ADs take the National Express when their lives' in a mess, it will make them smile

[BogRollBOGOF]

🎤On the National Express
There’s a jolly hostess
Giving porridge free
She’ll provide you with shots
amaretto or what
You like to seeeeee...

Going out was in style
Now we’re stuck in this aisle
Dream of being free
And it’s hard to get by
When your arse is the size
Of the furlough feeeeeee🎤

Bah ba ba la
Bah ba ba la

Tomorrow belongs to meee...

Welcome to the 17:38 to freedom, stopping at virtual hugs, critical discourse, and random tangents along the way. ETA unknown...

I know this seems totally out of context - but I do have a reason.

How many people do you know who took a practical driving test last year?

How many people do you know who took their driving test last year for the first time?

There is a reason, and I'll come back in an hour or so and say why

I don't think I know anyone who took a driving test last year, but I think that's my age - most of my cohort would have done it about 10 years ago and wouldn't have kids old enough to do it yet.

Maybe one or two of my kids' friends took their tests, definitely for the first time.

(Is there an analogy somewhere between driving tests & covid tests?) I can't wait an hour for the answer! Will have to check in the morning, I'm intrigued!

@NannyGythaOgg Nobody and nobody for both questions.

As to gin in a can I am currently drinking the M & S equivalent to Aperol Spritz in a can and it's bloody lovely!

Would anyone dare to make a guess at either the number of first time passes last year and the number of practical tests taken?

[quote ValiumTowers]@NannyGythaOgg Nobody and nobody for both questions.

As to gin in a can I am currently drinking the M & S equivalent to Aperol Spritz in a can and it's bloody lovely![/quote]
Ooh what’s it called please? I’ve got £2 left on a voucher for M&S!

@NannyGythaOgg

Would anyone dare to make a guess at either the number of first time passes last year and the number of practical tests taken?

I’ll go for circa 1000 for both.

Thanks for well- wishes. Just flopped home and into bed. That was a loooong day.

@AcornAutumn Italian Spritz! Not sure if it is their own brand or a brand they stock but it is lush...

[quote ValiumTowers]@AcornAutumn Italian Spritz! Not sure if it is their own brand or a brand they stock but it is lush...[/quote]
Thanks. Must be great with a Valium Tower!

@NannyGythaOgg have you been watching a quiz show hosted by a certain tall gentleman?

Yep, I always think this.

That was in reply to the Grindelwald comment.

Number of practical tests taken across the UK... I'd go for in the region of half a million. First time passes, maybe 200,000?

@NannyGythaOgg

Would anyone dare to make a guess at either the number of first time passes last year and the number of practical tests taken?

Go on more passed it than took it.

DS practical test cancelled way back, tried to rebook but bounced off website every time. God knows when he will be driving. Certainly there will be less new drivers on the road this year.

[quote GrrrrrrArghhhhh]@NannyGythaOgg have you been watching a quiz show hosted by a certain tall gentleman?[/quote]
Yep - and the numbers were astounding weren't they?

House of Games had it as one of the 'Distinctly Average' rounds and the contestants were totally gobsmacked.

The question was how many passed their practical test first time last year. The guesses averaged between (approx) 10 and 20k. I thought about 5k.

The actual answer - as I've checked today on the government website,

A total of 1,599,566 practical tests were taken in the year ending Jun 2020.

AND

720,490 drivers passed their test first time in the last year.

So more that 15 times as many people passed their test on the first time of taking than have died of Covid.

The estimate for the number of people that have HAD covid is similar to the number of people who took their practical driving test last year.

To me those numbers are mind blowing and put an extra level of context to the number of people that have had / died with the virus.

@NannyGythaOgg yes they were... DS and I were most surprised and very far out with our guesstimate....love the show though...

I'm quite proud that I'm only out by a factor of three to four!

Oh, I,thought it would be super low on account of lockdown amd backlog. Shows how much I know.

No idea on driving tests. I passed second time... 3 weeks and one lesson after my first go. I just had a better day and managed to get a cancellation which was handy as I couldn't move in with DH and commute if I hadn't passed by the start of the September.

I know an 18yo who has passed this year. Quite an achievement.
I really would not like to be learning this year although lighter traffic is a bonus.

My maths was slightly out, it's just under 15 times as many.

To me it just shows how our brains don't easily compute large numbers - unless we force it to. And many people don't do that force.

Angela Rayner
5etSpoanshomredd ·
Today I have heard from a constituent who has just lost a parent to Covid-19 a few days ago and is grieving.
They are getting phone calls, emails and texts saying that their parent must isolate and will get fined. They can’t reply to the messages to stop them. This broken system must be fixed.

@MercyBooth that is just so heartbreaking - I can't believe or comprehend the country we live in now

YY @ValiumTowers My nephews girlfriend is currently in hospital. Shes gone into labour a month early. Nephew isnt allowed to stay with her (he has to look after their eldest anyway) but still. Stacey Solomon and a fucking BBC camera crew was allowed into a labour ward earlier this year.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8959845/Family-togethers-given-OK-THREE-households-able-mix-Christmas.html