I’m gonna drive you all around the bend… week 1

I have officially enrolled with the Instructor College and have paid them a bucket, no digger truck, load of money to get me through the required tests.

It’s week one.  I managed to get the money from my credit card to the college only last Friday after trying for over a week to pay a place that doesn’t accept credit cards (!?!).  I have checked them out and asked awkward questions and am happy that my small personal fortune is in good hands.  There are 3 sections to pass.  Firstly the Theory and Hazard Perception tests; Secondly the driving test and finally the teacher training test.  Section 1 will be interesting because even though I did not pass my car licence until June 1998 and therefore should have done a theory test, I didn’t because I was (and am) in possession of a full motorbike licence (since August 1991 no less) and at the time it was thought this meant you knew the theory as you used it and therefore did not need to pass a theory test.  I believe this has changed!  The first and second sections are basically the tests learner drivers have to pass, but as a trainee instructor you have a much higher pass mark to attain.  After these are passed I will be officially allowed to charge people for lessons as a trainee driving instructor.

Probably won’t though, I’ll wait until I pass the training bit, which involved the examiner detailing two role plays in which they play a type of learner, and you then have to teach that learner for half-hour.  So a 1-hour exam.  Pass this and you qualify.  Apparently this 3rd section is the hardest, but given my experience so far it’s the section that worries me least!

So, I’ve started section 1.  I was given all the books etc. I may need and homework to complete before my first class this saturday morning.  Yes, I actually go in to the college for classes and given my experience of online learning, I know this will suit me best.  I have had to complete 100 multiple choice theory test questions in 4 sets.  The aim is to obtain 22/25 per set, though to start off with it was expected to attain 16/25.  I have managed 23; 23; 23; 25.  So clearly I am a genius and will have no trouble passing the qualification and launching my glittering new career!  LOL.  Lets hope I’m not being falsely lulled.

I also have to wait for my criminal record check to be returned so I can send off my official registration as a trainee driving instructor and be able to take the appropriate tests!  Who knew it was this complicated eh?

Everyone I have told my plans to so far has been nothing but complimentary and supportive.  Thank you all, though obviously I’m not telling my boss at the moment!  I’ve no plans to leave here so why let them think I do and have that at the back of their minds every plan or action I make?  So, just between you and me for now eh?  Thanks! 

I’m really gonna do it!

Yup, decision made, I am going to go seriously into debt to my credit card (one of the ones I had paid off and cut up… had to ring up for another!) with the long-term goal of being my own boss and using my best skills to work my own hours…

As what? A driving instructor!

Does this seem a bit out of the blue? A bit left-field? It’s not. Over the years a few people have said I should do this. But I have always enjoyed my work. However…

Librarianship is not secure any more. I am at the top I could hope to be within schools, and with Single status and Building Schools for the Future coming in neither my pay level nor even my job are sure things. The obvious move into public libraries is not likely as Councils around the UK are getting rid of qualified and chartered librarians and replacing them with anyone with half a GCSE or Customer Service personnel. So access to people who can help you find information or train you to find it yourself? Going, Going, Gone (in Hampshire and Doncaster already)… Don’t say I didn’t warn you… who said the Government are deliberately and stealthily denying access to information to the populace? Surely not!

So what do I do, hang on in there and just cut my cloth to suit my income each year? Nope. Fed up with that. So I did what I did at the end of my degree; I thought about what it is about my job that I like, and what could I do, feasibly, with my skills… I like to teach, to train, to knowingly assist, to meet people and network and put them at their ease, I like to work with all manner of people young and old, I like being able to (within reason at present) organise my own time and work schedule, I like to be the boss as much as possible, I like flexibility. I WANT more time with my girls and friends and family, I WANT to earn more than I am now, I WANT to never have to rely on anyone for my earnings.

And I like driving and am pretty good at it.

So I went to the Instructor College to find out about it, and then had a driving assessment by them. Turns out I have a LOT of bad habits, but no points on my licence ever and I know what all my bad habits are ever soooooo… I had to find the money (a lot, one of the down sides to the plan) but that is sorted. Then I re-thought, trying to find the negatives. Well, there are 3 – the cost, the lack of decent pension… I thought there was another, maybe not…

Don’t get me wrong, I hope to freelance as a trainer and consultant (hah!) and remain a staunch advocate of libraries, both school and public, but I am no martyr and do not wish to be beholden to an employer longer than I have to. I want to spend time with my girls and my family and friends, to have time to smell the roses, not the necessary coffee to keep awake as I grind for others.

An excellent lifestyle choice and change or a huge mistake? I guess time will tell…

Tradition – have we ever got it wrong…

Having just been ordered by my beloved sister to organise her Hen Night, as it is my job in my role of Maid of Honour, I got to thinking… After, of course, calling her Bridezilla and then pointing out it would be the only bit of tradition at her wedding. How wrong I am!

She and her fiance Simon are having a quick register office ceremony purely for the legalities, then we are off to St Michael’s Hall where there will be a handfasting performed by very good friends and me! So bit of a learning curve for me. This will be followed by as close to a Medieval reception as the venue will allow. Most of us will be dressing in handmade outfits as befits the era. Everything will be over by 7.30pm. This is to enable those travelling to be able to afford to do so in one day, thereby decreasing cost and hopefully meaning more can attend (reply will you!!! Still some non-answers!). The date is Beltane. No-one will be wearing white (apart from being too pale, it would be a blatant lie! Sorry Teens but this is TRUE!), there may be a first dance by the couple, who knows?! Not sure about speeches.

So, why is this considered non-traditional? A ceremony older than our Country’s adopted main religion, with a couple attended and blessed by family and friends and then disappearing whilst the night is young… Sounds pretty blimmin’ traditional to me! So how did it come about that this, surely our heritage at it’s most true, is no longer seen as tradition? I used to laugh at folkies, cloggers, morris dancers et. al., but they are the true guardians of what it is to be a native of this fair Isle. I think I need to look more into tradition and teach my children of it.

Tradition does not mean blinkered, it seems to me to mean open to change and welcoming to those who want to learn, or maybe that’s down the the personalities of the people I know who are ‘traditional’. You know what… I think I’m jealous of you all that I’ve only just clocked on!