[wot i life]

I,ve been asked to write about driving experiences in Europe and the United Kingdom; The difficulties faced by a British driver when abroad
are not as numerous as you may think. There are the obvious ones such as language and driving on the wrong side of the road(sorry but the British way is best... :shock: LOL)
Before I start in earnest writing about the problems, highlights and laughs of driving abroad and over here, I,d like to first give a little background to myself and explain why I became a professional driver.
(This won,t take long, honest... :lol: )
I left school in the early 80,s and followed my father in to the local steel works. I hated it and quickly left to join the navy. Eventually rising to 3RD officer, I left the navy in disgrace in 1988. A glittering career lay in ruins for the sake of my indulgence in smoking "Weed".
I was destitute, distraught and friendless.
At that point in my life, I could,nt see any future for myself at all.
Until I spoke to a truck driver one day and he suggested trying to gain an H.G.V licence. It had an immediate appeal to me as I,d hated my only spell of working indoors with all the restrictions and confinements therein.
To pay for my licence, I took a job sweeping the streets around my area for a laughable wage. I saved every penny I could and in January 1989 I took and passed my H.G.V.
And thats when I finally encountered "real problems"......
To be continued...... :wink:

[ken_o]

to be cont wot
more i need more

[wot i life]

Originally Posted by ken_o

to be cont wot
more i need more

Unfortunately mate, time difference is gonna spoil it today...
It,s sleepy cuddly time here.....(I,m on my way Gill darling xxxxx :lol: )
More tomorrow mate :wink:

[classicxl]

you are leaving us in suspense :evil:

[Roadhog]

Allz I'm sayin' dis guy...Wot...for now remain's to be seen dis guy.
I'm not makin' him for dis ...what thing were lookin' at him for...dis guy,
just Wot is who were lookin' at, allz I'm sayin'.

With November sweeps comin' up...seems very convieniant CAD is in bed with dis guy.
CAD bein' in direct competition with TV networks for viewers and all.
Were not sayin' we figure he's da guy...but this has drugs involved and street dealings
....and as far as that goes, what is Wot.

It's good to be upfront about what is, and so forth.
What is Wot? I don't know, more needs to be found out,
but I'm likin' him for it ...dis guy.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by wot i life

I left school in the early 80,s and followed my father in to the local steel works. I hated it and quickly left to join the navy. Eventually rising to 3RD officer, I left the navy in disgrace in 1988. A glittering career lay in ruins for the sake of my indulgence in smoking "Weed".I was destitute, distraught and friendless.

To be continued...... :wink:

I didn't know that the Brits were so tough on smoking weed.

[wot i life]

Originally Posted by Useless

I didn't know that the Brits were so tough on smoking weed.

Oh, we,re not now...
Just so long as you,re not smoking walking up the Pall Mall :shock: :wink: :lol:

[wot i life]

As with any newly qualified driver, I soon found out that every potential employer wants experience. Decades may come and go and the shape of trucks may change; But that attitude is the same now as it was then. Nobody will give you a break.
Not wanting to be beaten(or starve to death) I took a job driving a rigid truck delivering furniture and doing house removals. And boy, am I glad that I did that. You see, in order to load someones household belongings onto a 38ft rigid, you have to park as close to their house as is possible, right?... So, in my very first job(driving a truck that my licence said was too small for me) I struggled and huffed and puffed, cursing every car that was badly parked. But, I learnt the value of my kerb side mirror, the need to exercise caution when close quarter manouvering, and, the neccessity in taking care of the load.
After something like a year doing that, I felt it was time to move on. Onwards and upwards(or so I thought). I may not have driven an artic in anger(sorry for pun) but I felt my driving was improving enough to talk my way in somewhere,anywhere.

That anywhere turned out to be the job that gave me so many trials,laughs,heartbreak,excitement and so much more.
I was heading to Europe. Not immediately, and at the time I joined them, I did,nt even know what was coming!

I had been sitting in a truck stop, taking a break and drinking truck stop tea; The kind of tea that has brewed since 4 A.M and has taken on the composition of mud, slowly fermenting in a huge urn and begrudginly tended to by a chain smoking, obese, repugnant natured woman who did,nt really like truckers.
The driver sitting opposite me smiled and nodded his head in her direction, pulling a chimpanzee style face as he did so(drivers humour will never change, you can,t defeat us Mr politically correct man)
The two of us struck up a conversation and I learned that he drove for a company in my hometown that would be willing to at least hear me out and possibly give me a road test. Made more possible by the fact that he would say he knew me..."This is Kev, he,s ok; You,ll like him, give him a try"
And so, a day was set and I had to prove my worth in a road test, or garage test as they were then called.
"This is Billy, our number one driver; He,ll take you out and see what you,re like" said the manager.
Billy? the same Billy that not half an hour past had told you he knew me?
Even though I had never seen him until this last week?
The same Billy that pulled faces at tea ladies?
Ha ha ha... Some test! Wot the driver was born that day
T.B.C

[classicxl]

keep in coming

[wot i life]

Originally Posted by classicxl

keep in coming

Thank you classicxl, its pleasing to know you,re enjoying my story. I,ll try to keep it like this all the way through? :wink: