Thursday, September 21, 2006
Blog and it comes true.....well nearly
No I was wittering on about the driving licence, and what should arrive in the post today but my new swiss licence, although as that bloody woman interfered with my form, I now haven't a single piece of ID in my married name.....but I can continue to drive so she'd better watch out when she's crossing!
I've emptied Ikea and I'm being slowly driven round the bend
Well the apartment is very nearly in order, Ikea have made a small fortune, and no manner of money off for my birthday coupons is going to redress the balance....see that's how well they know us now, they even know my birthday! So now I get to try and battle the last few bits of admin that we need to get sorted to make us fully "legal" as it were.
So job one was driving licences. If you plan to stay for a period of time, you have to within the first year of being in the country, surrender your driving licence in favour of a swiss one...why is not made clear, just that you must. I have given up trying to fight them on the issue, and so went to the police station to pick up the relevant form, which I have to admit was a bit of a doddle to fill out, and which I then sent off to the cantonal authority with the 3 forms of ID and crappy passport pictures. Only, the policeman had supplied the wrong form, so within a week the form was sent back to me, with the new and appropriate one included, but none of my photocopies in the envelope (someone somewhere must collect photocopies of wedding certificates.)
This new and improved form was a little more complicated and needed far more input than the previuos one, including a testament to my eyesight from a suitably state approved optician, and a signature to testifiy that the muppets in the local council office agree that it is me signing and sending in my UK licence. Well I filled out said form, taking care to make it clear that although my residency card is in my maiden name, my drivers licence is in my married. Drove around one morning getting the rest of the signatures I needed, and then rocked up to get the local council to sign the form. Well the poor woman (how she got the job I have no idea - she's not swiss) decided that Née was not the same as Epousé and corrected my perfectly legibile and understandable form with some gummed up tippex and a ball point pen, and not even black ink at that! So I'm expecting to recieve the whole lot back in a few days, and then to have to go through the painful process again....just so long as they don't make me take a driving test at the end of it I don't mind. You only get 3 goes at it here, after that you can kiss goodbye to the open road unless it's as a passenger.
The mad landlady from the previuos appartment is meanwhile trying to make us cough up for some ridiculously expensive carpet cleaning service that charge both your arms and a leg to clean a square inch of her manky "tibetan" carpet, that my contract cleaners wouldn't touch for fear of it disintegrating between their fingers......a new rug would not only be more hygenic but far more economical and aesthetically pleasing! But hey ho, she still thinks she lives in Swaziland.
So job one was driving licences. If you plan to stay for a period of time, you have to within the first year of being in the country, surrender your driving licence in favour of a swiss one...why is not made clear, just that you must. I have given up trying to fight them on the issue, and so went to the police station to pick up the relevant form, which I have to admit was a bit of a doddle to fill out, and which I then sent off to the cantonal authority with the 3 forms of ID and crappy passport pictures. Only, the policeman had supplied the wrong form, so within a week the form was sent back to me, with the new and appropriate one included, but none of my photocopies in the envelope (someone somewhere must collect photocopies of wedding certificates.)
This new and improved form was a little more complicated and needed far more input than the previuos one, including a testament to my eyesight from a suitably state approved optician, and a signature to testifiy that the muppets in the local council office agree that it is me signing and sending in my UK licence. Well I filled out said form, taking care to make it clear that although my residency card is in my maiden name, my drivers licence is in my married. Drove around one morning getting the rest of the signatures I needed, and then rocked up to get the local council to sign the form. Well the poor woman (how she got the job I have no idea - she's not swiss) decided that Née was not the same as Epousé and corrected my perfectly legibile and understandable form with some gummed up tippex and a ball point pen, and not even black ink at that! So I'm expecting to recieve the whole lot back in a few days, and then to have to go through the painful process again....just so long as they don't make me take a driving test at the end of it I don't mind. You only get 3 goes at it here, after that you can kiss goodbye to the open road unless it's as a passenger.
The mad landlady from the previuos appartment is meanwhile trying to make us cough up for some ridiculously expensive carpet cleaning service that charge both your arms and a leg to clean a square inch of her manky "tibetan" carpet, that my contract cleaners wouldn't touch for fear of it disintegrating between their fingers......a new rug would not only be more hygenic but far more economical and aesthetically pleasing! But hey ho, she still thinks she lives in Swaziland.
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