Diary-1/1/03 onwards

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7/1/03 - Happy new year!

            Had a quiet fortnight over Christmas, my partner and I decided to finish on the 23rd and get back together this week, and I had every plan to with only 37 runs to go I am keen to finish, but like all best laid plans, it snowed and I am not going out in that, so I have to wait a little longer, better luck tomorrow.
8,9 &10th Jan - What a waste, four days off and snow bound, cannot believe it. It has enabled me to catch up, update some runs and complete the runs on CD , but I would have preferred to have been out on the bike
15/01/03 - Back out on the bike at last completing all but 23/16
16/01/03 - Runs 24/1,24/8,24/9 and 24/11, no particular problems today, although I did miss some points in smith Sq, On my way out I went via the Wizann shop and picked up the map test pack and a livery halls ramble, also managed to pick up the last of the updates which cover Trafalgar sq and Shoreditch.
17/01/03 - Cold and windy today completing 24/2,24/324/6 and 24/7, need to go and check a couple of points as I missed some today as 3 times out on the bike was starting to wear on the body
24/01/03 - Runs 24/12,24/16,24/10,24/5 and the odd one that had been bugging me 23/16 - It was a nice day and the runs ran into each other pretty well so 20 runs to go, but the next few will be a little slow due to my shift pattern
9/02/03 - Completed off List 24 with 24/14,24/15,24/4 and 24/13. no particular problems out, except last week while using the bike for work, found the bike had got a puncture while in the garage?? anyway while looking at the tyre decided to fit another new tube and replace the tyre as well, more expense.
10/02/03 -A very long day in the rain, starting off in the west of London and ending up in Honor Oak Park, completed runs 25/2,25,3,25/10 and 25/9 - 12 to go!!!
11/02/03 - Not much time today so I decided to try a couple of maps doing the Wapping and Poplar maps, found this a very different experience seemed to be going round in circles a lot and still managed to miss a couple of points, don't know how other KB's get on marking the maps out in the rain
16/02/03 - My first Sunday and found it very strange with very little traffic, around, planned to do the map of Aldgate and the City Map, but as I did not start until after lunch and because it was as cold as I think it has ever been, only completed the Aldgate map, found the layout of the map for some points very difficult to pinpoint and when checking them against the answers a couple were out - I wonder how much you can be out on positioning a point on the map test to get a wrong answer.
As far as the rain goes, I have decided to seal the map in plastic, and use a permanent marker to plot the points, that way I do not have to worry about the rain, If the position is wrong then I can run off another copy and seal it up.
25/02/03 - Runs 25/12,25/1,25/11 and 25/6 after a week off because of half term found this a long day, the runs were very disjointed, but only 8 more to go
27/02/03 - Runs 25/13,25/15,25/14 and 25/16 - no particular problems with this set, except for the rain
5/03/03 - Runs 25/4,25/5,25/7,25/8 - Last four runs, did not flow into one another at all, in fact it was more like up down, up down, very long day but glad that they are finished
6/03/03 - Bethnal Green and City of London maps, No problems today, Bethnal Green was fairly easy, the city was a bit more tricky with one or two points difficult to spot, could have spent the whole day just doing the City, but plan to spend more time on the revisit.
7/03/03 - Bloomsbury and Highbury Corner fairly straight forward day, managed to finish in time for the rain, and Boy did it chuck it down!!!
13/03/03 - Completed the Newington and Bermondsey maps today, Newington was fairly straight forward but the Bermondsey map has a lot of points in a small area, and some of that area (Shad Thames) is paved, so its off the bike and start walking.
14/03/03 - Did the Belgravia map today, one of those maps where there a lot of points to pick up, managed to miss a few, so a good reason to do the map area twice, I must admit to finding it strange to be driving around in circles and being difficult to concentrate for a long period
20/03/03 - Had to take a day off today off, which was a shame, but did allow me to catch up on a couple of things
21/03/03 - Angel and Shoreditch, Shoreditch was not a problem apart from Rivington st and the different ways in and out, Angel was a little harder including a couple of points in Penton St which appear to no longer be there.
28/03/03 - Greenwich and Lambeth maps today, a couple of points on both maps that I was unable to find, including the Lillian Bayliss school, in Lollard st, only to find out that the road is in two half's with a housing estate in between.
31/03/03 - Completed Notting hill and North Kensington, nice sunny day no difficult points to find
07/04/03 - Mayfair, A long day with loads of points to collect, very cold collected most of them
08/04/03 - Marylebone, once again these inner maps are tough because of the number of one ways involved, still most points collected
09/04/03 - I had signed up for the Wizann Blue Book course, designed to boost your Blue Book callover and do basic point to point, I had been up from 4.30am on the Wednesday so I did not make the best of starts, but it did bring one big thing home to me that I was not doing enough calling over, Dean showed us what and how we should be calling, Min 30 runs in 30 mins twice a day. so far I have been able to stick to the 30 min x2 rule but am well short of the 30 runs. writing the totals down has been a help as I can visually see that I am short of the mark, he also gave us some basic orientation exercises which seemed valuable.
16/04/03 - Did Lisson Grove and St Johns Wood, Weather was red Hot and went out in the full suit etc, which after generating a major headache came off quickly, found Lisson Grove difficult to do with the one way's etc and missed some points. St Johns Wood was straight forward.
Did the second Blue book course that night and started some basic point to point which gave me some confidence for the struggle ahead.
21/04/03 - Called over all week and on the Sunday night with my partner, I don't know what went wrong but tonight my brain was total MUSH!!!, could not string the most basic runs together, I don't know if I have been trying too hard, or am too tired, possibly need a day off?
22/04/03 - Did the Waterloo and Millwall maps, the rain managed to hold off and I managed to get all of the points, although I was not really in the mood, I am going away for the weekend so hopefully it will give me the boost I need
29 Apr - 2'nd May - Had a good week this week managed to clear 8 maps. I have now completed Wizann's Blue Book course and although I had a bad second week I feel a lot more confident in what I am doing, My Blue Book is still patchy but I do realise it is vital to get that right so logging down the amount  of callover will help to keep me motivated
7-8 May-03 - Completed Brixton and Kennington, then Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith, found Shepherds Bush a bit tricky and did not find all the points, still I do have time to go back on all the maps to revise them.
16/05/03 - Chelsea and Bayswater maps today, not helped by the constant rain, not much fun at all, I have not yet got over how to mark the points down while its raining? Met a KG in Lancaster gate which was a surprise in itself what made it more extraordinary is that she is doing the new system on a pedal bike!! good luck to her, I don't know how long she has been on It (up to list 6) but during the winter will be very tough!
19/05/03 - South Kensington Map completed, spent a while searching for a club that no longer exists.
25/05/03 - My first weekend out since I started, and did the Covent Garden map. I couldn't get over the fact that there was no traffic (started at 7am) this would be a tricky map to do during the week. Up to now I have avoided going out at weekends, but as the map test looms closer I feel that I need to get out more often.
26/05/03 - Fitzrovia map, with this being a bank holiday, the roads were again very quiet making this an easy map to complete
02/06/03 - Very hot and muggy day and completed the Clapham and Putney maps, missed a couple of points in Putney, will have to do some homework and go and find them next time.
03/06/03 - Earls Court map, not a pretty sight, one of those maps that does need going over twice with all those one ways
09/06/03 - Completed Soho and Pimlico maps which were actually easier than I thought, a couple of missed points (gone) but made up with some extras. Finished all the maps so its back round again
10/06/03 - City and Aldgate maps today, also started to organise the cross sections as I will need to do them soon
11/06/03 - Wapping and Poplar maps had an easy day
18/06/03 - Went out with my COP doing the Bayswater, North Kensington and Hammersmith maps
19/06/03 - Finally put my letter in requesting my map test along with my COP - pressures on now to complete the second sweep and improve my Blue Book, completed Highbury, Angel and Shoreditch maps
25/06/03 - Completed the Marylebone and Lisson Grove Maps and caught up on a couple of missed points
26/06/03 - day off to look after the kids so homework time
27/06/03 - Surprising how quick time flies but I'm having to re-take my CBT what a pain
17/07/03 - Finally got my map test date through this week for August 14th, wading through the maps in order to complete a second pass I have 25  to go which I should get done Including the new Finsbury park map
18/07/03 - Did three maps today, but have noticed a knock coming from the front of the bike recently - found out what it was, the front spindle is worn, which basically means the wheel is starting to flop around - NOT GOOD! - therefore rang round and found that the people at cub90.co.uk have the parts, so its a quick trip over there tomorrow to get the bits and repair the bike for Monday
20/7/03 - did the repairs but the bike still failed!!! - dead shocks so its another £35 and take it back for a re-test, managed to get 3 further maps completed
21/07/03 - Disaster with the calendar, I have just realised the kids break up next week, I thought I still had 1 week giving me enough time to complete the 2nd sweep, now it looks like I will not have time as I will have to look after the kids for a few days - going to have to pick the difficult ones and get them done
1/08/03 - Driving to work in the rain this morning just coming over the Canning town flyover, came over to the L/H lane to turn left into Leamouth Rd, can have only been doing 10-15 mph when the back wheel went from under me, Legs out wide, very serious wobble, managed to keep it up, but a car that had stopped as the lights changed was in my way, just clipped the rear wing. No damage to me (apart from my nerves) and a claim on the insurance (the other driver was a postie doing the yellow badge!
4/08/03 - Its roasting not a good day to be out, completed 4 maps. Fitzrovia, St Johns wood, Swiss Cottage and Camden. knackered! for the next week my partner and I are just going to concentrate on the maps.
5/08/03 - Another 4 today Kennington, Clapham, Putney and Pimlico, a bit cooler in the afternoon but still tough.
6/08/03 - Very hot day with a severely boiled head, completed South Kensington, Earls Court and Shepherds Bush too much for my little brain, Still its all revision now, no spare days before the test.
13/08/03 - have not gone out this week, partly due to the kids being off, but it does give me a little time to revise during the week. I have been calling over all week and practicing maps every night, Map test tomorrow!!
14/08/03 - 9am in a very warm room (we were allowed to take our jackets off) I sat my first (hopefully and last) map test. There were ten points to put their locations (multi choice), Six runs (Multi choice) and the map!
First glance and I think I knew four points straight off, left the others and went onto the runs, four of these were ok the other two ran roads I have not been down before so it was a little bit of guess work, then the map, Belgravia! my COP and I had only been working on that on Monday night, All except 1 point were in Dean's (Wizann) test pack, following that I went back to the points and took an educated guess at 3 more, the others were just a stab in the dark, finished in around 35 mins (you are given an hour) and went home relieved, now the wait!
19/08/03 - Received my letter through the post that I had passed the test, included within this is the card that I now have to take at every appointment, My biggest problem is that I am now on holiday for two weeks, quite how I am going to study I do not know
08/09/03 - Had my appointment at 1.30pm, fairly nervous, the examiner took me in and checked over a few details
Then started with the runs, Paddington hospital to University college Hosp - ran ok. Charing X hosp to Royal Brompton, Got there but wide. Barts to London Bridge Hosp (Dropped) the St Thomas's ran ok. Lewisham Hosp to Maudsley hosp (Dropped) Kings College A&E, Got there but mucked 1 road up and left Lewisham the wrong way, It then all went down hill, asked the Royal Free which I just could not remember and was then asked four further points which I dropped (all in Hampstead) Then asked the Winnington to London Hosp, I got there and the examiner asked how I thought I did, I thought the runs were ok except the wide second run, but that the points will probably have done my score. Gave me some advice and my card back with a "D" - no score.
Disappointed but not wholly unexpected as I have been away for two weeks, now this gives me a chance to get down to some hard work and score in 56 days time.
Very nice examiner (cannot remember his name) but the next appearance will be much more to the point with no friendly chat beforehand
30/09/03 - Ever since that fateful day I have been out as often as possible, I have decided to do the cross sections first and have completed the East and City Runs and am now on the West end.
I have also started to receive point sheets but this is where my dilemma has started, I am only looking at 56 day points but the quantity of points that I do not know is overwhelming and where to start? I have started to put the points in postcode order and that will then go and sweep whole areas, but when to do it? do I finish the cross sections first?
Too much work and not enough time to do it
7/10/03 - Been looking around for a while and finally decided to buy a new bike, opting for either the Honda Dylan or @125. Finally found a second hand @125, Its like driving a Rolls Royce compared to a Citroen 2CV!! Unreal. The bum feels better, although heavier and the shoulders ached for the first couple of days and the handling is a lot different, but I'm not giving it back.
14/10/03 - Still cracking away at the cross sections, completed all West End and South East and am gradually working my way round  as I started the South West today, with quite a few visits to Balham High St and the surrounding area.
It now looks as I will not be able to complete all the Cross Sections in time for my next appearance, but you can only do so much!
03/11/03 - Second appearance, I have been working very hard, where possible looking up points while trying to complete as many cross sections as possible, and using the point sheets as call over practice. And it has got better, my fluency has improved and my point knowledge has increased, although not great it is getting better, time will improve this. So I went up this morning feeling ok although the nerves increased as I got nearer to the carriage office (although for one Kb he turned up just as he was being called, the examiner took him back to the window, came back alone and called another name, Never be late!!!!) . So in I went first point asked "yes sir" was the reply, then four "Sorry sir I cannot give you that point" until he felt sorry for me and gave me an easy one, ran it ok.
Then the same happened again, could give the start point but not the end. "Ok" he said "Lets move on" gave me a third run and called this ok. The fourth I was unable to give the correct set down for Kings Cross Thameslink Station, So another "D" which has really got me down, although one point of consolation was that it was not as if I had made a mistake, it was just that I did not know the point, which were all side roads and turnings not big points! which makes the pressure pile even higher. Who needs it? studying all over xmas.
23/11/03 - Gradually beginning to start work again, found it very hard to get motivated, and when I look at other 56's sometimes I wonder if I will ever get lucky?
I have started again with the Livery hall Ramble and completed them with few problems, apart from the London drivers and the rain, then went onto North London to continue with the cross sections, The problem as usual is remembering them after I have finished, its bad enough remembering 400 runs, then to try another 150+ cross sections as usual the same complaints arise of "not enough time in the day" Still other people do it! so I must be able to, apologies for any un-answered E Mails but my priority is the work, and the hundreds of points I am having to note, I will get round to them as soon as I am able.
9/12/03 - Continuing to plod away at the cross sections, only a few left to do, so the points are starting to become more a focus, though calling the cross sections has given me a problem, as well as the livery halls, not sure quite where the time will come from to do them, as already when doing point to point with my partner little bits of the crosses have proved useful, just going to have to work harder.
18/12/03 - Finally finished the cross sections, finishing up at Middlesex hospital so it was quite a drive home. Now, what to do? I think that I will now concentrate on a few runs that I am sticky on and a few runs that have been turning up on the point sheets, and of course start working my way points lists that I have built up, Icy roads are starting to become an issue, so a few more days might be spent calling over than going out.
30/12/03 - A week to go to my next appearance, my partner just got his second D after scoring on the first. so I am trying to fit as much in with the kids off and running round the house - who said this was easy!