My meeting with the paperpushers didn't go as planned. The commute to Birmingham, only eight miles - ten minutes on the train - but the first time I've done it for over ten years, went like clockwork. I even had half an hour to waste.

When i got there, my name wasn't down at reception, and the hairs on the back of my neck start sticking up. Someone's made a boo-boo and I think it might have been me.

Indeed it was me. I'm actually booked in for next Friday.

Ah crap!

And that clashes with two important things: the deadline for paying the phone bill and my rearranged first driving lesson.

Nothing I can do about the phone bill, but I phoned the Driving school and booked a new lesson. Luckily, I actually managed to get it booked for the day before, so not all was a disaster.

I've also been in touch with the Inland Revenue about signing off from the dole and declaring myself a low-earning self-employed person claiming Working Tax Credit. Their rules say i can earn up to £100 per week and still claim £45 Tax Credit off them, which would mean on the weeks I earn nothing, I get an amount that's eight pounds less than if I was signing on. It's not a particularly huge cut to take and I'm seriously considering it, but I think I might just wait for the outcome of the paperpushing morning next Friday before making a decision.

Also, we've been given a Holiday by my Mum. It's booked for the second week of the new term, but what the hell, it's a break we wouldn't normally have had. Now I have a deadline for passing my test. Seven weeks, I've got. Somehow, barring a miracle and a hitherto undiscovered natural affinity for driving, I don't think I'm going to manage it. Oh well. Trains and Taxis it is again.

Things are moving, things are all on the brink of being achieved. If everything goes well then our lives get so much incredibly easier. Cross your fingers for us, won't you? And keep reading to find out how it all goes.

I really think I should go to sleep now. We're off to the park tomorrow to fly kites and play football. We may even take a trip to a Farmers Market and pick up some Wild Boar sausages, or maybe an Ostrich Burger or two. Ah, the rare joys of family life.

Nytol...