Musings on driving

There has been a bit of an argument raging over the last couple of days about driving. Luckily I drive a diesel car because if I didn't, I think I'd have to go out and sell my body on the streets (and that wouldn't get much!) as all I seem to do is fill the bloomin' thing up with fuel. I put between £30 and £40 of diesel in my car every week and I'm seriously thnking of getting a sign for the roof which says "Taxi".

On Thursday Sophie informed me that she was planning to go to Pizza Hut on Saturday with her friends. Fine, I thought, the nearest Pizza Hut is about 15 minutes away and as one of her friends lives practically next door, we could share lifts with her mum. Then she casually mentioned that she wanted to go to Sixfields, a huge out-of-town leisure complex that is 30 minutes drive away as they were thinking of going to the cinema, too! Well, I was sitting having a nice drink with hubby and I exploded. I'd already had to do most of her French homework as 24 years ago I studied the language and this was the last straw!

To cut a long story short, the argument has raged on for the last couple of days and the fact that I would be spending two hours in the car driving her to and from the cinema (the friend nearby dropped out of the arrangements - I wonder why?) doesn't seem to bother her one bit.

However, last night we came to a compromise and her friend is being dropped off here and I'm taking them to Kettering, thereby saving at least an hour in travelling time.

I used to love driving, but just lately it's become a pain. The whole country seems full of roadworks - even the village has temporary traffic lights! - and every stretch of road is lined with cones. I think it's mainly about resurfacing after the hard winter we had last year when the roads were littered with enormous potholes. I'm all for paying to use the motorways as they do in Europe. Last year in France we travelled 2,500 miles with not one single traffic jam and the privatised motorways were an absolute joy to drive on - smooth, fast and well-maintained. We should abolish road tax and have tolls instead. Simples!