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Eliminature

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Posts posted by Eliminature

  1. 22 minutes ago, Eliminature said:

    Due to financial and health difficulties, I am still unable to drive. My pet peeve with driving is how difficult and sometimes prohibitively expensive it is in England (possibly Scotland and Wales too, though don't quote me on that) to acquire and retain a driver's licence. Particularly in comparison to the USA. Automatic vehicles are a rarity here. Almost everyone drives a manual here, making automatics expensive, hard to obtain and expensive to run and repair. In which case, you are pretty much forced to learn how to drive a manual - an automatic is no licence at all in the UK. 

    In America, a potential driver can learn relatively cheaply as a young teenager, sometimes even whilst at school. I have heard of cases where beginning to learn how to drive and passing a test has taken all of about three weeks. In the UK (and Mainland Europe), the chances of that happening are precisely zero. It just  wouldn't happen The DVLA usually likes to fail you a couple of times, forcing you to take the test again - mainly for safety, but don't forget that they also get to pocket a fee every time you take the test, so every fail means more money for them. People ask me why I didn't learn at a younger age - the answer to that is that I genuinely couldn't afford it. 

    Added to this, I also have a neurological condition which renders me incapable of driving or operating machinery when I get an attack. I need to have at least a year free of these attacks before I can start learning again. Every time I have another attack (free of them for three months now, touch wood), the clock is reset. As Steve said, when a person of mature years gets out of a motor vehicle, and their reactions and dexrerity aren't great, it really galls me that this person can be considered suitable to drive and I cannot. Anyone who looks down on you because of your lack of ability to drive well past your teenage years genuinely upsets me too. 

    Not strictly speaking "whilst driving," but that is me venting my spleen about my woes around it all. I'm actually considered quite old to be a learner driver, but what can I do? I couldn't afford it when I was younger.

    Gosh, reading that back, I sound very spiteful and unpleasant. 

    I'm normally not such a negative person, honest! 

    • Like 1
    • Love 1
  2. 17 minutes ago, littlebladder said:

    Did no one ever see you and ask why you were peeing that way? 

    Not until I was older. My dad once saw me peeing against a tree and gave me a funny look but said nothing. If anyone else saw me, they never said anything or tried to stop me.

    In the secondary school girls' lavatory, I was spotted by popular girls with my feet facing the "wrong way" under the door. I was ridiculed mercilessly when word got through the school year that I didn't sit down like I was supposed to. That was an awful time. It really was. Also, it was harder to attend to a tampon or sanitary pad without being seated. I took to sitting beacuse kids can be cruel. 

    I don't sit now except when necessary. As for periods, I use a menstrual cup instead of the conventional methods now. This has helped massively. It only needs to be attended to twice a day. Not to mention being better for the environment. 

    • Like 3
  3. Due to financial and health difficulties, I am still unable to drive. My pet peeve with driving is how difficult and sometimes prohibitively expensive it is in England (possibly Scotland and Wales too, though don't quote me on that) to acquire and retain a driver's licence. Particularly in comparison to the USA. Automatic vehicles are a rarity here. Almost everyone drives a manual here, making automatics expensive, hard to obtain and expensive to run and repair. In which case, you are pretty much forced to learn how to drive a manual - an automatic is no licence at all in the UK. 

    In America, a potential driver can learn relatively cheaply as a young teenager, sometimes even whilst at school. I have heard of cases where beginning to learn how to drive and passing a test has taken all of about three weeks. In the UK (and Mainland Europe), the chances of that happening are precisely zero. It just  wouldn't happen The DVLA usually likes to fail you a couple of times, forcing you to take the test again - mainly for safety, but don't forget that they also get to pocket a fee every time you take the test, so every fail means more money for them. People ask me why I didn't learn at a younger age - the answer to that is that I genuinely couldn't afford it. 

    Added to this, I also have a neurological condition which renders me incapable of driving or operating machinery when I get an attack. I need to have at least a year free of these attacks before I can start learning again. Every time I have another attack (free of them for three months now, touch wood), the clock is reset. As Steve said, when a person of mature years gets out of a motor vehicle, and their reactions and dexrerity aren't great, it really galls me that this person can be considered suitable to drive and I cannot. Anyone who looks down on you because of your lack of ability to drive well past your teenage years genuinely upsets me too. 

    Not strictly speaking "whilst driving," but that is me venting my spleen about my woes around it all. I'm actually considered quite old to be a learner driver, but what can I do? I couldn't afford it when I was younger.

    • Love 1
  4. 2 hours ago, Christin said:

    Hello, yes I play an instrument but when I tell you what kind, everyone thinks I'm crazy!🙃🤗

    But tell me what kind of pieces? I'm curious!

    Ok, for many years and now starting again.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XF4Qwd5rso&list=RD8XF4Qwd5rso&index=1

    
    
     

     

    Not sure why anyone would think that you were crazy for playing bass, it's a perfectly legitimate instrument. Good on you. 👍🏻

    I play simple pieces by Bach and Kabalevsky - just beginner's stuff, really. I'm better with Bluesy stuff. I've only been learning with a teacher for about five months, but he's pleased with my progress. He has also taught me a few of the pieces that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Ray Manzarek of the Doors would have played. 

    • Love 2
  5. I have the basics of reading music, just about. Treble and bass. Don't ask me about the alto or tenor scale, though! I can sight read, but practice is helping me to get better. I'm using my metronome too and getting better. Reading and playing is one thing, getting the timings and rhythm precise is a whole new skill.

    I also strum a ukulele and throw chords together on an acoustic guitar just for the fun of it, but piano/keyboard is my main instrument. 

    • Love 3
  6. 30 minutes ago, Sophie said:

    Pianist of nearly 26 years. I enjoy a mixture of classical music, Mozart, Beethoven and a few others (Canon in D will always be my favourite piece ever ) and I play a lot of piano covers of more recent popular songs. Usually  from around the 70s onwards. Rolling Stones - She's a rainbow, Heart - Alone, Whitesnake - Here I go again, Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine are a few songs I have played this week. 

     

    Oooh!! Amazing! That is supreme. Especially the Stones. 👍🏻

    • Agree 2
  7. Throughout lockdown, the only thing that has been keeping me anything close to sane is my music practice. I'm an amateur pianist. At the moment, I'm working on some classical pieces as well as popular blues melodies. My music teacher is excellent. 

    Does anyone else here play an instrument? Do tell! I'd love to hear about it. What is your instrument? What pieces do you play?

    • Love 4
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