Bad News and Hopes

Along with the good news in my life, there's bad—or at least, worrisome. A global pandemic does rather shift the relative view of 'bad news'.

Driving Delays

After passing my theory test, I got back in touch with my driving instructor to prepare for my practical. Those tests were due to reopen on 22nd July, so I was hopeful that I could take one within a few weeks. But that date came and went, and the website wouldn't allow me to book a test, saying first priority went to those who had had their tests cancelled.

I talked to my instructor about it, and he told me that there was a backlog of 210,000 tests nationwide that had been cancelled during lockdown. While tests had reopened, not all examiners were back at work, due to shielding, childcare, etc. I had assumed that it would work like the theory test, but I hadn't given thought to how the practical test was inherently more difficult to safeguard against covid.

(For those wondering what pandemic driving lessons look like: I'm learning in my own car, so my instructor and I have to both wear masks, and I have to deep-clean the car beforehand. This is doing wonders for my car interior which had not seen a vacuum cleaner since I bought it.)

Only a third of the cancelled tests have been rescheduled so far, and my instructor's best guess for when I might get a test was September / October.

I had never seriously considered that I might not be able to drive for months. That I might not be able to drive by the time the kids go back to school, i.e. when I can go back to work. That I might not be able to drive when we close on the house...

The effect of this is to write off our summer. We can't really go anywhere, so we're basically stuck in the house for the next five weeks, going to Bude once or twice a week. I'm going to have to analyse the bus timetables and see if I can work out a daytrip somewhere else, using connecting buses.

I'm worried about how we can manage the move without the car. I'd like to move a lot of our stuff myself, but we can probably work around that. What will be more difficult is getting my daughter to school every day. She's too young to ride the bus independently, and if I escort her in, I'm likely to find myself waiting an hour for the bus back. The same goes for picking her up at the end of the day. This would make it all but impossible for me to work as well.

My best option is to find somebody she can carpool with or we might end up with a situation where we buy a house, but have to stay in our rented place until I've passed my test. Suffice to say, I'm now hoping for some delays before we can close.

Something to Pin Hope On

That's worst case scenario. Well, no. Actually, worst case scenario is that I have a bad day, fail my test, and can't get another one scheduled for months. But best case scenario is that I can get an emergency test as a critical worker. I was rejected for one earlier in lockdown because the focus was on people in healthcare. These days, there's a lot more attention on the school issue and getting the schools ready for September.

The guidelines for schools are that children can't move across bubbles but adults can. So when I had a job interview recently, one of the available positions was working in a year 5 bubble in the morning and an early years bubble in the afternoon. Let's say someone in the year 5 bubble tests positive for covid: I would have to stay home (along with everybody else in the bubble), and the school would have to find somebody to cover in the early years bubble.

In other words, supply teachers are going to be needed. I'll have to wait and see if the government is already thinking along those lines.

I never heard back from that job interview, which makes me pessimistic. I don't think I did well: there was a moment when they asked what strengths I brought to Early Years Education, the most obvious of questions and one I know how to answer—and my brain just couldn't shift gears from the Special Needs conversation we'd been having before that. I'm pretty sure my reply was vague and generic.

On the other hand, I have a habit of remembering myself as being more inarticulate than I actually was, and my CV covers that very question, so maybe that's just paranoia. But equally, I haven't been able to get hold of the online course I was supposed to be taking, and I have nothing lined up for September. It seems I'm no further ahead than I was this time last year.

Random fun fact: a Montessori school advertised for a nursery assistant. The exact job I was hoping to find. But they're too far away. I'd need to move to a different part of the county, the local school isn't great—and I'd need to be able to drive.

It's one of those things where the vision doesn't work with the reality. It's bittersweet... yet I don't mind too much. The kids like it here, and I like the life I can give them here. I like the life I'm giving myself here.

So, yeah. I need to rethink the employment thing. I can carry on as supply, and I can probably get more regular work than last year if I stop holding out for early years. Maybe it's time to stop worrying so much about reaching the career goals I was working towards before my entire life changed. To be more open to the opportunities that are coming up in my new life.

Most importantly, my cats are still cute.