Back to work, back to reality...

And back to the blog - which rather unintentionally and regretfully has become a once-a-week thing. Once again, I must apologise to my readers.

The problem is, you see, that I've been even busier since Glastonbury Festival than I was before it. Now I have a job.

Unfortunately, it is not in the field of journalism. In fact, it is nowhere near. But it's a far sight better than being on the dole.

I'm actually back in the civil service, part-time, working for the compensation recovery unit of the Department of Work and Pensions.

I had previously worked in a contact centre at HM Revenue and Customs for three years before the NCTJ course in September 2008.

At least this current job is evening shifts which gets me off the dole and allows me to carry on with my attempts at driving.

Speaking of which, my lessons became further delayed after my break at Glastonbury by my inadequate eyesight after I broke my glasses.

Thankfully, I have since had my biennial eye test and shelled out for two new pairs of spectacles - a tinted pair and a set of prescription sunglasses.

The gap between lessons behind the wheel (13 days) resulted in a real crisis of confidence - I could barely imagine getting the car started again and started considering whether it was worth
it after getting so uptight about.

But after a gentle introduction on Monday, I started to get it together again yesterday (Tuesday) and even improved from where I was before the break.

My Achilles' heel, however, is roundabouts, which I'm finding a nightmare as I am struggling to read the traffic properly.

My instructor, David Convery, has promised we will work on it this week so hopefully I will have more positive news then.

Although the job and the driving taking up a significant proportion of my week, I intend to keep this blog going - even though, for the last couple of weeks, it has looked as if it's dying out.

I am still looking for work as a writer - and can only feel my chances will improve by keeping this blog going and to pass my driving test.

And to make sure my readers have something to read during this month, I will be publishing my thoughts throughout The Ashes contest between England and Australia on this blog.

That starts later this morning with a preview of the series on the opening day of the First Test.

The Intrepid Reporter is away

Apologies for the lack of updates recently but I'm afraid it is unlikely to change any time soon.

My excuse for the last week has been my ever increasing focus on the semi-intensive driving course (21 hours completed) and the elusive search for a job.

But this upcoming break from posting is very much a case of pleasure rather than business.

As you may be aware from my previous post, I'll be spending the next four nights in a tent in a field at Glastonbury Festival (follow live festival updates here).

Well, it is my idea of fun!

And while I intend to take a break from the humdrum of everyday life, I promise to provide a post-festival review as I'm taking a notepad and pen to jot down anything that catches my attention.

Or, in all likelihood, by the end of the weekend, anything I can even vaguely remember.

On the road again...

Three and a half years since I last tried to learn to drive, I've decided to give it another go.

I had planned originally to do this first post a few days earlier but I wanted to see how well I would progress in first few lessons.

I have now completed 10 hours of a semi-intensive course which I started on Saturday with David Convery.

Unsurprisingly there have been some ups and downs already and, before lessons, I have struggled to contain the nerves or ignore nagging doubts.

I've already blogged on how nervous I've got in the past - it's almost to the point of fear.

But at least I've done better than last time when I only managed a few hours and didn't even graduate from going round and round the same patch of grass in the Team Valley.

At least now I'm driving from the front door and through proper housing estates in Winlaton - and between Winlaton, Rowlands Gill and High Spen. I even got in fifth gear once!

Since the first lesson, I have improved on handling the car, my use of speed and my awareness of what to do at junctions. I can drive the car in the higher gears without much of a problem.

But, frustratingly, I still frequently stall by failing to keep my feet still and releasing the gas before lifting the clutch in first gear. Grrr...

David, the instructor, is doing his best to improve matters and I'm glad I have chosen him as I seem most likely to pass (eventually) with him.

Today, in my fourth session, I did numerous hill starts and no fewer than four turns in the road with the aim of improving my clutch control.

But, as I finished the lesson, it remained as inconsistent as ever.

Fortunately enough, I have another three hours in the car tomorrow morning with yet more practice on the clutch and I'm ruddy determined to overcome this.

It would certainly be nice to have sorted by the time I go on holiday to the Glastonbury Festival next week.

The drive to succeed?

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Franklin D Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States, 1933-1945) in his First Inaugural Address

A sad realisation is slowly dawning upon myself as I spend another day unemployed.

I worry my journalism dream might be over before it's even begun unless I gain some much-needed confidence.

It is now over six weeks since I finished the NCTJ course at Darlington College and yet I am no nearer to breaking into the industry.

In that time, there have only been four advertisements for trainee reporters on the HoldTheFrontPage website - at the Southend Echo, the Berwickshire News, the Brighton Argus and the Exmouth Journal.

This is despite the fact I passed all of the preliminary exams and invested a lot of my time to ensure I did so first time. I got my 100 words per minute shorthand and enjoyed my work experience at the Whitley Bay News Guardian and News Post Leader.

But the one thing that is evidently holding me back is the fact I can't drive.

In a way, it is no surprise I was rejected even without interview when three of the four advertisements stipulated that a full licence was required.

And while passing my driving test won't guarantee me a job, of course, it will give editors one less reason to toss my application in the bin.

I've held a provisional licence since 2006 when I stalled my way through six hours of ill-fated tuition before giving up, having not even managed the basics.

But on March 13 this year, after a week of studying, I passed the DSA Theory Test. Since then, however, I have not taken any practical lessons and it will not surprise anybody that I feel no more capable of driving a car now than I did a month ago.

I have planned to complete an intensive course, partly because I need a full licence on my CV asap but also just to get it out the way.

But a major reason I have yet to do this is because of fear.

Not nerves, but real pit-of-the-stomach fear that I might cause an accident or that the lessons will move to fast - or I will spend a significant outlay and still barely manage the basics.

I guess this intrepid reporter is not so intrepid after all.

Next week, I will receive an inheritance from my Nanna following the sale of her flat. The money should be enough to cover the cost of an intensive course, although it is not clear whether it will also extend to getting insured on my sister's car as I would appreciate a starter lesson from her first.

I suppose it's down to me to Just Do It, to borrow a phrase from Nike, but standing in my way remains this barely-logical, sickening feeling of fear.