Round up

Life is not so bad. The weather is gorgeous, light is spilling into the garden from everywhere, I have taken tyrell 's advice and am going to see Emily Carding's one woman adaption of Richard III tonight with a couple of chums while larians is off on his stag part 1. There's some paperwork to deal with and that's logistics, complex and boring, but I need to get it out of the way to clear my head  for forthcoming business, so this morning  must needs ring the passport office. I hate officialdom because the order in which I am meant to do things never stays in my mind. Bah.

Everything is alive. Rory2, the engorged wee betta fish did not have dropsy after all. I was told a cure for him by some random engineer putting in our new broadband; he hadn't tried the cure on his own fish but he had heard it was infallible. You get a fresh pea and slivers of raw garlic, and pound them via mortar and pestle, then just drop a couple of bits where said fish is bound to eat them.  it was almost funny, watching Rory spit out  bits of raw garlic in disgust, but there's no denying something worked - his little balloon body was back to normal the next morning, after a month of seeming grotesquely constipated.

Just as grotesque, there is no denying the difference made by live food in the tank. Tiny water fleas and bloodworms make all the difference, and the health of the water, not to mention that of all its denizens, is many times better.  I put them in, and they live out their lives until they get eaten, no further feeding of fishes for around 3/4 days. It is horrible, but I do not think they are aware and  If I ever get evidence to the contrary I will stop. But the quality of life in the tank has improved very markedly. Just finished fixing the filter and changed its outflow, something I do every couple of weeks or so in  the hope it stimulates the fish, giving them a sense of new currents, different waters. Or maybe it just confuses them and they wake thinking, 'Where the hell am I now? Curse this random drift tide!'

Surya is still the same, very swollen, but at least she is eating more. Back to the vets on Tuesday.  He did warn me it would take a couple of weeks and then would probably disappear overnight.

Now to the day, phone calls and paperwork, then theatre.

For the Love of God

Just phoned the passport office. Holy Christ.

So, change of name,easy, one form. Getting married in another part of Britain, another form.

Latter form must be signed by the registrar wherever I am getting married. So,  time to fill it in and send it. They will fill in their bit,retain a part and send the rest back to me, which I must then send to the passport office, along with my change of name application and my old passport.  Despite having paid for a 10 year passport a couple of years back, I cannot travel outside of the country during the time between giving them my old passport and having a new passport with my new name. They don't return the old, oh no, that's it scuppered entirely.  And this would be OK, except that I have to travel to Spain for a wedding during that very time. Which cannot be done.

Great.

So the answer is to make an appointment for as soon as I get back from Spain, to go and see someone at the passport office and get the thing fast-tracked. Which will naturally cost more money, as well as being a massive faff.

Gnnnnngh.