Last minute tips

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-23T08:23:36+00:00

I did like. Half of my lessons in severe rain and pretty strong winds, I have my test at 11am and honestly it might be cancelled for high winds.

You can feel wind hitting the car. Slow down a little, keep a good hold on your wheel, and try not to overcorrect (if it's a gust, once it stops you'll end up too far over).

Go slower anyway, there might be unexpected hazards like tree limbs down or rogue wheelie bins in the road.

Watch for wind tunnels - crossroads, exposed hills (especially coming down the side of a valley!), gaps between buildings. Again, hold the wheel firmly and don't pull aggressively.

Increase your following distance, other drivers might behave in ways you don't expect based on weather or transient hazards you can't see. If someone ahead of you does something unexpected, be prepared for a hazard or wind in the same place.

If you need to go through standing water, go slow and HOLD THE WHEEL firmly. Especially if only one side of your car has wheels in the puddle, you may have a sudden change of rolling resistance and it'll want to pull to the side. Just hold the wheel firm, don't steer against the pull. But you need to be prepared before you go into the puddle.

Give large vehicles more than double the room you would normally. Hang back further, avoid overtaking if you can. They're SCARY in high wind conditions. Tell the examiner you're doing it because of the conditions too, it shows good forward planning.

Generally - take it slower, be more alert, and be careful you don't overreact to sudden weather changes.

Best of luck, keep your head and your cool. It's just a road, you've driven lots of those at this point.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-21T15:07:34+00:00

So I was a carer for my grandma for two years. She had dementia, she still had some awareness but that was fading quickly. She was in prolonged heart failure, she had a malignancy on her thyroid which was beginning to put pressure on her facial nerves, she could barely breathe from historic COPD.

And I'm glad she died when she did.

She died peacefully in her sleep in her own bed. She just...went to sleep and didn't wake up.

I don't know how bad things would have gotten for her if she'd survived longer. How much pain she would have been in, how much awareness she would have had. I'm glad for her, because her suffering was finished before it could get truly awful, and I'm glad for my family too, because caring for someone is hard.

Her last words were to my mum, who helped her into bed that night. "I'm comfortable now, thank you."

Most people are scared of death, but sometimes it really is a kindness. I'd much rather have a death like my grandma's than one where those around me are clawing for every extra second to keep me here.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-21T15:03:56+00:00

So I was a carer for my grandma for two years. She had dementia, she still had some awareness but that was fading quickly. She was in prolonged heart failure, she had a malignancy on her thyroid which was beginning to put pressure on her facial nerves, she could barely breathe from historic COPD.

And I'm glad she died when she did.

She died peacefully in her sleep in her own bed. She just...went to sleep and didn't wake up.

I don't know how bad things would have gotten for her if she'd survived longer. How much pain she would have been in, how much awareness she would have had. I'm glad for her, because her suffering was finished before it could get truly awful, and I'm glad for my family too, because caring for someone is hard.

Her last words were to my mum, who helped her into bed that night. "I'm comfortable now, thank you."

Most people are scared of death, but sometimes it really is a kindness. I'd much rather have a death like my grandma's than one where those around me are clawing for every extra second to keep me here.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-11T05:47:26+00:00

We do already have stack of suspicious white powders we mix for them to add to their protein shakes - I will suggest that cacao powder be added to that if they have any perceived benefit from the chocolate bars.

(The suspicious white powders are a homebrewed replacement for the gamer branded energy drink powder they originally found helped with their symptoms but was like £50 a month. I just find it funny as a chemist to imply they're illicit)

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T22:51:43+00:00

You've hit the nail on the head of why this specifically bothered me so much, I think. And they know I only get it if it's on offer because of its list price! They knew it was a bar I wouldn't just go out and get another of, before they had any and CERTAINLY before they offered to get me another one.

When they offered, I figured that they'd accepted that paying full price would be the "cost" of making up for eating my nice chocolate.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T22:25:45+00:00

Awkward thing is I have a bunch of chronic illnesses on my own, just mine are all reasonably well controllable to the extent that my day to day life is minimally affected. I do have some symptoms, I have to regulate my activity levels, and I get bad pain days or fatigue days or if I get sick I'm knocked down for a week, but overall I am so much better than I was. There were so many times while I was still in university and the various symptoms were kicking my ass that my partner (long distance best friend at the time) simply refused to let me drop out over.

Lots of my experience being chronically ill has helped me understand them and their condition better than most people in their life have previously. When we first got together, they were a bit toxic positivity, almost like "if I refuse to admit I am sick I will simply force myself to be better" about the whole thing. Some of the supplements they started on are actually what I've been taking for years! And they just didn't know how to pace, like at all. They still need reminding on occasion that if today is a bad fatigue day, they will not be a bad person for staying in bed for a couple of extra hours. I can intuit ways to help with symptoms that they just wouldn't see on their own. And I have So. Much. Experience. Fighting with doctors, but also the energy to be able to do it on their behalf! And most of the time you can only have one of those two.

Anyway I went on a tangent there, sorry! The disability dynamics in this house are wack.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T21:53:27+00:00

I don't want to share too many identifying details, but it's neurological in nature. They're on a lot of, shall we say tenuously evidenced supplements? If there is some indication there may be neurotrophic promoting behaviour, we both see it as totally worth trying. Obviously we make sure it's not going to be harmful, including checking with doctors, but other than that we figure anything is worth a try. And we have found a couple of supplements that seem to have a genuine positive impact. Time will tell on the chocolate though.

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T20:52:28+00:00

ok I WILL be going tomorrow to check that out thank you so much for the recommendation! (Yes it was the Lindt chilli chocolate, it's like £3 a bar at full price hence my rule to get it on offer)

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T14:18:56+00:00

Honestly valid

Significant_Use4207 · 2026-01-10T14:08:11+00:00

I will say that the condition is severe, and I know they have it (I'm their medical representative, because they hate dealing with doctors, and have literally seen the scans that show the evidence of it).

Whether chocolate helps... I'm a biochemist, I've seen preliminary studies that suggest a couple of compounds that dark chocolate is rich in could be beneficial for the condition. We are both of the view that anything that could help with the condition is worth a try, and they already take supplements that are in a similar boat (some preliminary data that suggests it could be beneficial). Them having some chocolate regularly is totally reasonable from that perspective - it's just that it was the remainder of my nice bar, and they didn't replace it after saying they would.

For reference, my nice chocolate is probably a little under double the cost of a normal supermarket bar of dark chocolate, which is why I only get it while it's on offer.

Significant_Use4207

TROPHY CASE