“When was the last time you just went for a drive?”

This was the question (from VW’s evocative ‘Night Driving‘ advert) that set me thinking.

I can’t think of when I last just went for a drive for the pure enjoyment of it. I love driving and I love cars, so when was this particular pleasure taken from me?

I believe the eco-evangelists are responsible. It is no longer considered acceptable to burn fuel for the sake of it. Think of your carbon footprint! The government has done everything it can to price me out of recreational driving – tax on fuel, road tax, congestion tax.

Driving is just no longer fun and certainly not a responsible activity to be indulging in. We are made to feel selfish for having a heavy right foot or purchasing a car for aesthetics or performance rather than its eco-credentials.

It is time to de-program ourselves from the guilt ridden eco-brainwashing and start enjoying life again. Go for a drive! 🙂

If I haven’t inspired you, perhaps this will?

Somewhere between 3 and 4am.
Night time. The best time to drive.
The air flows fresh and cool through your open window.
All lights seem green, the road is yours.

Nightdriving.
It’s calm, it’s effortless.
It’s for the joy of driving.
No rush.
No need to be somewhere at a certain time.

Just feeling the road, the car, the environment.

Give yourself time.
Indulge.
Let every moment linger.

The music floats along,
Mirroring the rhythm of the engine,
Never thumping, never overpowering
Just softly underlining every passing tree, house and hedge
and transforming your simple journey
info a beautiful film.

Slowly tiredness sets in,
You turn,
Arriving before the sun,
Leaving your Golf
Until another night,
A night perfect for night driving.

When I die my property, investments and chattels will be passed to my nearest and dearest or a pre-determined list that I have nominated. But what about the greatest gift of all – “the gift of life”?

The NHS invite you to submit your details to their Organ Donor Register and England’s Chief Medical Office wants to introduce a system of “presumed consent” to tackle organ shortages, but why don’t we have a say in who will benefit from the ultimate donation?

Only 20% of the UK population have registered and I can’t help but think that this figure would be considerably higher if we were permitted to be choosy about the socio-economic group that our organs are destined to help.

I would readily register my details if I knew that my organs would be bestowed to a morally upstanding, hard working and deserving member of society. But the thought that I could possibly be helping to prolong the life of degenerate pond-life chavs, the sort of people I spend my life trying to avoid, is abhorrent enough to deter me from registering with the organ donor scheme.

In the same way in which a trustee executes the wishes of a will, we should be able to nominate a trusted third party who has the power of veto over those destined to benefit from our organ donations.

This idea will no doubt enrage the PC brigade, but why not permit a dead man his final wish and save a life in the process?