Cold shoulder

And arms and hands etc.. Left the house at 6.50 to drop Carla off at work and checked the temperature gauge and nearly crashed when I saw it said -14! Even for Essex this is cold! So I'm now resigned to being a Lad of leisure (!) until well into the new year.

Saturday was to have seen us go to my brothers for a Christmas get together. One and a half hours of torrential blizzard later and we had to stay home as I couldn't get the car off of the drive. My niece and nephew took over 5 hours to get there (A 30 mile drive)

Carla and I have been frantically shopping in case we get stuck in at Christmas. We suddenly realised we had no dinner in should we get marooned as we are due at her brothers on Christmas day.

Listening pleasure this evening is a couple of songs. First is Blood sweat and tears which throws me straight back into the sixties along with  Herb Alpert's classic This guy's in love with you for no particular reason other than I suppose it's a nice song to be stuck indoors with on a winters day. And I love the piano in it

Oh, and finally I took the shot above on my iphone. I'm quite pleased with it and I think it shows how cold it has been today! Not a cloud in the sky and currently a rare sight with all the airports closed here!

A whiteout

Once again no runs or updates as the weather continues to stop all but the most battle hardened Knowledge boys. The snow has hit again in Essex and London causing major disruption. This is the scene in my garden after just one hour of snow:

Carla may disagree, but I'd say there's at least 2 inches there..! And minus 7! I'm actually getting really fed up now. Just off to clear the drive. Again.

Oh, and today's song is from Journey Don't stop believing Something I need to do at the moment!

All quiet on the Eastern front

No updates equals no runs as the weather here in the UK continues to be ffffreezing. We had a small respite when we went to Mark's Do in Spain even though we were delayed 24 hours going and 5 coming back! a fantastico time was had by all and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mark and Tony for their hospitality. It was much appreciated.

Next week is not looking too great either, so watch this space as I have no intention of getting on my pop-pop while it's like that!

Today's musical trip is Grace by Band AKA. A constant on my ghetto blaster in 1982. It actually brings back memories of me walking down High Holborn with my ghetto blaster over my shoulder blaring out!
Ah happy days!

Snow, snow slow slow snow.....

Well there's a surprise. Up at 6am to drive to Heathrow only to receive a text telling me the flight is cancelled.. Even though the flights BEFORE and AFTER are all ok! Sods law in full force I suspect.

I'll get a picture up of the snow soon when I thaw out..

Well this is my favourite tree ready for Christmas!

 And the lane near us..

Well whaddya know?

It's been an interesting week.... Monday saw me complete 3 runs, Tuesday Carla had her first midwife appointment, which was very informative. Wednesday saw the new sofa's delivered (No more sitting on the floor!) Thursday was do nothing day as the temperature hit -2 and Friday. Well Friday was strange to say the least.

I was invited out for lunch with the board of my old firm. I duly went into the MD's office (Who thought I was abroad) and told him Carla was pregnant and Budapest had been parked for a while. He was very pleased for us and offered his congratulations. the rest of the board and I then went to Hiba in borough High St as Isabelle the C/S director is Lebanese. The food was lovely.

Went back to TWC to say my goodbyes after lunch and was basically (In a roundabout way) offered a better position than the one I was in before I left! To say this has come as a bolt from the blue is an understatement... It would mean Carla can take take more time off when the baby arrives and I could do the knowledge part time. Watch this space as this is a big decision to make!

As for today? well no runs for me as this is what greeted me 20 minutes ago.... I checked on the car's temperature gauge and it's currently -4!

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Well.
Due to some unforeseen (And some seen!) circumstances it looks like it will be a week before I go near the Knowledge again. Today I'm off due to forecast bad weather (Which ironically hasn't hit yet) so a wasted day there. Tomorrow I am having lunch with the board of my old firm, a kind of goodbye thing. Saturday see's Carla and I at Ruby's birthday party. Monday we have a scan, Tuesday is looking good Wednesday the carpets are cleaned and Thursday we jet off to sunny Espanyol for The Do. (Mark's 50th)

So all in all I had better get my arse into gear week beginning Tuesday December 7th and crack on!

Music for today? Another offering from Frankie Beverly An anthem from my youth with enough angst in it for it to be suitable!

Oh, and the forecast? Cold but no snow. We shall see..!

It's a jungle out there...

Got myself out today for three runs. Despite the cold I quite enjoyed these three. finished up at the Hurlingham club which is fairly exclusive (full membership takes approximately 16 years to attain) I would have popped in for a cup o' tea but I don't think "My sort" would have been made too welcome. Unless it was via the tradesmen's of course!

Talking of weather, the forecast is not too good at all. Definitely below freezing this week if not snowing by the end of it! Lovely. Something to look forward too...

I'm going to try and take an interesting photograph whilst on my travels to blog here (If I remember!!) Today's kicks off with this:

Amazing what you see in central London!

Of course it's London Zoo but nice to see none the less!

Today's song is one that's been stuck in my head all morning while riding round London. no idea why but I like it!

No runs tomorrow, Carla is at the hospital first appointment. More to come on that tomorrow!

A VERY good day!

Today I can reveal the reason behind my stuttering start to the knowledge:

Yep, Carla is pregnant! Look at the nose!

Obviously until things were more concrete I couldn't say anything, but now we have had the test scans and bloods back all is looking good so fingers crossed a mini Brennan should make an appearance around 6th June next year! Nothing like making a life changing career diversion and a possible move to budapest AND having a baby!

I want to thank Messrs TulStig for the kind thoughts and help with our spiritual sides over the last couple of weeks. It's been scary!

Todays song? could it be anything other than The Ramones

More to come on this I feel!

A good day Vs a bad day

Went out today (After de-icing the bike. Must remember to take a photo) and managed 3 runs in lightening time. Everything just slotted into place. I knew 95% of the roads I traveled down. I retained the runs all the way home (That sounds awful!) but heres the strange thing. It's like my brain had a leak.. For the life of me I can't complete all three runs without mistakes. It's really odd. It's got me thinking as to how/why we retain information..

I freely admit I have never had a structured education, so studying in the normal sense is quite alien to me. I need Carla to be my teacher (Ooo-er!) and put me in my place. Amazing. I'm 45 going on 15 again!

More to come on this front methinks.

Todays song? As I was in such a good mood for completing 3 runs, I choose this as it always reminds me of some great nights out!

*Edit* forgot to add, Clint came and found the problem, sorted the heating temporarily and will be fixing it properly on Thursday. Yay. : )

A day of two halves!

Taking Carla to the station this morning was an ordeal in it's own right. Temperatures dropped to minus 2 here overnight prompting much scraping with a Macro card as I couldn't find my scraper anywhere! Upon reaching the bike, the brakes were frozen up and I had to scrape ice off of the handlebars and brake levers. Roll on summer I say.

After these minor disturbances, I cracked out two more runs bringing me up to the grand total of 12 learned. I have set a target of 10 runs per week learned otherwise I will be doing this part of The Knowledge forever! Although I did buy a nice piece of software from WizAnn today. It's called call over partner. It works buy giving you the runs blanked out and reveals them as you hit enter on the run. So you call the street git the button and see if you have got it right. Looking forward to using it and relieving Carla of the Corrie/Eastenders ruining call over duty!

Part two of the dodgy came in the form of broken central heating. No heating or hot water as I type. I have left a large voicemail for Clint the plumber to get his arse in gear and call me ASAP!

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow, but fingers crossed we'll have some heat in here!

Today's song is one that's been stuck in my head for a while now. I love the piano in it believe it or not!

When will it end?

This weather is ridiculous. It's actually too dangerous to go out on the bike with winds gusting up to 80 MPH and torrential rain again. When will it stop!

Al I can do is my call overs and hope for better weather tomorrow..

Here's my garden ten minutes ago. Looks like it's 6pm rather than 3!

In other news...

Today saw some very special news come my way. More of which will be revealed in around ten days...

Todays song?

Well....... !

Back out and drowned rats...

Went out today for the first time in a week. I couldn't bow to the weather again. How wrong was I!! 4 hours later I got to my friends house where I'm storing the bike (Cuts out 24 miles per day of the commute) DRENCHED. My gloves were heavy with water and my boots were squelching.

Lesson learned. I can take the cold I cannot take the rain! Managed two runs though so the crawl continues...

Theres only one song today. I think that sums up the day nicely!

Onward and upward

Today see's me complete my sixth run. If I'm to finish the knowledge during this millennium I need to up my runs. My problem is the ride in and out of home to London. It shakes your fillings out the roads are so bad. So I'll be making arrangements to leave the bike at a friends nearer London to eliminate the country roads part of the journey. I'll just have to drive to theirs and leave the car there.

Still, six runs is six more than last Monday!

Todays song is another 80's classic  cos this always gets my feet tapping and also happens to be the first 12" I ever bought..

New school

Joined WizAnn yesterday. What a difference. I went out after my initial consultation and completed 2 runs in no time. the general rue at WizAnn is you learn the runs first THEN the points. The theory being you learn far quicker concentrating on the runs (So to speak!) then the points. I must admit, it makes more sense that way. Well to me anyway.

Yesterday's weather was a shocker. Really heavy winds saw me battling to keep the bike (And me!) upright, whilst trying to learn the routes..

As for today? stuck indoors with a sore throat and a cough. Hopefully I'll be out and about tomorrow.

Today's listening pleasure? a bit of Maze featuring Frankie Beverly In my opinion one the finest singers ever. I had the pleasure of seeing them live in the 80's. Amazing.

Rain stops play

Ok, so one day into my journey THIS happens:

Rain from 8 am and it's still pouring down. And the forecast? possibly two clear days this week if I'm lucky. It's frustrating having your bike sitting in the garage knowing you could be getting a step closer to your goal!

On todays playlist? Sammy Davis Jr. perfect for a melancholy rainy day!

The longest journey begins with a single step

And never has that been so apt as now!

Took my first step on the road to cabbiedom today, although I was a tad underprepared and managed to leave without taking the run sheet with me.. Although I completed the run (Manor House to Gibson Square) with only two mistakes. Not bad for a complete novice without reference points! To say it was cold when I left is an understatement.. +2.. Thank god for long johns and thermal tops! Plus a sweatshirt  and my bike gear!I'll be going to another school (WizAnn) on Thursday as I am getting good reviews on them too. Plus they are closer to me in East London. I think it will be a case of finding the thing that works for me.

The force is strong with this one...

So tomorrow see's run number two pending the weather. The forecast is not good at all. Let's see what transpires.

As for my listening pleasure today? Diamond Life for no other reason than I love the lyrics and Julie McKnight's voice!

I did it!

Ok, so it was basically impossible to fail the CBT but... I passed! out of four candidates 3 passed and one was thrown off the course as he didn't want to wear a crash helmet as they aren't compulsory in his country!

So as of Monday next week I go on my first official run of the knowledge.. after getting used to the bike of course.

How odd to be so independent on a motorbike though.  I was whizzing in and out of the traffic with the best of them. A 45 minute car journey was dropped to 20 minutes this afternoon. Can't go wrong!

Of course, there's only one song I could be listening to now....

Oh and one more thing. When someone says it's ok for you to ride in jeans. Ignore them! My knees are still to thaw out!

Memories

Well today was a quiet, wet wet day. It's been teeming down since around 2 pm. hopefully it'll be cleared up for the CBT tomorrow!

Anyway I got to thinking about our wedding for no particular reason and had a small mooch through the wedding pictures. Bought back lots of great memories not least our song which is quite funny as most people there expected Lady in red or something similar..

This in turn has led to many hours of YouTube surfing, and needless to say this was on the list! apologies for the rubbish sound quality.

So tomorrow sees me off to do the CBT. I'll update as soon as I get back!

Buda? or Pest?

Here we are back from our trip to Budapest (Pictures to follow) To be honest I went with a rather closed mind thinking it would be a dark foreboding grey country with a large communist hangover. And...... I was wrong.
It's a vibrant colourful country with a very Paris-like feel to it. Lot's of cafe culture in spite of the cold (Blankets are provided by the cafe owners for those sitting outside!)

We stayed at the Intercontinental on the river Danube, smack in the centre of Budapest. Lovely place. I remarked to Carla how ironic that she worked for them and was now back there as preferential guest. Great step up for her methinks!

As for the accommodation. Well, Carla's colleague put us up on Saturday evening and to say I was blown away by the size of the apartment was an understatement. The ceilings are at least 20 feet high inside all built in a building that's in the region of 80-90 years old (Complete with bullet holes from the 1956 uprising!) so when the time comes for the move, it will be exciting choosing the right apartment.

The work life balance seems to be pretty good too. Less hours or less stress. Good opportunities for travel in the local area's too.

All in all an enjoyable experience which has fuelled the desire to go out there.

As for the Knowledge? Well the CBT is this Wednesday the 20th so wish me luck!

Oh, I nearly forgot. What am I listening to whilst writing this? Well it could only be one thing seeing as the two places are only 120 miles apart and so similar..

Windy shoots....

Well after yesterday's musing I decided to go and finish off the gardening. Except I can't find my pliers so the cloche (And Carla) will have to wait until tomorrow again.. Still this is what we have so far. Jalapeno's followed by Brussels and cauliflower, broad beans and green peppers.

As for today's song, well it can only be Tears For Fears and I defy you to find a better live version. The boys still have it in spades. While your there check out Shout awesome stuff!

Sowing the seeds...

So Monday comes.. And Carla mails me a list of things "to do"... We have a very hi-tec relationship where she mails me my orders for the day, I deny receiving them and she re-mails me my reply..

Today was cultivation day. So it found me in the garden planting veggies like they were going out of fashion. We shall have a rather large harvest of Brussel sprouts and broad beans come Christmas. All I have to do now is form a cloche out of coat hangers a-la Blue Peter..

Preparations are underway for our trip to Budapest onWednesday which will see me travelling cattle class and Carla travelling business! no jealousy there then!

One more thing. I hope to be updating this blog with a "What I'm listening to" feature. Just a link to Youtube when I'm blogging. Today's offering is Richard Hawley's Open up your door. What a voice. and a great amateur video on Youtube to boot.

Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Getting rid of the old boiler...

.... No I won't be going down the Bernard Manning route of jokery!
Here I sit surrounded by banging builders and dust and bits of boiler.. Hopefully by 5pm today,Clint and his pal will have finished the work and we will have a new boiler located in the loft and some much needed free space downstairs! the new radiators are in already. I must say these two are quick.

As for the Knowledge? well the license arrived yesterday. A full 24hrs after it was sent. Superb service from the post office and the DVLA. The only problem is I can't sit the CBT until Wednesday week as there are no free spaces and we're off to Budapest in between. A shame, but hey what can you do right?

And the weather? misty grey and overcast. So much for the Indian summer!

The meter's ticking...

.... but the cab aint moving!
So yesterday saw me sorting other things out rather than doing my CBT. According to the DVLA, the license was sent first class yesterday, but could take up to two weeks to get here (!) the wonders of the modern postal system.

I had to collect the car from Mercedes yesterday after having some work done on the wheels. Except they "forgot" to do the work... So the car goes back in Wednesday week!

Other than that, I'm struggling not being at work and being in a kind of limbo between sitting at home and doing the knowledge. Carla thinks I'm mad and should be enjoying myself. It's just a weird feeling to sit here and tidy up occasionally!

Still the weekend is nearly here and the plumber is due tomorrow to fix the boiler. I'll update how that goes over the weekend!

Oh, and it looks like it's going to be an Indian summer even if it's only for this weekend.

What a pain!

Well after the excitement of sorting out the bike, helmet and clothing yesterday, I came back down to earth with a bump after realising I have lost my driving license. This means no CBT for tomorrow. Which means no Knowledge until the I have passed the CBT which means I have a wait of up to 2 weeks whilst the DVLA send out my replacement license. PLUS  I lost my fee! nice start to the day huh?

More to follow...

Back to School!

So here we are. The day after the first step has been strode (Strided? stridden?) walked... Simon and I went to The Knowledge College yesterday for our chat. That was an eye opener! I knew this was a massive undertaking, but how massive was only revealed when the instructor advised that we would be tested on over 4,000 points of interest in the 6 mile radius of London we would be learning. These points include cash points, blue plaques and gastro pubs! add to this the 320 runs I need to memorise and you get some idea as to why 7 in 10 potential cabbies drop out in the first stages.

So to today. Today I pay off the bike and get my helmet and clothing sorted out ready for the CBT on Thursday. Pictures will follow later!

Oh, and the weather forecast for Thursday is sunny so fingers crossed as the weather here this week has been wet wet wet!

So it begins...

Welcome to my small space on the web. Inspired by Messrs, TulStig & co, I thought I'd put the daily ramblings of a fledgling cab driver down for all to share (Or bore themselves rigid)

I finally managed to negotiate a voluntary redundancy on Friday October 1st, thus bringing to a close a chapter that had lasted for the best part of 18 years on and off. Trepidation rules KO?!

So where does that leave me? Well I have set myself a target of two years to complete the knowledge on a full time basis and become a black cab driver. Couple this with Carla's pending trip to Budapest and things are busy to say the least!

Today is the first step on the long road to Cabbiedom... I have the first meeting with The Knowledge College a school for Knowledge boys in London, there I get the rundown on on the why's and wherefores of the taxi trade.

Add to this my bike/bike test and this week promises to busier than my working week!

More to come in the following days/weeks/months!