Daily Lee

In the UK, our government takes us for an absolute ride. I became all too aware of this when I started to drive.

To become a fully licensed driver in the UK you need to take both a theory test and a practical test. Before you even consider taking either of these you must apply for a provisional license. The unbridled pleasure of doing this will set you back £50 ($99). Fifty Great British Pounds for a damned piece of plastic! Did I miss something?! Are these cards gold plated? Does it let me get out of jail free? Maybe I can access those exclusive lounges in airports. No, it's non of these things. Infact, it's a gateway to further ludicrous, unjustifiable governmental pricing.

So now you have your green bit of plastic, and that's all it is, a glorified bit of plastic, you can take your theory test. This consists of 50 questions about cars, road signs and safety. This will cost you £30 ($59). Finally, if you pass that you can take your practical test, which will pluck a further £56.50 ($112) from your pocket. This means that the overall cost of becoming a legal driver in the UK is £136.50 (£270)

BUT, I feel I may have left a significant part of the process out - actually learning to drive. Our driving tests are becoming notoriously difficult to pass. The test includes a few questions about the engine including how to check oil, water and brake fluid levels and also how to check if your power steering is working etc. You then must drive for 20 minutes and perform two reversing exercises which include things like reversing around a corner and reverse parking. You also have to show you can navigate several multilane roundabouts. The current pass rate is only 43%. This means that you need an awful lot of preparation to meet the current standard. It's no wonder why the UK has the safest roads in Europe, we're all trained to NASA standards. The government states that people who pass have an average of 47 hours professional training. At around £20 ($39) an hour this isn't cheap but it is essential. The average learner spends £940 ($1865) on lessons.

This brings the total cost of becoming a full UK driver up to £1076.50 ($2134)

I've had three weeks to do this Geography homework and here I am, starting 9 hours before it's due in.

I have a lot of travel and tourism coursework to do also. It's going to be a long night!

Why must I procrastinate so much!?

Stick with the first half. It's about Jack not turning up for his speech. He was running for chair of the school council but obviously lost. In the second half I explore the new shopping area near by and go into work. Enjoy...

First day back and it was suddenly sprung on us that we need our personal statements for university handed in by friday. OH FREAK!

As per usual, I haven't even started. It was never my intention to go to University but after my surprising results, I might as well have a stab at applying. Throughout school I've used "The unaimed arrow never misses" approach. Sometimes I think this can be good but at this stage of education, I've discovered it isn't. Where I would like to just finish my A-levels, see what I get and then make some decisions about my future, it would appear that applying for university whilst you're doing your A-levels is the done thing to do. This has created a lot of problems for me. I've never really known what I want to do with my future. I did want to be an air-traffic controller but my maths soon let me down on that one. I also wanted to be a train driver (enough said) but now I'm more clueless than ever

Well wish me luck, I'm about to start writing a personal statement applying for a course I'm yet to find!

To tell the truth, I would say I want to be a lorry driver - but I don't think that would go down too well.

So I've just got my results and....

Travel and Tourism = A

Psychology = A

Geography= C

Biology = E

I'm actually most chuffed for Biology as I thought I was going to fail. Oh well, no more drama for another year!