It earned me a cross in my primary school homework. Apparently, “yakayod” does not belong in a list of 4-wheeled vehicles.

I’d hand-sawn the wheels out of inch-thick plywood and attached them with thick metal bolts. The sawdust smelling of ancient trees and glue, piling up in yellow patches on the rough concrete floor.

As I attempted the back-road journey to Peebles under the sun’s heat, the wooden wheels creaked and the single dowel hand-pedal blistered my hand. In retrospect, this was a terrible design. I ate up the road inches uncomfortably.

I’m not sure my mother actually complained to the teacher about the incorrectly marked homework, but at least she consoled me that even teachers weren’t always right. I drifted on to future failing projects, like the black and silver DJ stall (with no music collection or electrical components) and the hang-glider built of bamboo poles and agricultural plastic sheeting.