Time for Part Three

I'm calling time on this move to Yeovil. As soon as I can arrange it, I'm leaving this place behind. My reasons are intensely personal.

As anticipated, I failed in my attempt to be "just friends" with that girl. Unfortunately, things between us ended with me saying some terrible and unforgivable things. Truthfully, it would have been better for both of us if we'd never met.

I have become the very thing I most feared I would become. I am a wretched waste of human life. It would be better had I never been born. Worryingly, I am now considering drastic measures, something I've not done since high school. It is time for me to leave this place. Even if that means returning to having no job.

Some follow ups:

1) 24 didn't disappoint.

2) It's entirely possible that the EHIC website was only down temporarily, or it might not be accessibe from work. Either way, I was able to apply from my home PC (in the brief spell when my broadband connection was actually working right).

3) My broadband connection at home is back, but it's currently slow, erratic, and prone to kicking me out of MSN in the middle of a sentence. My ISP have given no indication of when these problems will be resolved, and have not replied at all to the email I sent asking this. I'm not best pleased with them, despite being very glad that I'm back online.

Ah, bureaucracy!

I'm visiting Italy in two weeks. Since I have a valid E111 form, I figured I was sorted on the health front...

Except that the E111 form ceased to be valid at the end of last year, to be replaced by an EHIC. Naturally, no-one saw fit to mention this to people who might seek to travel; it's far more fun to surprise them with a nasty medical bill when the worst happens.

Anyway, I discovered the need for the card on Tuesday, and have been looking at means to get the required card (not being mental, and all). So, I looked at the post office website, and found there were three options:

1) Apply online. This is their preferred method, and should take 7 days to process. Huzzah!

2) Apply in the post office. This costs £2 (oh, woe!), and takes up to 21 days. Not much use there.

3) Apply by telephone.

There is also an emergency travel number, for those who haven't got a card, and really need it urgently. I bet that costs quite a lot of money, though.

Anyway, it quickly became obvious that the way to go is to apply online. Saves me going to the post office, guarantees that I have the card in time, and is generally good. So, I tried to click the link...

Except that it wasn't where a sensible person would put a link. Naturally, you'd expect them to attach the link to the words "apply online". In a cunning way. But no! Instead, they tucked the link away on the side of the page. Fair enough. I clicked the link, expecting to be taken to an online form that I could fill in, thus applying online...

Instead, I got taken to a government website, which informed me that I had to replace my E111 form with an EHIC card, because my form became invalid at the end of 2005. There are three methods of applying...

All this seemed a little familiar, but the graphic design of the page was different, so it was quite entertaining. I decided I still wanted to apply online, and tried to click the link...

Which, again, wasn't attached to the words "apply online" like a techno-literate person would expect. Instead, the link was tucked away at the side of the page. Figuring I'd done enough to appease the gods of bureaucracy, I clicked the link, eagerly awaiting the online application form, and the opportunity to apply online...

and found that it was a dead link. Apparently, the EHIC website doesn't exist.

Huzzah!

Yay!

24 starts on Sky 1 on Sunday!

Also, there's a 10-minute teaser for series 5, being shown tonight immediately after Battlestar Galactica.

These things make me happy.

I must confess...

Sudoku puzzles are much harder when there's a misprint in the puzzle!