Scary traffic lights and posh houses in Dulwich...

Had a few days back out on Aunt Sally after having to work the weekend, and although managed to sell a car on the Saturday, we didn't see a single customer on the Sunday so that was a waste of a day, and to make it worse I forgot my blue book so couldn't revise any runs!!!
So braving the wind and the rain I managed to get a few more done ( up to 35 now!!) and also subjecting my partner to having to call over ( she'll know it as well as me), and have been exploring south of the river. It was all going so well until I turned left off Brixton road into Atlantic road (run 34) and stopped at the traffic lights, now I'm not a racist in any shape or form but as I'm sitting there a huge black guy with dreadlocks nearly down to his arse stood in front of me and asked me how I was doing. Not a problem in itself you would have thought, however he then proceeded to tell me that anything I needed to know about doing the knowledge I should ask him and if i wanted to go for a drink and talk to him I could!!!! This may well have been a genuine offer and someone being nice, however being the coward that I am I decided to decline his offer, ask him to let go of Aunt Sally and as soon as the lights turned green swerved round him and legged it. Looking back I chuckle but I'm glad that didn't happen when I was out doing runs at night. What is it they say - it isn't the crime it's the fear of crime??????
The next run took me through Dulwich, an area I haven't really ever been too, and I must say I was very surprised, it looked very nice and the houses were huge!!!!
Maybe after a few years of driving my cab round London 24/7 I'll be able to afford one of them!!!!!!
More from me soon......

Where to pee and a visit to the dentist

Having had a few days off work and been able to spend some days out on Aunt Sally I have discovered a new problem with doing the knowledge, where can I stop to pee!!!!!
Having been asked to not use a pub as I wasn't a customer it leaves me with having to use McDonald's or a deserted street ( which during the day in London isn't that easy to find).
So what are the solutions??? If anyone has any ideas please feel free to send them to me lol At the moment I'm holding it, driving home as quickly as I can and rushing upstairs to the toilet when I get in which I'm sure one day is going to catch me out, Maybe one of the knowledge schools could introduce a form of nappy for us KOL students to take away the need for stopping!!!
Apart from my minor pee issues the week had been going very well, I was doing 4 runs a day even with a very bad toothache ( more of that later) and I found that as I did the runs they criss-crossed and I actually knew where I was going, so that's definitely an improvement and I am still amazed that I am remembering roads and turns from when I started it 8 years ago.Lots of people have said the KOL is a bind and not a pleasant thing to do, well although I have only been it a couple of weeks I am loving it, I'm finding that driving round London is hugely interesting and my natural curiosity at what and where are places and things is being satisfied!!!
The only downside to this week has been the toothache, for 4 days I have been taking painkillers covering my gums in clove oil to try and hope it goes away but without any luck so on Friday morning I booked an appointment with the dentist. As a side note, anyone who knows me knows I have a morbid fear of the dentist, it all stems from years ago, when I had to visit an emergency dentist who was a doddery ( is that a word???) old man and ended up pulling out half my gum as well as a tooth without enough anaesthetic. Anyway so off to the dentist I went and was duly informed that I had to have a tooth out and that I could either book a referral with my usual dentist who knocks me out before doing any work or have it out the old fashioned way- my partner who was with me made the decision for me and out the tooth came. The rest of the day was spent taking lots of pain killers and lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself so no calling over just time spent feeling sorry for myself and watching sky.
Two days later and it still hurts but having been in work I have had something to take my mind off it and I actually managed to sell a car, but off again for 4 days so will be back out on my bike tomorrow hitting the blue book.
And the dentist never even gave me a sticker for being brave!!!!!!

Closures and Cold Toes

OK so I've  been doing it for 10 days now so what do I think???
It seems the runs are fairly easy to do (although all the road closures REALLY don't help!!!!) and learn, BUT  I have only done 12, calling over 12 is easy, I'm sure that when I have done 50 or 100 it will a whole heap more difficult!!!!!
The run into town seems to be taking forever, from Dagenham to wherever the run starts always seems to take about half hour which is an hour of my out time spent travelling to and from home, I must think of a way to cut this down (without getting lost of course lol)
I have a few days off work now so I'm going to try and smash a few runs a day while I'm out that will help in cutting down the travel time cram more into the time I'm out.
For those of you that don't know, I work for a car manufacturer and we are dead at the moment, no customers = no sales = no money and my boss isn't keen on me reading my runs at work so that is 65 hours a week that I'm sitting around and can't practise and that is driving me nuts lol
Sorry this is a bit of a ramble, normal service will be resumed fairly soon lol but I haven't been on here for a little while and had a load of thoughts in my head ( as well as what seems to be a constant mental companion- roads and runs lol)
Also I must invest in some thermal socks my feet get bloody cold!!! (Xmas is coming hint hint!!!!)
Anyway that's my brain empty for now - I'll be back to update this soon!!!
P.S. I must just mention and thank a mate of mine (Darren) who I play darts with once a week it's so nice to do something that doesn't involve a map ( although I would probably be better if I had directions to the treble 20)

My Brain Hurts....

So I am now having a couple of days off Aunt Sally, trying to memorise the runs I have done, is there an easy way???? please let there be an easy way!!!!, I keep getting my lefts and rights muddled up (which some people who know me will say isn't unusual) whether it is a road or a street, or a place,or a square,or a crescent or a gardens or any other viariant!!!!
So what is the best way? I have recorded the runs onto my phone so I can listen to them when I'm walking the dog, I keep trying to call over with him but he just wants his tummy tickled which doesn't help much when I'm trying to work out whether it's a left turn into Catherine Street off Aldwych ( it is by the way). So tonight I am going to subject my partner to a calling over session, drag her away from her favorite TV programs to listen to me try and call out the runs I have driven this week, not sure whether you should wish me luck or her. I'll let you know how it goes......

First few days and feeling confident

Finally I'm out on the road, Aunt Sally and I riding round doing the first few runs, and I've encounted a problem I hadn't anticipated, I keep getting lost on the way to the starting point of the run!!!! I took a wrong turn on the way to Manor House Station on Monday having to have a detour through Shacklewell (which was a bit scary lol) and then riding straight past Chancery Lane Station so having to go round the block to get back to it, but maybe I will have to spend more time planning my routes to the runs from now on!!
As for the first few days has it been a success??? well I have now travelled the first 6 runs, I can repeat three and a half of them, I can remember certain places and turns from when I did the runs before, so all in all I think it has to be. However it has highlighted just how awesome a task the KOL is, I can find my way home everytime, but I need to know the names of the roads I'm travelling on, thats the only way i'm gonna learn!!!
I'm getting used to the back ache from riding Aunt Sally there must be a way of getting rid of that I'm sure!, and I am really enjoying exploring London which is something I hadn't thought of so all in all a great start.
Oh and just as an after thought, Aunt Sally did 142 miles on a tank of fuel that cost me £12 - Happy Days!

Aunt Sally and Me....

Well that's it I now have my CBT certificate, so I can now ride my scooter on the road - I've decided to call it Aunt Sally, don't really know the reason why just kinda fits lol.
So I spent the day riding around the local area with an instructor shouting instructions in my ears when to turn left, right etc, I also learnt how to stop and go forwards, make a u-turn, to be honest having been driving for the last 22 years I must admit it did feel a little bit pointless but it has to be done to keep the powers that be happy.
I was in a group of four and the hightlight of the day was when one of the members of the group was practising his emergency stop, the instructor's best line was " that was excellent but next time try not to fall off", gave me a giggle for a little while.
One thing I learned today was that if I don't wear my bike boots my ankles get bloody cold and I really need a scarf so I guess it was a useful exercise in that sense ( I don't want to be somewhere in north London freezing my arse off!!!)
So after putting my shift in at work tomorrow I'm going to jump on Aunt Sally and do the first run, Manor House Station to Gibson Square, all the KOL peeps that read this will no doubt remember it, I'm not sure whether to do all the runs and a few points first then go back and do more points or to do one run and try to learn as many points as I can, I guess it's trial and error, but I'm sure I should be able to figure it out.
One thing that has hit me the last couple of days is how huge a thing the KOL is, it is very intimidating and to anyone who has done it I am in awe and to the people in my situation doing it, it will be such an achievement when in X number of years we are all driving the city in our shiny black cabs.
Anyway enough from me, time for something to eat and a veg out infront of the TV, something that I am sure will soon become a thing of the past.

Nearly ready to go......

Right the paperwork is signed, I am now the legal owner of a Honda PS125, I have my helmet, boots, waterproofs and a stack of maps and runs ready to go. Once I have done my CBT on sunday off I go to find Manor House Station so I can ride from there to Gibson Square. Blue Book page 1 list 1 run 1. Has anyone ever wanted to go from Manor House Station to Gibson Square I wonder??????
Anyway back to the practicalities, I have to work out how to get from dagenham to Manor House station - just a minor point lol and looking at the maps there are an awful lot of roads around both the station and the square to ride around and learn, I'm definitely thinking that one run a day done properly is better than two runs half done ( bear in mind I am going out of an evening after work).
Anyway enough of my thoughts, I have to start looking up points to find,and start to learn the run itself.

Why the knowledge

This is the million pound question - why would I try and learn the 25000 roads and streets and every place of public interest on them? Am I mad???
A few years ago I started the knowledge I managed the first 80 runs before some scumbag stole my scooter and then I landed a job that paid good money and the knowledge was forgotten about, during the last few years I have been reliant on other people for my income whether it was in financial services ( which died a death when the recession hit) or in sales ( which again nosedived with the economic climate) and now I find myself in a situation where I have no money and need to do something drastic!!!
So I'm gonna climb on a scooter and do it properly this time ( while holding onto a full-time job) and then when eventually I have passed out I will be responsible for my income no one else!!!!!
So on a wet windy December evening when sensible people are sitting on their sofas watching the latest Simon Cowell rubbish on TV I shall be riding around our great city learning what I need to know. I now have an aim, a purpose, a goal and I promise this is one thing i will succeed at!!!!!

Getting Everything Organised

And there was me thinking that all I needed to do was to get a scooter and ride around London learning the runs and points - how wrong was I!!!!!!
Finally ordered my knowledge bike today, after much research and talking to other knowledge boys I've gone for a Honda PES125 complete with board and box ( thanks to Johns of Romford for their help).
Knowledge starter pack ordered from Knowledge Point, waterproofs and helmet sorted and CBT booked.
All thats left now is to find scooter insurance, I can't believe how dear it all is - I've looked at the singing fat man and the meerkats and it amazes me that the same company has different prices for the different sites!
Anyway this is just a ramble as I get myself organised, I promise this blog will become more interesting as I actually crack on with the knowledge!!!!