One of the evils of Democracy is the “red tape”. It’s in every bureaucratic (thank you spell checker!) organisation you have the misfortune of dealing with.

True, I laughed my ass off when I read this email about a Filipino employee trying to obtain a TIN from the Philippines’ BIR (anyone have a copy of that email – pa-forward naman uli it’s a classic worth re-reading when you’re down).

I raise my middle finger subconsciously every time I go the London’s Philippine Embassy. As soon as you step in their compound (that needs an overhaul, please!) I am transported to the hateful memories of queueing and waiting and watching our dear civil servants walk like zombies then be super-sonic when it’s 10 minutes to: lunch time or end of day. I faced our legal counsel one time while he was munching a Burger King and he’s happily chatting to someone-who-should-not-be-there-while-I-discuss-my-personal-life.

Yes, I do love (!) visiting the basement of the Embassy where you’re reminded that the Philippines is indeed poor, we cannot even maintain our Official HQ. I mean, you’d be scared to piss in the toilet & you’ll definitely hang on to your dear life when you try to climb down the stairs.

Then if your business is not done within the right hour, you are reminded how pitiful you are by begging/bribing/cajoling the clerks into “please, please madam put your super-expensive stamp on my paper before you have your adobo & we freeze outside”. Ok we do not freeze outside, we’re sometimes forced to “come back tomorrow”.

Anyway, you know what? Red tape & all the stupidity hate frustration that goes with it, is not only for the sick countries of the world.

I received an Inland Revenue letter saying I have to pay them back some Tax Credit because they apparently overpaid me. Ok, fine I will. So I called & waited. When I got thru, I answered 6 different security questions & then the operator said I failed one of them so I have to call them back. WTF?! Can’t you ask me again? Nope, “I already told you what you have to do & we cannot go any further”. 1-2-3-4… am still counting coz talagang imbyerna ka ha.

Fine I called again. This time I answered all the questions correctly. Then I stated my purpose & the clerk says, “Oh ma’am you have to dial another number for that request”. AARRGGGHH.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7…. Fine. I dialled that number. Gone thru another 6 security questions (by this time I wish I could just replay recorded answers). Then I stated my purpose hoping that this will be it! Nope. But thankfully, she could put me through directly to the correct department (how many of you are familiar with this phrase?).

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Finally after some more security questions (which I’m thankful for – honest – just exasperated), my request was dealt with!

People remember, this is a call that is meant to GIVE THEM money. I cannot imagine how it would be if I was to request for money or complaint. Que barbaridad.

image from: home.aanet.com.au/hcrosby/

If you live in the UK or if you live to watch the goings-on in the money market, then you’re familiar with the problems reported with the financial giant Northern Rock. If not, then here’s the gist: Eventhough the Rock’s market is the UK, it was affected by the growing mortgage problems in the USA. Major lenders turned it down for a fund injection. BUT the Bank of England loaned them an undisclosed sum to tide them over (an unprecedented move). AND the Chancellor spoke to say that there’s no need to panic as they guarantee that the savings accounts are not affected by the problem at all.

Anyway, as expected the savings account holders were queueing around the UK, cashing in. The shares of Northern Rock continue to plummet. And a colleague and myself have been speculating whether we ought to buy some of those as a likely buyout can trigger an upsurge. Anyway I can go on & on about boring details & market news but that’s not what my post is about.

My corner of the office faces a Northern Rock branch. The morning of the news about their problems, I noticed a man taking pictures across the street. I didn’t think anything of it, our office is next to the gherkin so I assumed it was just another tourist. Then before I lunched I looked out again & I saw two photographes in the same spot as the first. Ah! So I whipped out my Nokia & took their pictures.

the photographers… I wonder how much they earn…

That was Friday. Then this morning, I saw a queue of mostly OAPs were already there! The queue would have grown longer had the branch remained shut for a while longer. By around lunchtime we saw staff giving away FREE coffee! I wanted to sprint & stand at the end of the queue for a while, freebies make me do strange things. The branch also put a burly doorman in front of the queue and a blonde woman just inside the main door.

the queue at around 730am

…and around 10am

I wonder what sight awaits me tomorrow?

Sam Wishart suffers from a rare condition called cone dystrophy, which has severely damaged his ght. His eyes shake and he can see no colour. Looking towards a light source reduces his vision further, hence he can only see through dark-tinted lenses.

Sam is one tough lad. He’s got an indomitable spirit and is very sociable. So recently, his teammates at the rugby team in Somerset vote him captain! – He’s very good-looking, too.

Check out this photo:

Isn’t he brilliant? I just thought I’d share this heartwarming story. I think motherhood has recently “softened” me, because Sam’s little story on the paper made me wish that pogiBoy becomes as whole as him.

I saw this really, really small piece of news in the morning paper a while back: “Headbanging is ruled a disability“. I was on my way to work & I thought the British benefits system is really going to the dogs. But hang on this is happening in Sweden! As soon as I got home & was able to blog, I checked out Mr Roger Tullgren & sure enough he’s in ananova.

So Tullgren complains his Heavy Metal obsession should be classified as a handicap and they did. Now he’s going to receive an estimated £65 per week! Perhaps I should try the same application here as my practise for the Metallica concert is causing me so much problems – I can’t stop listening to “Enter Sandman”.

Seriously though, the number of benefit cheats in any state that offers a good benefits package is unbelievable. Here in Britain they’ve been showing ads on tv and on print about the punishment & threat of detection for as long as I can remember. They’ve been encouraging people on sick benefit to get off their bum and look for work. They even have a monetary incentive for those who do take a job. Then we have illegal immigrants and EU migrants. The British government started paying some of them to leave and go back where they came from. But honestly, isn’t that more like an invitation than a deterrent?

And who is shouldering all these expenses and gleaming glorious benefits system? The tax payers like myself, of course. It gives me a warm feeling inside, especially when the government keeps highlighting that there may not be enough money for me when it’s my turn to ask for help or time to retire. Right now, the pensioners across the UK are being supported by the current workforce, too. And the pension forecast for the working class is that there will not be enough people of working age to support the present future-pensioners!

Then you are also made aware that some people bore a great number of kids in order to receive more child benefits & bigger houses. These people are also often unable to work due to some illness or some just say they don’t want to work because they want to be with their kids – both mother & father! So who’s feeding them? The state! It makes your blood boil. The reality is even grimmer if you look at the fact that a single mum will have more money than a two-parent family because the former receives so many benefits & tax breaks, whilst the typical family is left to fend for themselves.

It can make your blood boil sometimes. But then looking at how it is back “home”, I used to get taxed 35% of my pay & I see nothing come out of it. The Philippines has no benefits system that I know about that actually does what it says on the label, has poor & corrupt Education system, has untrust-worthy policemen who I’d encounter asking for traffic violation money, and public servants you’d want to strangle (ever applied for Tax Code on your own?)! I know, I’m painting a very bad picture of our country, but it’s a reality that hurts me, too.

I found this quote by Germaine Greer (from this site.) that really sums up the Tube experience.

“Even crushed against his brother in the Tube the average Englishman pretends desperately that he is alone.“

Is it the same thing in New York? Because I’m pretty sure in Manila the LRT experience is very sociable. For one you’re always aware and conscious of the people around you for fear of pickpockets. And for me as a college student there was even the odd flirtatious socialization, too.

I was offline for 5 days and I missed out on a lot of things. But first things first, THANKS TO EVERYONE who cheered me on my birthday. THANKS FOR your kind words & warm hugs & your very welcome presence.

Hubby & I were planning my weekend celebration for almost a month. No, it’s not big but we needed to notify our guests a month in advance so they could book their holidays. It was supposed to be a BBQ-cum-swimming party but rain hasn’t stopped in Blighty for nearly 3 weeks now. In fact, a number of towns in the countryside were flooded & some of the residents are refugees up to now. Unbelievable. One “victim” said the situation was not ala-Third World but more like “Fifth World’s”.

Then Tony Blair finally resigned & now Gordon Brown reigns supreme, well next to the Queen anyway. Lo & behold, we haven’t finished speculating what Mr Spin is going to do and two car bombs were found in Central London. They were filled with LPGs and nails. When I heard about the nails, I briefly remembered UP fratmen’s homemade-pillbox bombs.

After the “party” (more like chikahang walang humpay), we heard about the failed car bomb attack in Glasgow! Thankfully no one was hurt except the effing drivers. One of them came out while he was burning I’m not clear on the story that followed, but wasn’t he supposed to die in the carnage? Pictures I saw were of him dutifully standing still while being hosed down with water. I know I digress from the issue, but I can’t help it.

The other driver is in critical condition & is being guarded in a hospital. I hope they both survive so we can get as much information from them as possible. So far 8 people have been arrested. It is disconcerting though that all of them worked/works for the NHS! Now NHS is trying to defend the reason they hire qualified foreigners to mitigate the staff shortage. Come on people! Just beef up the security procedures in personnel recruitment, end of story. The media or whoever should not demand more justification, we already know NHS is in deep shit at is.

So there. Three big things happening while I was offline. Oh and yeah the PMN news! Gees I’m so far behind I missed the big push. In fact I’ve yet to read the posts & bloghop. The spirit is willing but the timing is weak.

The reason I was briefly incommunicado: The auntie left us on Tuesday (26 June) & my son fell sick on Wednesday! Hubby stayed home the first day, I took the Thursday & Friday shifts. Thankfully he was better on Saturday. His sinus was so congested he actually told me his head hurts (by pointing to his forehead & saying “hurt”! Poor guy. His fever went yo-yo, his appetite was gone & like Sheila Marie’s Lucho, he lost a lot of weight! And it’s only been 4 days. Thank God he’s all hungry hippo now.

Because I’ve got to catch up on work, too, I haven’t had the chance to visit your blogs or reply to your comments yet. But I will this weekend or sooner, promise. Blogging is so addicting, it’s like I’m aware I haven’t read about your life for a while & I miss it! EEECCKK.

So thanks again for dropping-by & I will hover over to your sites soon.

Consulting a GP always make me apprehensive. For the 6 years I’ve been in the UK, I have yet to meet a GP that inspires confidence & trust. They’re often aloof, cold, crude, rude, inefficient, arrogant, I can go on for a long time.

Perhaps it’s the area we’ve lived in. I’m no bank manager or actress. Even if I earn better pay than nurses, it doesn’t mean I can live in affluent areas like Chelsea or Surrey. Most often than not, my GPs are very old, some probably just won’t retire. So perhaps their attitude problem & lack of empathy is typical of Filipino public servants’ lack of enthusiasm in their jobs.

Whatever. The bottomline is even if I don’t pay for my consultation, my taxes are feeding them & their families.

Anyway, since April my face have been very dry. I think I tried at least 3 different moisturisers but to no avail. I developed some pimple-like bumps, too, which are sometimes itchy esp. if it’s windy. So the GP gave me Daktakort. Hubby was insisting I ask for a BUPA referral straightaway. I was hesitant as most of the time, our GP doesn’t like giving private referrals & we often end up arguing. It’s really pathetic as we’re entitled to it. Apparently, they’re allowance is deducted for every patient that goes private (I have a side-story on this later).

Anyway, after a month I went back, I wasn’t any better. The symptoms comes & go. You know what the great GP said when I asked him what we should do about my skin? He said “go to a beautician” with a smile that says he’s very pleased with himself.

It took a lot to hold back my karate-chop. I told him to refer me to a BUPA dermatologist. Long story short, I saw the private doctor & he asked about any tests I’ve had. I nearly choked when I controlled my guffawing-reaction. So I am to have 3-sessions for a skin allergy patch test soon to find out what causes my skin to breakout. But he did mention that since I have a history of asthma & I am prone to all sorts allergy, which I already know.

It’s always the case with the GPs that we’ve seen & heard about. They prescribe something without telling the patient what they have or what the meds are for. They rarely do investigative tests for symptoms that they feel are not likely to kill you. I really have had enough of them, but I cannot bypass them to see any specialists – NHS (gov’t) or BUPA (private). So until I earn enough to ditch GPs (which will be never) I have to grin & bear it.

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side story
I have a feeling I already mentioned this in one of my older posts but I’ll repeat it again. My neighbour whose husband is suffering from debilitating arthritis was referred by our GP to see a NHS specialist. This specialist told them the husband needs a critical test done but the NHS waiting list is too long. So his suggestion was he sees them as private patient only for the test (£200+) and then continue with his consultation on NHS. Now the couple returned to our GP to ask for such referral but they were refused (a couple of times). The GP maintains they need to wait on NHS just like everybody else because going on private means they will bump some poor soul from the NHS list. They were gobsmacked. How will they affect the NHS list when the private session will be done on a weekend? Besides they were going to pay for it themselves. So what is the GP’s problem?

Last I heard my neighbour is filing a complaint in NHS. But isn’t unbelievable?

To follow from my cliff-hanger picture, here are two modern and “famous” buildings in the City of London. I pass them both day in and day out, seeing a flock of tourists any time of the day.

The “gherkin” caused a brouhaha during its conception. Critics said it will ruin the London skyline, a sore-eye amidst the old London architectures seen along the River Thames. Well, they are right. If you go on a cruise along the river, the gherkin does stand out like a sore thumb.

This is the Lloyd’s tower. I didn’t know that’s what it’s called until a job interview brought me to it. Its lift is along those ridges & is made entirely of glass. I have a massive fear of heights & when I came out the elevator, I knew I didn’t want to work there. Well, they felt the same way about me hehe

I’m so busy now that I hardly have time to bloghop, but I thought I’d share this one first before I disappear.

London 2012 unveiled the Olympic’s official logo the other day. Can you believe this graffiti icon cost us £400 000??

I have yet to read any positive remark about this “art” besides the committee’s & the design consultant’s bravado. They both claim this represents “hip London”. The dailies have been carrying alternative logos sent it by readers and their kids! One paper even went as far as rearranging the lego like pieces.

Hubby hates it. I don’t like it either. I was expecting something cute (and cuddly?) like previous Olympics’. How about you? Does this icon make you think “ohh Olympia”?