Now I know what you’ll be thinking – you’re like a bus ( no offence taken) ….no buses come for ages then two turn up at once! Well yes it is true there was a gap in my blogs ,so I’ll give you that but I need a rant and you, Dear Reader, are a sitting duck!
Have you heard of snail mail? Of course you have …well here is a cautionary tale to prove it’s existence….
I don’t think I mentioned to you that early on in my stay here, I discovered to my dismay that I had left my driving licence in the care of Grandma. Well, it was no good there …over here that acts as my identity card ( a requirement over here) …..better than walking around with my passport . It also demonstrates my permission to drive – so quite a useful document really! Don’t start me on identity cards …I have no problem with them at all as I have nothing to hide and I believe they can serve a valuable purpose. Certainly if the police stop you here , they don’t ask after your health if they stop you …. they get straight to the point. Did I hear you say “well that’s not right!” Let me tell you , they are respected here and yes, it maybe to do with what they carry on their hip, a gun. Sadly it does seem to me that in England respect for any authority has seriously diminished ….Now look what’s happened – off on a tangent and that wasn’t part of my intended rant 🙄🙄
Back to my driving licence which needed to be about my person but was instead inside my purse inside my handbag under the care of Grandma! There was only one solution …to ask my lovely neighbour to retrieve it and post it to me which she duly did sending it by “ International Tracked and Signed” . The UK post office suggested it would take three days 🥴
It was posted on 25 th October and I was given a tracking number ( thank goodness !) It left the UK for the care of the Spanish Correos ( postal service ) on 26 th October . Realising that it probably wouldn’t be rushed anywhere over the weekend I checked the tracker on 31 st October …
Now who knows where that lorry was but it was in exactly the same place two days later…..and six days later ……
then alleluia……….but. ( translation) “the import procedure is completed, your shipment is on its way to the recipient”
Is it me or do you really need to import a driving licence? A car or coffee machine , yes…but a driving license ???? Someone is taking the Michael me thinks!!! Anyway don’t get excited because it didn’t arrive on Tuesday…..I had a message to say it really was on its way!
So I sat waiting for the postman or cartero …. no one came and then I received this …
My calm demeanour evaporated …..it was clear no cartero had ventured anywhere near our letterbox or front door, so off to the Correos I went. The lady behind the counter was very helpful and after a while an apologetic cartero appeared with said letter and explained that he had taken it to another address by mistake ( there is another road with a name extremely similar to ours, and only a cursory glance at my letter by him had led to the mistake ) Finally after two weeks the tracked and signed for letter was in my possession 🍾🍾🍾🍾
The moral of the story Dear Reader is make sure you take all important documents with you in the first place …a hard lesson but I can promise you well and truly learnt!
During my driving license’s prolonged journey , our friends here had a misdemeanour with their electrics …. Well, basically they had no electricity or internet and my friend commented it was just as well they had their phones which got me thinking……Do you remember ? ..because this would ring even in a power cut …..
There will be some of you going “ What is that?” and others going “Never chance for a private conversation ..always someone walking past ear wigging!” In fairness we didn’t have a phone on the wall but it sat on the telephone table in the main room of the house and was attached to the wall – answered with “Woburn Sands 3229” followed by a response appropriate to the caller.
I am amazed at how much a part of our lives are our mobile phones – sometimes when we’re out I look around and you see four people sitting at a table , all tellitexting on their phones. What is that about?
Finally some good news …I am not at risk of developing Shingles. How so you ask? Well the DB was quite relieved to now that at the age of 70, he was eligible for his Shingles vaccination. This coincided with a national announcement that this vaccination programme would be extended to people 65 and over . Yippee me included 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 When he went to see the nurse for his jab , he asked if I could book an appointment. She said that logically I would likely be called in chronological order ie after the 67 year olds. Fair enough!
Anyway there was a lot of hype about all so I decided to ring the GP reception and arrange an appointment. Talk about “ computer says no” – a young girl answered and asked me for my date of birth which I gave her …a pause “ Sorry , you’re not eligible .” Thinking she had got her numbers wrong , I said “ but I am 66 so surely I’m eligible” “ No you have to be 65 or 70”
Realising I was on a losing wicket here, I decided to call in the next day which I did. A different receptionist was there and was profusely apologetic … “ let me read you what we have been sent , I completely understand your despair” She then read out a letter that had been sent by the NHS -which clearly stated that unless I was 65 on or after the 1st September 2023 I would have to wait till I was 70 to receive my vaccination. Is it me or is that absolute poppycock? No one has been able to explain to me why I ( or for that matter my Camino buddy who was 65 in January) are not eligible .
Money you say …it’ll cost a lo5 to vaccinate that whole group ? I get that, but logically you’d vaccinate downwards from 70 surely . What the NHS needs is not a Director for Lived Experience on a salary of £110,000 – £115,000 …..don’t start me 🙈🙈……
…..but a Director for Common Sense !!!!
Rant over folks … phew ….I hear you say
Now there is only one way to end this blog today …..in solemn remembrance of those who gave their tomorrows for our today
They shall grow not old as we are left to grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them .
We WILL remember them …..
Camino Romero 