Here's something you don't see every day.  But I did, the other day, at South Yardley test centre.  And young people really learn in these machines?  As if I can talk ...  One punter at a garden centre today, to whom I got talking, did comment (as we discussed his Alfa Cloverleaf and my Focus Cabriolet) how vital it is for learners to "drive properly" in a basic car, before they get all the electronic aids, etc.

That said, most of driving is anticipating what other people are likely to do, and planning a response so you're ready.  But, also,  more and more basic cars in future WILL tomorrow have the gadgets we think of as high-tech today.  Change comes, and ever more quickly.

I was going to, but decided when I woke up to take the coach instead.

Coach travel just ain't what it used to be.  It's so much BETTER.  Fast, efficient, air-conditioned, safe, ecological (eight times more than a train, and heavens knows how much more than a domestic car),  no parking woes; eat, sleep, stretch your legs, read, chat, enjoy the countryside, arrive refreshed ...  The list just goes on.  Oh, and it's sometimes peanuts in cost.

Take  birmingham to London, for example.  Perfect day out.  Cycle to town (Birmingham has good dedicated cycle provision through green spaces, and it's often flat because of the canal network).  Take your seat.  Kindle away the hours (or work / Facebook, as I've been doing on this ipad).  Then look up and, as if by the magic of teleportation,  you're in the heart of the capital.  But without the bumper scuffs, the. Nary taxi drivers, the keys down the side of the car, the congestion charge, ...  Just walk from Victoria, past Buckingham Palace, up The Mall to Traf(fic) Square, turn left up Haymarket, and we're by Piccadilly. Circus and the temporarily-pedestrianised Regent St

Who'd want to drive!?  But then, I DO do that for a living.  (So that would be a ("busman's holiday" ?)

Seriously, though; it is often cheaper and more convenient to make your journey by other means.  Consider a bike (fitness), taxi (speed and convenience, though with t price of being chauffeur-driven), train (refreshments, high-speed excitement?) or even hiring a car (variety being the spice of life, and relatively cheap these days).  And none of these suffer the hidden costs of maintenance hassles and depreciating assets, which go with ownership (typically £1000-1500 per year).  That's a lot of taxi-rides ...

It is true.  This Approved. Driving Instructor, hitherto a franchisee of the excellent DriversGB in. Selly Oak, has decided after some weeks' consideration, to become independent.

In practice, for my existing clients this means little changes.  For new ones, it may mean new pricing: I haven't decided yet.  My longer term intention is certainly to teach more locally, so in the B14 area rather than B29.

For me and my family, it means I'm at the mercy of The Free Market, and my own abilities as a self-employed worker.  It's just me, at the moment, doing all the thinking, planning, typing, driving, designing, recording, spending and saving.

I must admit, it is very exciting, and not a little daunting.  But, after two excellent years of support from the firm which trained me, I feel it's the right time to "go it alone" and see what happens.

I'm talking ice-cream, of course.  We driving instructors can't do alcohol (lol).  I had a two delightful breaks yesterday,both with fellow ADis: All Saints' Café, then Bournville.  Dessert was at the latter.  If you do get offered a 25th anniversary champagne flavoured Magnum, go for it !