Hi Nokesy........ and thanks for the comments......... yes, if Im going to do something (even fail), I like to do it in style well, will keep the novellette going for you..........

I am owed a couple of half days training from when we did our DAS ...... the story being that PK dutifully performed his BOLTS check the day before our test, prior to a mornings instruction........ and low and behold, what did he find, but a nice big fat roofing nail smack bang in the centre of the rear tyre :'(........ Anyways..... the nail was pulled out (by the head honcho of the riding school himself), and the tyre very quickly went flat. :-? A quick trip to Halfords and some tyre weld later, and we had a nice big puddle of tyre weld oozing out the rear tyre. Next? A spare inner tube was found, fitted, inflated........ and found to have a leak. :-?

By this time, PK and I are back at home, sat on the patio with a cuppa, waiting for the call that will allow us to be out riding in the sunshine instead of sweating in leathers eagerly awaiting the call to get back on the bikes. Anyways, Murphy's Law prevailed, and as soon as we decided to make some lunch, the call came........ so we snarfed our food, and off we went. (Apparantly an intervening trip to Melksham for a new tyre ,which had to be fitted at the side of the road by our instructor cos the garage was too busy, was the final solution to the tyre problem). But back to the point........ PK and I missed 4 1/2 hours training each...... which now translates into some convenient extra time out for me before I retake my test And in answer to your question........ May 25th, which may be a good omen. PK had to drive to Scotland the day he passed his test, and me, my boy and a friend of mine are doing the same and taking a road trip North the day I retake mine............. hell, at this point, I will take any sign of providence I can get!

In the meantime, I am keeping busy finishing of the transformation of my son's room from Mickey Mouse and Balloo (when he was 3) to cool and dude-like (now he is 11), and tending the garden in the sunshine whilst trying to ignore the sounds of the bikes going down Avenue La Fleche 8-)

So I hope you guys are making the most of the opportunities, and I will hopefully be able to ride out with you before the sunshine disappears for another year!