I am approaching 70 . In fact I am galloping towards it , I looked at a note I made in 2014 saying I will be 65 this year , it seems like yesterday . (I was 70 in September just to keep us up to date)

When I was young I did not really think I would get old, I remember looking at far distance dates when certain things would occur such as retirement and becoming a pensioner and expiry of my driving licence and thinking it to far off to be bothered about . It seems suddenly to have arrived and I cant think where the intervening 50 years have gone . So, my driving licence will expire shortly . I wasn't sure quite what to do , would I need to take another test ? I didn't fancy that . The government sent me a form to renew my licence . I was torn between joining the 21st century and doing it online or remaining firmly in the paper age I prefer . I opted to do it online. I started to complete the form when I got a message saying you cant renew the following groups online and should stop now unless you wish to give them up . I wasn't sure if I needed them , I decided to phone the DVLC . Nobody wants you to phone them . It took me ages to get a number . Then there was the usual layers of menus and if you choose the wrong one you end up not with a person but with a website address . Finally the nice man I got to talk to agreed with me I was probably unlikely to want to drive a pantechnicon or double decker bus and I should let it go.
 I finished the form and hit send .
 A message was appeared saying well done Martin , but , we need just a teeny bit more information so we are sending you a form. What info ? I phoned the nice man again ,easier this time as I had the number and knew the menu . Don't worry he said it does it all the time its nothing and you couldn't have renewed online anyway because you have a paper licence..