Saturday 23rd October 1999
I had an interesting week. I had my driving test booked for yesterday and was supposed to have my last lesson on Thursday afternoon with Gerry. On Tuesday Helen (from BSM) phoned me to say that Gerry was in hospital and would not be able to take me for my last lesson and test, but a guy called Richard would do it instead. My last lesson was rebooked for Thursday morning and that was that. I put the phone down. Then panic struck. Was it going to be the same car? I phoned back and said I didn’t want to change cars at the last minute. Helen said it would be difficult to get hold of Gerry’s car, and that I should give it a try on Richard’s car (exactly the same model) and see how that went. On Thursday morning Richard showed up and off we went. I had the worst drive in quite a while. On the previous lesson (Saturday) I had driven really well and Gerry had said that if I drove like that on the test day I should pass. Richard’s car’s clutch was a lot higher, which meant my gear change/control were a mess, I had to really concentrate to change gears and that affected everything else. When Richard dropped me I said I wanted to do my test on Gerry’s car otherwise I would fail on Friday. Later I spoke to Helen and she said that Gerry was out of hospital (but not back to work) and that Richard would get the car for tomorrow. What a relief! I knew I would fail for sure if I had to drive a different car (the exact same thing happened a couple of lessons before I failed my first test, but at that time I couldn’t really drive anyway).
On Thursday I spent the whole day feeling really nervous, I was thinking I was going to fail on Friday, regardless of the car I drove on. I felt really tense. Although having a change of instructor at the last minute was a good thing (to prepare me for driving with an examiner). Richard took me on the North Circular and my driving was really bad, I kept coming out of my lane and swerving a bit. I was just really worried about the fast drive. I had a really relaxing evening and decided that I didn’t care anymore if I failed, and if I did I was going to give up as I ran out of money.
We went to sleep early, and you woke up 3 times during the night (you usually sleep pretty well). I dragged myself out of bed at 8 yesterday, while R. stayed in bed with you for a little while. I put some music on and felt reasonably relaxed. Richard arrived at 10:00, you and R. waved me goodbye and off we went. My driving was a lot better, as it was the car I always drive. Even Richard said so. He took me to the North Circular again and I could not get into 5th gear (I’ve only done it a few times before). I kept going into 3rd gear. Richard made me practice about 5 times and I kind of got the hang of it by the time we came out of the North Circular.
We then did some manoeuvres and that was fine. Then we did the roundabouts and that wasn’t so good, as I tend to approach them too fast (I’m impatient as hell when it comes to driving), I was also going around the corners wide and Richard started to get worried and impatient (I think he was sure I was going to fail by then). In fact I had just been driving for too long and getting tired so I said we should just go to the test centre (Southgate again) and chill out. We got there ½ hour early. Richard told me to take it slowly, as I wasn’t going anywhere anyway. I should just take my time. He repeated it a few times. An examiner came in from having just taking a pupil and Richard said he was the fairest examiner of them all and if I had him I should do well. Two other drivers arrived who were also having their test and then the examiners came out. The examiner Richard said was the best called my name! Oh, yes, the weather was perfect for driving: cloudy but raining and mild. Off I went with Gabriel for my test.
I had to do a turn on the road, and that was fine. Then a left reverse around the corner (I hit the kerb on my last test), and that was fine! Although I had gone a bit wide, I managed to pull it off. I had to do the left reverse down a hill. He asked me go ahead and I was about to pull out when I remembered I had not done my observations! I had to put the handbrake on quickly and start again. I had a good look around and then went. As we were on an uphill the car rolled down a little bit (my legs where shaking as I had just nearly failed – you fail if you pull out without looking all around). He then asked me to pull on the left and then move off again. I knew he was checking to see whether I would observe properly and I really turned my head around. Then we were driving and suddenly I saw the 50 miles an hour sign! I had never gone this far on my previous test. We joined the North Circular at exactly the same spot Richard had taken me earlier on. I knew what to do. When the time came to get into 5th gear I really had to think about it: get into neutral and then pull the gear stick towards me. After I thought about it (it took about 2 seconds…) I did it and it was perfect! I didn’t swerve once and managed to keep the speed at a steady, perfect 50 miles per hour. I never managed to do that before either, I had to push and pull the accelerator to keep the speed. This time I just got the right pressure. We then came to a traffic jam and I knew that was that. I had done well. At that point Gabriel started chatting away and I wouldn’t stop talking. I couldn’t believe it had gone so well. We drove back. Oh, yes, also earlier in the test I was behind this really slow lorry in a 30 miles per hour zone. I signalled to go on the right lane to overtake but I didn’t want to go over the speed limit (which I would have been allowed to do but I didn’t know…), then Angel Gabriel said we were going to take the next exit on the left, so I had to go back behind the lorry…
Anyway, we got back, I parked the car, and he said he was glad to say that I PASSED! I just screamed! He said he had a couple of things to point out and I said I’d try to listen, but that I was too happy to pay attention. He said I should have overtaken the lorry, as I had enough time and that I rolled back a couple of times, so my gear control had to be worked on, but I told him that was because of nerves. I told him he had made my day and wished him a great day. I also asked him to walk in the centre looking miserable so Richard would think I had failed.
I phoned R. and told him I had nearly had a crash on the North Circular and that I had failed. He tried to make me feel better and I had to put the phone down because I was about to burst out laughing. In the meantime Richard had come back to the car and he gathered that I had passed. He drove us home (like a lunatic! Bloody hell, the man is mad). I did tell him that I wouldn’t have passed if he hadn’t taken me on the North Circular earlier and given me a few pointers on approaching roundabouts. By the way all the roundabouts on the test were fine and luckily most were clear, so I just went straight through after taking a good look. On the way home my happiness turned into relief and I calmed down a bit.
When I walked in the bedroom R. was sitting down and you were asleep upstairs. R. looked really sad and I just burst out laughing and jumping. He called me cruel cow! I thought it was funny anyway. He’s always doing stuff like that to wind me up. The nightmare is over. I now have a license and the most beautiful baby in the world.
Gerry phoned later to congratulate me and said he had some sort of flashback, a nervous breakdown, and couldn’t drive. He is now having counselling and will be back at work on Monday. He drove here this morning to bring me back my mobile phone (I forgot it in his car yesterday). He did say he had his car blessed by a Jewish priest (one of his pupils). I’m not a believer but every little helps. I just had the perfect day yesterday. The weather was perfect, my state of mind was perfect, the traffic was perfect, and the pedestrians were perfect… Everything just came together. It could have gone horribly wrong but it didn’t. I was meant to get my license yesterday. I might do an extra 6 lessons (the Pass Plus) to improve my driving and also get a 30% discount on insurance.