And, because it deserves a separate post,

Hoping Tim's mother's funeral goes well.

Egad for passport problems.

Aw! Happy anniversary, Seska!

Jon just put in an application for his passport this morning. I think we need visas though, and we def need shots. So much do do! I'm starting to get a little nervous.

Thinking of you, and of Tim and his family, Steph.

They've now put us on the 'urgent' list which means they'll have it sent withing 2 days, by quick post.

That's an improvement! I hope it gets to you by then.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes, all! I wouldn't even have remembered, but The Girl has a better memory than Google calendar - I think I actually heard her go "beep" this morning. She used to insist on remembering the day we got engaged too, but I strongly discouraged that - I have no memory and I can't afford all the presents. From next year she takes her pick between our wedding day in May and this one. She's actually having trouble with this decision.

The pool of applicants for whom a person can conjure up romantic fuzzy feelings and/or lust is WAY bigger than the pool of people who can do that AND be willing to deal with the day-to-day (and larger) problems and stresses.

Heh. Yep. I think it's a pool of one, in my case. Thank God for internet dating.

Um - what's that program that times your work and helps you not get fired for being a total effing slacker?

Instant Boss.

[link]

Bless. Bless lots.

In US if a problem like the passport one happened we would call Senators and Congress members even without ties to them. Most would act as informal ombudsman to win future votes. Don't know if UK and Ireland has that custom, where MPs would do that for non-influential citizen. Though Seska was active in election which might make her MP more likely to listen to her.

And now we may have to push our trip to April (which is when my sister is getting married). Visas aren't issued to passports valid under 6 months.

Boo. Sad now.

Oh noes!

Two minutes of break for every ten? That sounds like a dream.

Since the help desk got it's new phone system, we no longer have the short "wrap up" period between calls. You're done with a call? Here's another.

Oh, and starting soon, we are going to have to follow step-by-step instructions on how to proceed in fixing things. Things that after four years I can often fix much faster without having to consult a list.

Oh, and they are thinking of implementing guarantees on phone response and repair times.

All of which sound wonderful if we didn't have to deal with 99 percent of all repairs and replacements over the phone, dealing with people with wildly varying skills.