Easter weekend

Caz and I visited Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight over Easter weekend. We went up the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. The view was good, unfortunately they don't have a panoramic lift (it hasn't worked since day one) and the top is totally sealed with glass so there is no "wind in your face effect". It slots into a number two position on my top 3 tall structures list (the Eiffel Tower being number one and the Empire State Building number three). When we went to the Isle of Wight we took my car on the ferry which was a fun adventure.

Pass Plus

I have now completed a Pass Plus course. This means that I have had special training in motorway, dual carriageway, all weather, night, country and town driving. Spread over a minimum of six hours of practical lessons this course is apparently proven to reduce accidents amongst new drivers. So much so that many insurers offer a significant reduction in your first year policy after taking the course. Well... that's a joke! I crammed the six hours into three 2-hour sessions all in one week, wrote of most modules as "theory" and didn't really cover anything that I hadn't already done myself. The insurance discount was significantly more than the cost of the course though and does make up for the six hours of my time that the course took.

New Car

My car was due for it's annual MOT test and a quick inspection showed that it had a few holes in the chassis where it could do without them. In short it was time to go shopping for a new car.

Last Friday, I became the proud owner of a metallic Yellow Vauxhall Corsa Sport. This is a souped up Corsa, it has a 16 valve 1.4l engine; what with the Corsa being quite a small car this makes it quite nippy. It certainly does what I tell it to, and when I tell it!

The addition of power steering, as well as a gearbox that does not randomly pop into neutral at high speeds has made my driving experience much easier.

I have some nice extra features as well: Central locking, electric windows, sunroof, power adjusted and heated mirrors, CD player, ooh and another improvement over my old Escort; it has four hub caps!

Alton Towers

Caz and I went to Alton Towers yesterday. It was great fun being able to act like a kid all day! The most exciting ride was the drive over there but the likes of Nemesis and Air were also pretty exciting. Rita was shut for the day though so I still haven't been on it, maybe next time...

Sheffield

Last week I spent a few days in Sheffield. My sister recently moved there to start a new job so I went to stay for a few days. We went out for drinks, rode the tram, drove around town a bit, went shopping, went to the cinema, went swimming in a cool pool with slides and a wave machine and of course I checked out a couple of the local Starbucks.

Southampton

I did some real motorway driving this weekend and went down to Southampton to see my friend Matt... great fun! Next stop Sheffield (I am making good use of my sat nav).

Passed!

This morning I passed my driving test, first time, and with 5 minor faults (out of an allowed 15).

My New Car

Today I brought myself a car: A 1991 Ford Escort Ghia (i.e. with electric windows, central locking and electric mirrors!)

At £200 I think that it was an absolute steal (not so much the insurance premium which came at a cost exceeding £1000).

I have taken it for a drive and we are getting on well, just need to fit a computer now... (I'll look into it!) Oh, and I need to get a driving license.

An easier exam

Today I passed my driving theory test. Over the past two weeks I have had six driving lessons with my instructor plus some additional practice with my dad in his Skoda. I am on course to take and pass a practical driving test before the end of September which will mean I can drive when I move to Washington.