Voting, driving, work

[louiselux]

It's General Election day, just in case anyone in the UK has been living in a remote cave for the past month and might not have noticed. I feel kind of excited, but mostly in a nervous way. Mainly I'm dreading the ascent of Sharkface Cameron to power and that the BNP get more seats. I've decided who I'm voting for; after a lot of thought I've decided to vote tactically.

Just... please let it not be the tories tomorrow.

In other news, I've had three driving lessons now. I don't know if it's me or the way my instructor teaches or a combination, but I'm finding them massively stressful to the extent where I think about them for days ahead, fretting. He did say 'a lot of my pupils find the lessons stressful at first.' I think because he goes through the curriculum quite quickly so the learner knows how to do everything, just not how to do it well. Next week I'm supposed to spend the full two hours driving, and I have to drive us back to my house along actual busy roads. Terrifying! Mr Lux says I should try to see it as 'exciting' instead. I will try.

In work news, the empire of bags is going reasonably well. It's been slightly quieter on the retail front but apparently that's normal for April, May and June. Or is it March, April and May? I can't remember. But one thing that has happened is that Vogue Brides Spain contacted me to ask if they could have a high res picture of my Shakespearean garland as they want to feature it in their next issue. I'm not sure this isn't some sort of elaborate joke, and also it seems a bit late if it's the summer edition. But maybe they needed some quick filling in things for a handmade feature. The woman who contacted me seems genuine, with a proper email and everything. So, yay! But I'll wait and see if it actually happens.

Comments

[tarteaucitron.livejournal.com]

huergh! sharkface cameron.

how exciting re vogue brides spain! you will scan and post any features, won't you? i feel like ordering a copy myself.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Did you start the Completely Clegg comm yet?

I will definitely scan the article. I can't quite believe it will happen!

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Oooh, next time you come here, or the next time we hire a car in the UK we must drive somewhere quiet and you can practice like a practicing thing!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Heee, appropriate icon is appropriate. I would love that! I like my roads quiet at the moment. I think I'm going to need to practise a lot - the handbook says I will probably need about 45 lessons (I think it means just single hours?) and then 20 more hours of practise on top of that. So I'm thinking I will be passing my test around the end of the year, maybe. If I can master my terror.

[niennah.livejournal.com]

Wow, that would be so cool to be in Vogue Brides Spain! I hope it's for real. :)

Also, re driving instructors, years ago when I was learning to drive I had an instructor who made me feel stressed and nervous. I thought it was the driving till I had a different instructor one day, and then I realised it was her. Her style just made me edgy and that made me a bad driver and made me very nervous. Is it worth shopping around for someone who might make you less nervous? I think a good instructor can set you up as a good driver for life, but a bad one can make you nervous for years.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice - I really wanted to hear about other people's experiences. I mean, I don't think it's him exactly making me feel stressed by his behaviour, but maybe he'd just going to fast in his lessons before I feel confident. I don't know. If it doesn't get better I will see about maybe getting another instructor.

[kizna1200.livejournal.com]

They're really pushing voting in my area, but we can't vote until the 27th because one of the candidates died :/ And by that time they'll have decided who's won and our votes won't count.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I heard about that yesterday on the radio - that seems an odd way of doing things, letting you vote when essentially it doesn't count. :(

[best-of-five.livejournal.com]

omg, that's awesome re: vogue lou :D

and good luck with driving. i'm supposed to get lessons this summer but i think the bar will be stressful enough.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Excitement! I hope it actually happens.

I didn't mean to put you off, but yeah, it does soak up quite a bit of my nervous energy. You never know, you might be really good straight away and it will be all fun and stuff.

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

Re: the magazine! See I said so! *HUGS*

Good luck with the rest of the things you do!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you! *hugs*

[buckle-berry.livejournal.com]

Just... please let it not be the tories tomorrow.

i am feeling a bit sick worrying about this. please not sharkface. please.

i second what niennah is saying up the page about changing your driving instructor if the anxiety doesn't improve btw.

also ilu.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Welcome to our new [fill in the blank] overlords! Oh well, at least there wasn't a massive landslide to the Tories and now there will be weeks of dithering. I heard that the hung parliament in Belgium took a year to sort out. Let's hope we're more decisive than Belgians.

Thanks for the advice about the driving lessons - I will see how it goes.

<333333

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeee!

Congrats on the Vogue Spain!!! I love your stuff, btw. One of these days I want a purse for my very own self.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Eeeee! Thank you! I'm pretty excited - they asked for my pics so I hope they're good enough resolution.

I would love to make you a purse - that would be wonderful! I've been doing quite a lot of bespoke orders, so any time you decide you'd like one, let me know. :)

[emungere.livejournal.com]

I am so excited about your magazine thing! Also I am in Indiana now. We went to Indiana Dunes, on Lake Michigan, and it is really like the ocean. You can just baaaaarely see Chicago on the other side.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

That sounds lovely! I hope you took lots of pichers.

Roger is mooking hard in his semi. SIGH.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, congratulations on the magazine interest! What a lovely bit of validation for your handiwork.

And further chiming in on the "try another instructor" suggestion if the anxiety doesn't fade. When I was attempting to learn to drive ages ago, I was utterly terrified and anxious and neither my mother's informal instruction nor the teacher at the actual driver's ed classes did anything to help with that -- the teacher was kind of callous and mocking, and my mother was downright nasty, impatient and mean and screaming at me the more flustered I got. I finally wound up having to study with a neighbor lady instead, but she was actually kind and patient and reassuring enough that I was eventually able to pass the license exam. An instructor that you feel comfortable with may not make every last bit of anxiety go away, but it still makes an absolute world of difference.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I do hope it all happens. :)

Thanks for the driving instructor advice also. Both your original 'instructors' sound rather stress-inducing!

[morebliss.livejournal.com]

Feli and Nando will probably see your garland's in the magazine and order some for their wedding! ♥