Wie geht's?
Relentless positivity is in high demand when faced with oodles of red tape and bureaucracy.
So...to change something at our bank recently we needed a letter to indicate where we lived. Forget passports and visas. They needed an invoice.
Not just any invoice though. Had to have both our names and our address. Sounds simple right?
Except we've only been here ten days and in the flat for seven, so we only had two likely contenders.
A Council tax letter but only with my name on it and even that was misspelled (bizarrely, everyone wants to add an e and change it to Purdey).
So that was no good.
Next up - a water bill. Unfortunately, there were three errors on that one - my middle initial was changed to an 'M', Jacky became a 'Mr.', and they got the flat number wrong.
Considering I filled out the request for water myself, and all they had to do was cut and paste it, that is an impressive set of bungles!
Love and peace - Wozza
Some days the fates work in your favour.
For some time I've been meaning to get a replacement drivers' license after my Nu Zild one was lost in the U.K. a few years ago. I've been using my U.K. license since then but it expires soon so needs must.
I've been dreading it. Nu Zild bureaucracy is one thing but officious nit picking shop 'assistants' are an entire other thing.
SWMBO and I have also been renewing our English ancestry visas and the British immigration office responsible for that show how OTT things can get: we have had to send off our NZ passports, birth certificates, answer a 77 point questionnaire and do a load of other things as well. It now takes four to six weeks to get everything, including the visas, back.
Very daunting.
It also meant I had very little documentation to take with me to the Hastings Automobile Association (AA) to get a replacement license; just my cancelled passport and a wing and a prayer.
Imagine my delight then, when I fluked the (maybe) one sane sensible person who works for AA. She was incredibly helpful and accepted my cancelled passport.
I was in a daze - sort of waiting for the 'but...' and I think she could sense my amazement as she told me it was no point being pedantic about it. Huh?
Then we discovered my license had indeed expired in 2012 but that didn't faze her either! Eyesight check and photo followed in a blur.
I wondered if the door to the AA had opened on to Narnia for a while but she gave me a temporary license and told me I'd get the new proper one in the post soon.
I'm still pinching myself. Did I dream it? Nope - just checked - the temporary one is still in my wallet.
Maybe...just maybe...there is still hope.
Love and peace - Wozza
