Thread 15 - Corona Cohort Year 12, 2021 Lateral Flow & Driving Tests

[orangecinnamon]

Placeholder for new thread

Well, getting the driving licence is a right old faff if you don't have a current passport! When DS1 was applying I had just renewed his passport, so it was really easy. Having to get the photo, get it certified, find all the documents (I almost got that one wrong as I noticed when double checking that they needed something else as well as the birth certificate so I found NI number letter). If you have a valid passport it is SO easy. And he had to sign, so I could not do it as a birthday surprise.

Can't renew passport until he can get a haircut as he does not want to live with his lockdown haircut on his passport for 10 years!

We didn't use passport photo because ds was 12 in the photo. I can't remember having to send other documents though only a photo. Gosh...only did it summer last year, yet I can't remember.

We renewed DS's passport a bit early for this reason (thanks to these threads). Then it turns out he's not in the least bit interested in learning to drive yet. So we haven't done the licence. But at least he has an up to date passport, not that's he's going to be using it anytime too soon. Dramatic change in hairstyles since the last one done at age 11 here too.

Driving has become a very sore subject in our household of late. DD’s car (courtesy of her Gran) won’t pass the ULEZ threshold being introduced from Oct 21 (second congestion zone). Like some of the DC on here, she probably would have sat a test by now, and sees little point in progressing, given costs to drive later in year.

I am not adverse to any strategies that reduce high pollution etc. In the scheme of things it doesn’t rate high on the moan-scale, other than another factor to hit London which has already been decimated in a number of factors. She will live less than 1 mile outside the boundary, with 95% of school, friends, activities etc on the other inner side, costing £12.50 to cross into. Everyday bar Christmas Day. Ouch.

Oh, that is annoying Ealing. Any chance of trading the car in for a compliant one? How strict is it? We are some way outside London but have a mental note that we need to be careful where we go with DH's diesel car these days.

I can probably count on fingers and toes how many times I have been to inner London. I forget how dispersed we all are!

We normally go to central London by train but we do sometimes visit friends in N London by car, looking at the map they are very close to the boundary.

The only time we ever drive through London is to go to DH Uncle in Stamford Hill..Will look at that.

I'm a bit behind as I didn't know there were car restrictions in London. I grew up in Kingston so used to go into central London all the time by train. But not been for many years now I live in east anglia.

Yet another thing which hits the younger generation! I recently got into a FB debate about vaccine passports. I have a real problem with the idea that people who have been lucky enough to get the vaccine have rights denied to those who have not yet been offered the vaccine or have genuine health issues which mean they can't have the vaccine.

People in their 60s/70s, and some of us, have been lucky enough to live in times when they got free university education, plenty of jobs, final salary pension schemes, no guilt about travelling, ability to buy a house. All things people under 30 can only dream about. I can now add the ability to buy an old banger to become mobile when you pass your driving test!

Young people will miss out on all that and have lived with the restrictions of the past year to protect older and vulnerable people. Lots of those people have now had the vaccine and think it is OK to go off on holidays with their vaccine passports when the people under 30 can't. It would be SO unfair!

It’s a really tricky one, and for those of you that come in ad hoc, do pls diarise the implementation. Basically North/South circular is the boundary.

The trading in is an option, but she’s rejected it on the basis of what’s the point for less than a year before I’m off somewhere I can’t drive anyway. This is sadly true, given how much a jump insurance is when they actually pass a test, it really does all become quite cost punitive.

@ealingwestmum for insurance we insured ds2 for a year. It covers him as learner and when he passes his test. It is £760 for the year. I didn't think that was too bad. Though with covid he hasn't driven as much as he could but they said he'd get one years no claims after a year. For ds1 it was £1200 on the same car 4 years ago. So it's come down fairly. Second year £700 third year it went down to £450 (ds1) it's worth shopping around too. First year has been with marmalade.

My Dh was early for a meeting in London years ago and so decide to drive round and round (Golders Green??) and by doing so got a congestion charge that arrived in the post a few weeks later. We thought it was a scam because we didn’t know anything about it.

Hello shiny new thread. Parents evening for us soon, I assume there will be talk of dropping a subject.

I thought I had messed up a few years ago, I went to West Yorkshire for the first time in many years (I live in Hampshire) and was driving between Leeds and Bradford when I spotted some sort of marking on the motorway sign that I think meant the lane I was in you would get fined unless you were car sharing ie had a passenger. I had the two DCs in the back seat but no one in the front and it was early Sunday morning, I didn't get a fine fortunately. I think if you use these routes regularly you know the restrictions but I had no idea this was even a thing, never seen it before and was busy navigating and driving.

Piggy did you get jabbed today?

Thanks for new thread.
DS brought LFTs home today. One box will take him through to Easter holidays!

Yrp, all jabbed! Very smooth process.

Funny about the congestion charge and non-Londoners. We live on the border of Zone 3/4 so way out and my Dad (from the Midlands) is terrified of inadvertently entering the forbidden zone and incurring a fine.

Provisional Predicted Grades for DD next week I think.

Naughtily I hear DD's class have been winding up one of their teachers today by breathing heavily on the CO2 monitor in class today to make it go red when the teacher left the class. This means they have to evacuate the class room to improve air circulation. They might be 17 but they haven't grown up 😬

Piggy hurray!
Sandy love the CO2 monitor story. Need to ask Dd if her classes have one - she still doing an essay - then we’re curling up and watching bakeoff I’ve recorded, so we can skip the ads.

Oh no! James McAvoy. Last time Dd saw him he was machetying a pigs head in a Macbeth. Hope it’s a bit calmer....

I love James McAvoy! Grew up on street next to mine.

Oo you must have a lovely accent!

Not as strong as his, or not any more!

He won! Must have been the method acting in Macbeth.