June 27, 2008

We've been having network issues here- it's as is a gremlin has crawled into our network and starting messing stuff up. :) So yesterday I tried to post an update that I was taking my drivers license written test (which they call the Theory test) today, but I'm back from the test, I passed it, and all is well. I thought I'd post a few sample questions for you all so you can see just how different the thinking is about driving tests here:

"You arrive at the scene of a crash. Someone is bleeding badly from an arm wound. There is nothing embedded in it. What should you do?"

"You are towing a small trailer on a busy 3 lane motorway. All the lanes are open. You must (2 answers):
a)not exceed 60mph
b) not overtake
c)have a stabiliser fitted
d) use only the left and center lanes

"Areas reserved for trams may have (pick 3):
-metal studs around them
-white line markings
-zigzag markings
-a different coloured surface
-yellow hatch markings
-a different surface texture

That's just a small sample. If you are really curious you can search online for "Online Theory Test" UK and you'll find sample tests. :) Anyway my main concern wasn't the test, it was getting to the testing site, however that turned out to be no problem because G came with me to read the map. And we had an awesome lunch at this cool Indian restaurant- it said Buffet 6.80GBP, which is a steal, so we decided to catch some lunch. The trick though is that there's a 2 course appetizer BEFORE you can get food from the buffet, and we had no idea that was going to happen, and I had to jet to get to my test! I had to scarf down my food. :) It was a super nice restaurant too, the sort that might have a piano player in the evenings. Very nice food and excellent service.

The restaurant was so fancy, we felt a bit out of place at first.

These are the toppings for the pappadums, which are like hard and crunchy tortillas, but not as thick. They're an appetizer. The red one on the left tasted like disinfectant, and I heard some people at another table comment the same thing. :)

More appetizers! We didn't know that though. They were excellent.

So after lunch I took the test- it's all touch screen, which is nice. And they give you a computer print out right after you're finished with it. You have to show that print out in order to take the practical test, or take lessons for the test, which I can't avoid doing. G had to find somewhere else to wait for me (they were a bit rude to him, basically saying "You can't wait here, and we don't know where you can go." ) and he scoped out this cool covered market just down the road. It was awesome! Very Asian style, but the aisles were too wide, and the stalls were very big. I finally found a shovel handle here!

The aisles were very wide, and not very busy.
Plus there was no stinky fish section. :)

This guy was listed as a Seller of Continental Foods,
but most of his stuff was from Jamaica and India. :)

Overall the trip was a blessing in disguise- I thought it would be impossible to find parking for this place, and it'd be a mess driving in Peterborough (which is a bigish city) but the test went well, there was parking available right in front, and the market was so cool that overall my impression was positive. :)

Tomorrow is the last day of the Swavesey Festival- I've been photoing but for some reason our router has blocked me from reaching Phanfare, so I can't upload any more photos. I'm hoping to upload some stuff from G's office over the weekend, like I used to do when we first moved here and didn't have internet at home! Anyway www.gkdunlap.phanfare.com is 98% up to date and I'll be continuing to use it until Smugmug gets the feature implemented that I need for a dual site. So keep looking for more photos on there.