Newslink February 2021

Regional News
Starting the year with a bang whimper
Guy Annan
MSA Western
As I sit and ponder what to write I thank
my lucky stars that I am still able to.
That may sound like a strange
statement but perhaps its something that
we all take for granted. I was made more
aware of the fragility of life recently when
a friend told me he woke up and couldn’t
see out of his left eye. He went to the
optician and then on to hospital where
they found he’s had a bleed near the
optic nerve. Luckily things should get
back to normal soon but if not he can
wear corrective lenses to help.
I wish him well; it could happen to any
of us at any time, and it’s obviously the
most important of all our senses,
especially to us as professional drivers.
On a lighter note (if you get your batter
mix right), as it’s February we have
Shrove Tuesday on the 16th – that’s my
problem, I’m always thinking about food!
Perhaps that’s why I put so much weight
on over Christmas, a problem not helped
by getting food in for people who then
couldn’t turn up because of Covid.
I suppose my New Year resolution
should be to eat smaller portions but
that’s easier said than done to stop
habits developed over 60 years.
While the lockdown bites I’m expecting
some young bird pigeons soon for racing
but they have their own Covid, Bird
Flu,and they are only allowed out once a
day for an hour at a time. Sound
familiar? Aaarghh, is there no escape!
I received a phone call from an
instructor who’s been in the business for
over 20 years and he was complaining
about an examiner who had a go at him
at the end of his test because his car was
a mess. Apparently he didn’t know that
the car had to be super clean to protect
the examiner, his pupil and himself from
the coronavirus!
His retort was that if it was that bad
why did the examiner take it out in the
first place.
He is no longer interested in rejoining
our association as he is winding down to
retire. You see, this is what happens
when you don’t belong to a group.
How did he not know about the new
rules? The local Taunton group TADI
(Taunton Association of Driving
Instructors) has been proactive
throughout the pandemic in keeping our
members informed as much as possible,
backed up by information fed in by Peter
Harvey and the DVSA.
‘Buy local, support your local shops’
the saying goes, and the same goes for
your local driving instructors
associations. They are a source of good
advice.
So how’s your 2021 been so far? With
no work to do I compiled a little diary of
what I’ve been doing... or not, in this
case.
January 4th
No sooner have I stopped wishing
people a happy new year and saying it
can’t be as bad as last year then BANG,
we get hit with it again, another
lockdown! Well, it didn’t work the first
two times so perhaps third time lucky.
Just a thought, why are all the people
‘‘
Young bird pigeons have their
own Covid, Bird Flu.... they are
allowed out for only one hour
day... sound familiar?
Is there no escape!
‘‘
who protest, those who flock to the
beach and those who don’t wear masks
not dead? Just a thought.
January 5th
On the news now apparently there’s
yet another new strain. This one could be
immune to the vaccines. Is this
Armageddon?
Perhaps it’s time for all you atheists to
become religious, although if you’re an
ADI I’m pretty sure you will already have
a deity that you pray to daily after some
of the close shaves we encounter, even if
it’s just OMG.
Well, let’s just hope we make it to
February 16th; wouldn’t want to miss
those pancakes!
January 6th
Well, now I’m ill, and I’ve been stuck
in bed. Usual feeling of being run down,
headaches, etc, the old type of illness
you don’t hear much about these days
which in a way is good as I don’t want
none of that Covid stuff.
January 7th
We’ve now got a third strain – it’s from
Africa apparently. Are they just trying to
scare us or what? I am still feeling
unwell.
January 8th
Slept most of the day, well they say it’s
supposed to be a good healer. Thought
I’d test the science...
January 9th
Load of rubbish; didn’t work, still feel
awful. Today is my wedding anniversary,
39 years, that’s pretty good going, isn’t
it, just a shame that we can’t get out
and celebrate it even if I did feel up to it.
Oh well, next year is our 40th so we’ll
make up for it then.
January 10th
Get there in the end. Illness done and
dusted, feel much better and ready to
return to work.... oooops, I forgot, we
can’t do that.
January 11th
Being a purveyor of good driving it’s
very frustrating to see others driving
badly. Some are very selfish when they
stop in a queue of traffic and won’t let
others out.
The police have been parked up across
the road on a neighbour’s driveway
leading to much speculation about
what’s going on, especially when they
were doing house to house enquiries
January 12th
Extend the social distancing to three
metres now? That’s the latest news.
On the back of my driving school car
there are words that read “may contain
nuts” (And it quite often does). It’s good
to see in the rear view mirror people
having a giggle at that; well, it helps the
world go around if you can make
someone smile.
Well, that’s it people, let’s be careful
out there.
CONTACT
To comment on this article, or provide
updates, contact Guy at g.annan@
alphadrivingtaunton.com
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NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2021