myself! Apart from more Underground modelling, I'll be trying out a new piece of kit I bought from the local DIY shop. As far as I can tell it's a home version of equipment/material used by dentists: a semi-gel plastic which is spread along areas to be joined/fixed/filled which is then immediately cured and hardened by light from a LED (presumably some sort of ultra-violet light?????). I will be glad that Mrs iD will be away, as I foresee much cursing as I struggle to master this new material and methodology. For a change, this Friday evening I'll be out with a chum, trying a Korean restaurant which is supposedly - and unusually - very authentic (authentic "ethnic" food here does just not exist - even the so-called "Italian" restaurants serve a bastardized version of real Italian food). Have a better one.. iD 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 ?..I'll have to tidy up again, the workbench looks like a tip again! Hah! I dream of having a workshop that is clean and tidy enough to be mistaken for a tip. Some of my piles of polystyrene off cuts are returning to the crude oil sludge from whence they came.... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Morning one & all, Ah - driving tests.......and in a mk1 Mini (sliding windows) passed at third attempt.....managed to get the same examiner twice and Friday afternoon twice....apparently I found later that they always failed people on Friday afternoons. Did manage to get a bit (nearly a whole HOUR) of modeling done last night.!!!! Morning of C - C ahead and one of my site supervisors has got to do presentation on site safety.....bit daunting for him as GM & CEO are likely to put in an appearance.. Try and find something to smile at today, Trev 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 14, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 14, 2014 Morning all. Foggy here this morning. It is forecast to be warm and sunny later. Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcombe Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Same here! Thick fog which will no doubt clear mid morn. In fact, we often find that, as we travel downhill towards Torquay, the fog disappears! Hope you all have sunny skies at some point today! And rejoice: it's Friday! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Belated Birthday Greetings to Neill. Hope you didn't get legless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 14, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 14, 2014 I suspect if I travel downhill from here it will be just as foggy. I can't hear any foghorns but that may be because I've got the windows (very efficient double glazing!) shut. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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