The Gospel According To Rhys - Colwyn Bay North Wales Web blog About Sport Technology Web 2.0 Internet Life and Making Money Online

I am a bit scared but this whole guest posting idea. Mainly because I feel all kinds of sneaky by coming into someone else’s blog and writing words, plus there is the whole issue of being booed off stage by the legions of adoring Rhys fans who are wondering just who the hell he let take over the reigns. So yeah, who the hell am I? I’m Debbie and you can normally find me over at Alaskan Chill, when I am not sneaking into other people’s blogs that is. Good job I don’t have code editing powers or I might be tempted to turn this place pink and load it up with blinkies and autoplay music

You are probably well aware by now that Rhys has been undertaking the joy of learning to drive recently. This is something that I can relate with all too well and it’s not been that long since I cast aside my lovely green provisional license with the god-awful photo and acquired the lovely pink full driving license with the god-awful photo. I learnt to drive through BSM who are generally a load of assholes but I was lucky in that my instructor was an absolutely awesome guy. I felt bad for him having me as a pupil because I was one of those girls who grew up on Grand Theft Auto, Need for Speed and Grand Turismo so it took me awhile to not want to see how much drift I could accrue when going round corners.

I live in Canterbury and it’s such a shitty town for traffic, all of the learners gather in one large lump around a housing estate and we would spend hours travelling round and round this circuit, sort of like the worlds slowest F1 race. There was one other learner, who, over the course of my three month learning became the Fernando Alonso to my Lewis Hamilton. He had the same lesson slot as me but with a rival company so we would spend most of the lessons vying for lead learner in the pack or for the perfect manoeuvring spots where we could practise our reverse parks. My instructor would take great pleasure in referring to us as Alonso and Hamilton and it soon became a matter of pride for him that Hamilton would win out in our little game. It is funny how competitive driving instructors would become, he would constantly be urging me on, not so much for my sake but so he could claim victory over the AA instructor and claim what I only presume is driving instructor street cred.

I think that is what made learning to drive fun for me. Every time I got behind the wheel of a car it wasn’t like a lesson at all, but a mini F1 game which appealed to my incredibly competitive side. Before my test I was very very nervous until my instructor told me that he had a bet riding on me that I would pass before another instructor’s learner and this totally got rid of my fear. As I was driving round the test route I was so focused on winning the bet that nerves went out the window. I think it’s the only reason that I passed, that and I was hella lucky.

I love driving now, after the initial stages of panic that occur when you realise that while you may have passed you still *feel* like a learner and now you are all alone and about to be unleashed on the motorways (that is the biggest failing of our learner driver programme, they don’t teach you how to drive on the motorway so when you find yourself suddenly sandwiched between to huge lorries, alone and doing 70mph it is very hard not to have an accidental bowel release). It is so freeing to be able to go anywhere you want now without having to promise sexual favours to friends in exchange for lifts to places.

Reading about Rhys’ lessons gets me all nostalgic about my F1 learner days..I wonder where Alonso is now..

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