Finally finished the Blue books....

So after nearly 14 months when I set out on Aunt Sally for the first time to do Manor House Station to Gibson Square I have finally completed all the runs finishing up at Charing Cross Station. The last book which was the same size as the other three (80 runs) has pretty much taken me 6 months for various reasons, which I will talk about later. According to the information I have got 70% of people who start the knowledge quit, of these 60% quit before they have finished the blue books, which if my maths is any good means that 41 people quit before finishing the runs. To have completed this much of the knowledge gives me a feeling of immense pride, particulaly as those of you who have read previous posting know I tried once before and gave up. I am very very aware that I am still just past the start of it now and I still have a long long way to go, however pointing ( for those readers who know nothing about the knowledge pointing is when I go out and find points, which are places of public interest ( just think how many of them there are), and find out where they are and the best ways to get to them) does interest me more than the runs because to all intent and purpose it's just exploring.

So why did book four take me so long? Well there are various reasons for this, I had to take a break while the roads were closed for the Olympics, as there were places I couldn't go so it would have been a waste of time, BUT as anyone who is doing the knowledge knows once you take a break it gets very difficult to get back in the saddle, and it is very easy to forget everything that you have learnt.
Then I went away, although I did do a bit of calling over and I bought myself a postcode jigsaw to do while I was away, this is a jigsaw that has your own chosen postcode in the center and extends to about 2 miles either side of this point. Although it took me about four hours to do (without having a map as reference) it was a really good, but different way of doing some "knowledge stuff".
The last and probably main reason though is that I got caught up with work and I let it take over. As regular readers will know I work for GetTaxi and during the Autumn I was promoted to fleet and customer service manager ( with a little payrise!), which meant I was responsible for everything to do with drivers and everything to do with customers. With all the reorganisation I had to do this took all my time, and I can see how easy it is to put the knowledge on the backburner. However now that both of these departments are running really well, I can stand down, take a step backwards at work, and get my head back into the knowledge. As great as working in my current role has been, my aim is to become part of the best taxi service in the world, and I need to crack on and get my badge. Those of you that are reading this and work with GetTaxi, I will still be invoved with the drivers, but in a lesser role.
I guess the reason I haven't mentioned as to why book four took me so long was the fact that naturally I am a lazy sod! Can't really moan about this one, all I have to do from now on is get myself back to being organised and pull my finger out!!!!

So what have I learnt about myself and the knowledge while doing the runs? The main thing is that with the knowledge there is only one way of doing it - you either do it properly and let it take over your life or you don't bother. Someone said to me that while I was working I should do the knowledge as a hobby, well I can tell anyone who is thinking of doing it that way that it doesn't work. If I dont' call over regulaly ( which I haven't been but am now) then I forget, and if I forget then what was the point in driving the run in the first place???? It is so easy to be side-tracked, to make the knowledge less of a priority than it should be and I can only speak for myself, but I want to be a London taxi driver and to become that I need to concentrate on doing this properly.
Also that there is no right way or wrong way of doing the knowledge, each school seems to have it's own way ( and no I haven't joined one yet), but they all seem to think that their way is the only way, to me the best way of doing the knowledge is the way that I feel comfortable and learn the most, even if it's a wacky as some of the ideas I have had.
I am still in love with the knowledge and every time I ride around London I find something new and fall in love with the city even more. Although I have let my knowledge slide, I am still in the game and am now pushing on to hopefully doing my map test in the summer.
There has never been a truer word spoken than the phrase - You can't fail the knowledge, you can only quit, and I won't do that.
I will try not to leave it so long till I write again but in the meantime take care out there, be safe and be lucky.