Tag: 60 before 60

Learning to drive on the wrong side of the road

A week spent driving on the wrong side of road has led me a long way towards completing this challenge.

A couple of weeks ago I went a long way (literally and metaphorically) to achieving this goal.

I’d been asked by a friend if I’d like to spend half term visiting her new caravan in the South of France. The catch was that I’d share the driving and help move the contents of her old caravan in Normandy to the new one in Serignan Plage. I jumped at the chance. Not only did I get a very cheap holiday and got to see some new places, I also got to work on one of my challenges.

Margaret picked me up at about 1.30am after a busy last day at school on the Friday. Who needs sleep? We spent the night driving down to Portsmouth for the early morning ferry. I took my first turn at driving her car and was pleased to be able to get used to it whilst there wasn’t much traffic about and whilst still driving on this side of the road.

We boarded the ferry and went straight to our cabin to get a few hours sleep. Once we landed 5 or 6 hours later in Caen we had to drive for another hour or two to get to our hotel near the campsite where the old caravan had been. We had time for a look around Granville before going for dinner and getting to bed.

Next morning, after the what must be the world’s nicest croissants and baguette for breakfast we went to the lock-up where her stuff was stored. Once we’d succeeded in the challenge of getting the door unlocked (hitting the lock with a stone eventually worked) it took us a few hours to load up the car and roof-rack.

Then it was a VERY long drive down to the south coast. We took turns in driving and I was surprised by how quickly I got into it. It was a Sunday so was fairly quiet and we were mainly on the motorway, so all I really had to do was point the car in the right direction and drive, but even so. By the time we arrived I was feeling quite happy with myself.

During the week and on my last day when we drove to Spain so I could fly home from Girona airport I had a few more goes at driving and this time experienced traffic lights, roundabouts, traffic jams, and so on. As my last challenge I made sure it was my turn to drive as we drove over the Pyrenees and across the border into Spain.

I haven’t quite decided whether to tick this challenge off as complete yet. I specifically want not just to have a go at driving on the wrong side of the road, but to be able to say I can do it confidently. Although I felt fine driving over the week I was in France, I’m not sure I would be as confident if I suddenly had to do it again in a year’s time. I think I’d need some time to get used to it again. Also, I haven’t driven alone yet, and it’s very different not having a second pair of eyes to look out for potential hazards. So at the moment I’m thinking of leaving this one as an ‘in progess’ rather than considering it completed.

10 Jobs

Variety is the spice of life

I’ve been thinking about my job and how I’m in need of a change. The job I’ve got now is the longest job I’ve ever had and I’m definitely getting itchy feet. This started me thinking about my skills which led to me thinking about all the different jobs I’ve had.

So many kids at school say they know what they want to do when they leave and that’s the only thing they’re going to do for the rest of their lives and therefore they most certainly don’t need to learn whatever it is I’m trying to teach them as it’s not relevant to them and they’ll never need it. It’s so frustrating trying to convince them that they probably won’t do the same thing all their lives and also quite sad that their aspirations are so low they think they’ll be happy doing the same thing day in, day out for the rest of their working lives.

When I was 15 I knew I wanted to have a varied life and do different things, but not even in the wildest depths of my imagination could I have thought up even half the things I ended up doing.

Here are 10 relatively normal jobs I’ve had:

  1. School teacher
  2. English as a foreign language teacher
  3. Manager
  4. Waitress
  5. Cook
  6. Au pair
  7. Barmaid
  8. Call centre phone person
  9. Receptionist
  10. GCSE examiner

And here are 10 slightly more unusual jobs I’ve had:

  1. Selling burgers and chips from a shed on a market
  2. Milking cows
  3. Making wheels in a wheel factory
  4. Picking kumquats
  5. Cleaning chicken sheds
  6. Debt collector
  7. Market research, going door-to-door with a large bag stuffed with special pad samples trying to interest women in talking about their bladder control problems
  8. Sandwich technician
  9. Having my face painted in order to be an extra in a Persil Automatic advert
  10. Cookie baker

Jake Bugg and ideas for film-making in Amsterdam

Feeling inspired by this music video.

This could be my favourite music video ever. It’s basically just a walk round Amsterdam, a city I love and feel I know quite well. I don’t take many photos when I’m there as I feel I’ve taken them all before. However, when I go back at Easter I was thinking of experimenting with my video camera and trying to capture some of the spirit of the city on film. I’m going to be studying this music video pretty closely for tips.

PS The music’s pretty good too.

2012 Twelve Final Review

The twelfth and final review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

At the end of the year when I look back on my 2012 Twelve list I can’t exactly say it was a roaring success.

However, when I look back on the year as a whole I feel I did achieve rather a lot: I ticked a few of the major challenges off my 60 before 60 list (Womad, St Kilda, Northern Lights) as well as either achieving or making headway towards a few of the others.

I’ve also finally got my house pretty much finished which gives me headspace as well as time and money to think about other things. I’ve started planning my business and getting my book collection better organised. I’ve also had a few great holidays and explored a lot more of this fascinating and beautiful country of ours. Add to this some achievements at work that enable me to feel I’ve done what I’ve set out to do there and I really feel that the past 12 months have really been a strong building block towards the future I want to have.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term) completed
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – only one I got round to reading was Swallows and Amazons
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – more days than not I completely forgot about this
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – been really bad at this and have probably ended the year with the lowest fitness level I’ve ever had!
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – very little walking done compared to how much I used to do. At least I’ve got involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award which is a step in the right direction
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – this seems to have morphed into a ‘starting my own business’ task instead.
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I could claim to have completed this if I use the term ‘learning to use’ very loosely. I had a lesson on using a new whiteboard software package but haven’t yet made much use of it. I’ve kind of got to grips with using my Kindle and netbook/tablet, though I still don’t think I use them to anywhere near their full potential
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – as with going to the gym, I keep making plans to knuckle down and do this, and this something gets in the way. 
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published) – completed
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I’ve started and been concentraring on a book database instead
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – I’ve got the van but conversions have been on hold whilst I did work on my house, but I’m now ready to start thinking about my van again
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – Ive been trying to get into the mindset – buying panniers, reading cycling blogs and so on, but haven’t actually done any cycling

South of Sanity

A fascinating glimpse at life on an Antarctic base. Don’t think they get that many murders on a regular basis though.

14 souls were left to winter-over on Britain’s largest Antarctic Base.
Nearly six months into their winter, all contact was lost. When a party was sent in to investigate, no one was found alive …

Cut off from the outside world, the small community gradually become fractured and antagonistic. From out of this dark crucible of malcontent, a killer emerges. In the isolated and disparate group, members are picked off one by one, paranoia ensues and no one is safe.

So reads the blurb on the back of this DVD.

The film is entirely set in Antarctica and was written, filmed and produced by a group of over-wintering scientists and support staff at a British base. During the long winter months no-one can get in or out and the base staff are at a minimum. Some of the staff decided to take the concept of making their own entertainment a step further than usual and created an entire feature film.

The resulting horror is predictable and at times the acting is a little wooden. If this was a Hollywood blockbuster I wouldn’t rate it. However, bearing in mind it’s an amateur film, filmed in limiting circumstances (can’t just nip out to the shop to buy another bottle of ketchup when you run out of blood), I think it’s bloody brilliant. Very bloody in fact; the killings get more macabre and by the end I could understand why it is certificate 18.

I also liked the film because I got to see the inside of one of the Antarctic bases. Spending time in Antarctica is one of the things I would really love to do, but may be one of the challenges on my list that I end up doing half-heartedly (a quick visit rather than living there for a while). If I was younger and commitment free I’d be applying for jobs and focusing on making sure I got one. But my current circumstances prevent me from being able to do this and I don’t see it changing in the forseeable future. A film like this, that shows me glimpses of life on a base, keeps the dream ticking over. As far as I know, there aren’t a lot of murders in Antarctica and there are no records of there ever having been a serial killer, so I think I’d be safe on that score.

Here’s a link to the trailer on youtube.

Driving on the wrong side of the road

I’ve got an opportunity to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Many years ago I did a road trip through France, Spain and Portugal with a campervan.* I loved the freedom of being able to go wherever we wanted and the ease of being able to stop and sleep whenever and wherever took our fancy. In recent years I’ve had similar experiences in the UK, first with my car and tent, and now with my van. I really want to be able to expand my trips to the continent but I have no experience of driving on ‘that’ side of the road and the thought of doing it for the first time on my own, without a second pair of eyes, is a little bit scary. I’m not so worried about going straight; it’s going round corners that’ll get me unstuck. I know from cycling experience how easy it is to nonchalantly turn a corner and automatically turn on to the British side of the road. And as for roundabouts … well, the less said about them the better. It took me long enough to learn how to do them here without having to do them back to front.

But sometimes opportunities just present themselves. I’ve said before that having a list makes ideas more concrete and although it doesn’t necessarily mean opportunities appear that wouldn’t have done without the list (that would be weird and new-agey) it does make the opportunities more noticeable and make me more likely to jump at them. Also it means other people may be aware of what I want to do and they may notice opportunities on my behalf.

Just before New Year I was contacted by a former colleague who said she needed someone with a van to drive her and a load of stuff down to her new caravan in France. At first I though ‘no’ because she was asking about the Easter holidays and I already have plans. But the idea had been planted and my mind kept involuntarily mulling it over. Although it didn’t seem too feasible I decided it would be worth looking into to see if I could fit a road trip to the South of France into my plans for my annual visit to Germany.

Too late. She’d already found someone else with a trailer to do the job for her. But she did mention the February half term and would I fancy a trip then? She would be driving herself and so I could tag along, have a few days there and then fly home whilst she remains there a bit longer. This would mean she’d have company for the journey down and the first part of her stay there. I told her I was interested and she’s just got back to me with flight prices (very reasonable) and asked if I’d mind sharing the driving. So if I go I’ll get to have my first driving experiences on the wrong side of the road! (Does she really know what she’s letting herself in for???)

This is much better than Easter too, as I’d been looking for something to do at half term and so far none of the ideas I’d had were working out. So if things go according to plan, it looks like I’ll soon be getting another challenge ticked off my list.

*I couldn’t drive when I did my campervan trip, so that time I was just the passenger.

Flight Simulation

Half an hour in a flight simulator has given me a real taste for flying.

One of the presents I got my brother for Christmas was an ‘experience’ in a fighter plane simulator. I liked the sound of it so I booked myself a go too. The day after Boxing Day we drove to an industrial estate in Stalybridge where the Top Gun Flight Simulator is situated. In the small office and reception space on the first floor of an scruffy looking warehouse we were sat down and shown our flight route on a map. The instructor also explained what can be seen on each of the three computer screens that are set up in the reception area. One is basically the radar, another one shows the terrain the plane is flying over as seen from various watch towers. As the plane flies into the distance it becomes a dot on the screen, when it flies closer it can be seen filling the screen. The third screen is the view of what the pilot can see through the windscreen. 

After a briefing on where we would be flying, it was time to get changed into RAF flying suits. John decided to fly first and I sat with a coffee and watched him on the screens. The instructor’s wife explained what was going on and told me a bit about their business. Ian, the instructor, had previously flown Cessnas but hadn’t done any flying for a while when someone bought him the Microsoft flight simulator. Pretty soon he became bored of just flying with a keyboard and wanted more of the real thing. That led to him buying a 1970’s Czech fighter plane and setting up a flight simulation business. They’ve been going for less than 2 years and so far it’s been successful. They’ve recently moved into their new premises from their original location in Ashton.

After half an hour John’s flight was over and I went down to the simulator on the ground floor to take photos of him in the cockpit all kitted out in the helmet and oxygen mask.

Then it was my turn. I squoze into the front seat and put the helmet and mask on. It felt quite heavy and made it difficult to turn my head. Once I was strapped into the seat I could barely move my body – I had just about enough arm movement to work the levers at the side of me and the controls in front of me. My legs only just stretched to the peddles.

Ian sat behind and gave me instructions over the intercom built into the helmet. Although it all seemed very complicated and a lot to remember, I don’t think it’s any more difficult than in a car. I remember when I was learning to drive, it seemed like I’d never remember to watch the speedometer and roadsigns, and turn the steering wheel, change gears, use the brakes and clutch appropriately and NOT run anyone over or crash, but with time it became second nature and now I don’t even have to think about it. What did seem much more difficult however, was keeping the damn thing straight! I’m sure it was never this difficult in a car. The slightest movement sent me veering on to the grass verge at the side of the runway, or when I was in the air, would tilt the plane alarmingly on to its side.

Upside down flying

For my flight we took off from a base near Prince William’s gaff in Anglesey, flew across the Menai Strait towards Snowdonia, followed a few gorges and then the river to Conwy. Out at sea I flew along the coast learning to do rolls and loops before heading back along the Menai Strait and flying under the bridge. I did a flyby past the tower, a few more rolls and loops and then came into land and got parked up.

It took a lot of concentration and was really difficult – I could feel the instructor over-riding me with his dual controls a lot of the time. I’m actually more apprehensive now about the real flying lesson I have booked, but at the same I enjoyed the simulator and so I’m sure I’ll enjoy the real thing too.

Would I recommend this or do it again? Yes and no. Yes, I’d recommend it as a fun way of spending an hour or so and it’s a good first introduction to flying, but no I probably wouldn’t do it again as it is one of those things to really be tried once. If I want to make a hobby out of flying then it’s better to save my money and do the real thing as the simulator would probably get monotonous after a while.

It’s been a while …

Moving on to the next phase of my life.

Ok, so I’ve been neglecting my blog. I got so busy in my real life over the last couple of months that I’ve not really had time for my cyber life. I’ve been working on my house trying to get it finished and the way that I want it so my head is clear to concentrate on other things. My house has been a ten year project. When I bought it a decade ago it was a wreck, but I saw the potential and fell in love with it straight away. It’s not ideal – it’s small and not in a lovely country village or in the centre of a big bustling city, but it’s what I could afford at the time and has suited my purposes well, and hopefully will continue to do so. I’ve enjoyed putting my own stamp on it, but it has been hard work and has taken a lot of my time, energy and money. But now it’s done and I feel like I can fully concentrate on other things.

As well as my house finally being finished, several other things have conveniently fallen into place and I’m starting the year feeling really ready to move on with the next phase of my life. Sounds dramatic doesn’t it? I don’t mean it to be. When I look back on my life everything seems to happen in decade long phases for me (give or take a few years). I had a gap decade when I did lots of travelling, then a decade in which I seemed to spend most of my time studying. Now I’ve had a decade (a real one this time) in which I’ve created my home and developed my teaching career.

My next phase is to work on my own business. I’ve been thinking about this for years and so it’s always been part of my long-term plans and many of the other things I’ve done have been building towards this. This is the year in which I’m finally going to take the plunge and really do something about those plans. It’s a bit scary, but exciting as well.

As for my blog – well, I should be able to keep more up-to-date with it now and I have a backlog of posts to get typed up and online, so that’ll keep me busy for a while.

October 2012 Twelve Review

The tenth review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

Some of my 2012 Twelve challenges seem to be morphing into different tasks. I’m not too bothered about this as at least I feel like I’m achieving something. However, there are still far too many challenges that I’ve really not made any headway with at all and I’m fast running out of year. This bothers me a bit more.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – Swallows and Amazons read; nine more to go for this year.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – very few taken. 
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – keep making plans to go to the gym and then something comes up and I don’t get there.
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – not done any walking, let alone leading walks.
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – this seems to have morphed into a ‘starting my own business’ task instead.
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – had a quick course on using a special interactive whiteboard package. Seems really good, now I just need to use it a few times to get the hang of it.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – as with going to the gym, I keep making plans to knuckle down and do this, and this something gets in the way. 
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I’ve now decided to concentrate on my book database instead for this year.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – van conversions are on hold whilst I do work on my house, but I’m still hoping to have at least made a start by Christmas.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – I’ve been reading blogs about cycling trips to motivate myself. I know this isn’t the same as getting out cycling myself, but at least it keeps it at the forefront of my mind.

September 2012 Twelve Review

The ninth review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

Only three months of the year to go and I’m nowhere near finishing my list. I’m not going to stress too much over it as I’m happy with what I have achieved. I’ll still keep trying though.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – started reading Swallows and Amazons.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – Never think about it unless I’m out and about somewhere and have a reason to take photos.
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – One walk and that’s been it.
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – One walk walked, none led.
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – started planning a business instead.  
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve been using my tablet and Kindle a lot and I’m really starting to get the hang of them now and I’m discovering what they can do.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – No more achieved on this.
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I seem to have replaced this with my book database.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – On hold whilst I sort out a woodburner for my living room.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – Nothing done on this one.