Highlight of the week: Meebs got a job!
She's very excited and is at Trinity House at the moment, preparing herself for her task ahead. She leaves tomorrow afternoon. Her placement is in Oxfordshire (wonderfully country) for a month!
Banal stuff: we got some admin done!
Yes, I went for my NHS registration this morning. I can now get sick and not have to pay for it - NICE! Tomorrow morning we are going for our NI (National Insurance?) numbers. Also our bank cards finally arrived in the morning post - AWESOME! Now we can do online banking and feel like normal people!
Low light: a got a cold
So I'm cuddling with the sofa, cork up my nose taking loads of vitamin C and Echinacea - allowed myself a trip down to Boots yesterday to stock up on cold equipment.
While in town (Ealing high street) I thought I'd cash a travellers cheque! So as most people with a Barclays account would do, I headed to Barclays. Once there I stood in the queue, waiting for my turn. When I got to the counter, the man behind the desk told me that I would have to pay (two pounds) to cash the cheque. Telling him (the truth) that I'd cashed previous cheques at other branches and not been charged for it, made no difference. He told me I should go to Lloyds. I got to Lloyds, stood in a queue and waited while the people behind the counter played hide-and-seek with their roller-blinds, pretending to ignore each other while the watching queue got bigger. When it was my turn I smiled at the lady, handing over my cheque and passport. She was unhappy with the signature, and suggested I go back to Barclays...
...standing in the queue again (wondering if this game is as much fun as the roller-blind game the Lloyds staff were playing???)
Eventually I wondered up to the counter, and explained that I didn't mind paying to cash the cheque, but could I please cash it! No! I couldn't, the signature didn't match the one on my passport.
I don't know how many of you have had to sign IN THE LINES of a British passport, but for those who have you'll know that it's rather inhibiting. For this reason, when I opened my bank account at Barclays I signed twice. Once my normal signature, the second my normal signature, but more "round"! Ya, awesome, so they have these on file, but won't cash the cheque. They weren't sure if it was me.
Another point to mention here would be that THERE IS A PICTURE OF ME IN MY PASSPORT, but I didn't want to point out the obvious. It isn't the greatest picture (due to the fact that the British use facial profiling...) Anyway I was allowed to do my signature over and over again until I told them they were making me nervous. Still, a no go.
Armed with charm I reminded the lady that the bank has two signatures for me. She went off to chat to her manager again...
As a compromise I offered for her to deposit the amount into my bank account (hoping that the fact that it would take 5 - 7 working days to clear would ease her thoughts).
No, instead she told me we shared the same birthday. I told her Librans are wonderful people and we both smiled at each other. She swapped the cheque for cash and I went shopping at Boots!
In more other news: we're going to 321 Earlsfield Road (Nikki etc house) for dinner this evening. Nikki is also very kindly having me to stay, so in my continuing game of homeless-homeless that's where I'll be.
Lucky
She's very excited and is at Trinity House at the moment, preparing herself for her task ahead. She leaves tomorrow afternoon. Her placement is in Oxfordshire (wonderfully country) for a month!
Banal stuff: we got some admin done!
Yes, I went for my NHS registration this morning. I can now get sick and not have to pay for it - NICE! Tomorrow morning we are going for our NI (National Insurance?) numbers. Also our bank cards finally arrived in the morning post - AWESOME! Now we can do online banking and feel like normal people!
Low light: a got a cold
So I'm cuddling with the sofa, cork up my nose taking loads of vitamin C and Echinacea - allowed myself a trip down to Boots yesterday to stock up on cold equipment.
While in town (Ealing high street) I thought I'd cash a travellers cheque! So as most people with a Barclays account would do, I headed to Barclays. Once there I stood in the queue, waiting for my turn. When I got to the counter, the man behind the desk told me that I would have to pay (two pounds) to cash the cheque. Telling him (the truth) that I'd cashed previous cheques at other branches and not been charged for it, made no difference. He told me I should go to Lloyds. I got to Lloyds, stood in a queue and waited while the people behind the counter played hide-and-seek with their roller-blinds, pretending to ignore each other while the watching queue got bigger. When it was my turn I smiled at the lady, handing over my cheque and passport. She was unhappy with the signature, and suggested I go back to Barclays...
...standing in the queue again (wondering if this game is as much fun as the roller-blind game the Lloyds staff were playing???)
Eventually I wondered up to the counter, and explained that I didn't mind paying to cash the cheque, but could I please cash it! No! I couldn't, the signature didn't match the one on my passport.
I don't know how many of you have had to sign IN THE LINES of a British passport, but for those who have you'll know that it's rather inhibiting. For this reason, when I opened my bank account at Barclays I signed twice. Once my normal signature, the second my normal signature, but more "round"! Ya, awesome, so they have these on file, but won't cash the cheque. They weren't sure if it was me.
Another point to mention here would be that THERE IS A PICTURE OF ME IN MY PASSPORT, but I didn't want to point out the obvious. It isn't the greatest picture (due to the fact that the British use facial profiling...) Anyway I was allowed to do my signature over and over again until I told them they were making me nervous. Still, a no go.
Armed with charm I reminded the lady that the bank has two signatures for me. She went off to chat to her manager again...
As a compromise I offered for her to deposit the amount into my bank account (hoping that the fact that it would take 5 - 7 working days to clear would ease her thoughts).
No, instead she told me we shared the same birthday. I told her Librans are wonderful people and we both smiled at each other. She swapped the cheque for cash and I went shopping at Boots!
In more other news: we're going to 321 Earlsfield Road (Nikki etc house) for dinner this evening. Nikki is also very kindly having me to stay, so in my continuing game of homeless-homeless that's where I'll be.
Lucky