Monday, August 01, 2005

Back in the USSR?

Today I needed to visit the DVLA office in Wimbledon to finally get the car taxed. The theory was that I’d get there for 9am when it opened, do the business and be underway again by 9:15 – after all, I had all the documents I’d need…

I didn’t actually get the disc until 9:50 after a queuing experience which, while not actually unpleasant, somehow made me think about queuing up in Soviet Russia. Don’t get me wrong, all of the staff were very friendly and polite – not an intimidating babushka in sight! However the electronic queuing system wasn’t working, so there was a line of metal chairs opposite the three counters designated for ‘General Licensing & Taxation.’ Every time someone was called forward to the counter, the rest of us had to stand up and move one chair to our left, so that recent arrivals could sit down. People who didn’t actually need to go to the window weren’t allowed in the queue – they had to sit on the chairs behind us, by the window. There was a separate counter, with its own little queue of chairs, for ‘Registration of Overseas Vehicles’ and an entire roped-off section, with unregulated queuing(!) for ‘Diplomatic Licensing’ (I had never realised Wimbledon might warrant such a section!) A chap at the door fielded people to their appropriate lines, or directed them to departments on other floors, and kept the queue regulated.

All very efficient and I suppose contemplating the experience kept my mind off the wait itself, so I shouldn’t complain! At least the car is road-legal again. Next time I shall simply have to get my finger out at the right time and save myself all this hassle.

Apart from that, the day was uneventful. Work went well and I got lots of stuff done (well, okay, I got lots of stuff progressed – most of what I’m doing at the moment is project work which won’t be complete for at least another month or two.)

Because there was no Chorus rehearsal tonight, I had the option of going bowling with some of the Out guys – something which I’ve actually been wanting to do since they first started up the regular sessions – but in the end I just wanted to go home and chill, so that’s what I did.

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