A useful day

Yesterday turned out to be a day for getting a few admin things sorted out.

First we went along to the library to organise my disabled parking Blue Badge. They've changed the system. You used to drop off the form, with photos, to the local Social Services office. Now it's done centrally, county-wide, in Preston. However, you do have the option of going to various libraries in the county. There you apply at a screen. You have a telephone to speak to the person you see on screen. There is a camera perched on top of the screen to take your photo at the appropriate time. There is a scanner on one side for you to scan your evidence of your entitlement. It is operated from their end. And there is a pressure pad where you sign & an image of your signature is recorded & transmitted to them. All very clever. Now we just have to wait for it to arrive in the post.

Having successfully made that application, we went on to Morecambe town hall. Here I applied for my new bus pass. And, for the first time, I was allowed to apply there for the special parking ticket for disabled council tax payers which is necessary to park in the pedestrianised area of Lancaster. Usually we've had to go into Lancaster town hall for this, which is a bit awkward as they use your Blue Badge as evidence of you entitlement & you need that to park while you pop into the town hall. (Traffic wardens in Lancaster are notoriously efficient at writing up parking tickets!) This extra parking ticket is useful as often the pedestrianised area is the only place you can park near the shops.

All done we set off to the Pub. It seemed strange being there without PD, but he was busy with grandfatherly duties. For a while we were the only two in the bar. Then came along Al, our gardener. We offered him our congratulations. It was the village horticultural show at the weekend and he did well. Indeed he won in 15 out of the 18 categories he entered. He also won a cup for the highest number of points scored by any single person in the show this year & the massive sum of £7.50. Well, we told him, that will at least buy you some seeds for next year. "Not likely," he replied, "The missus took it straight off me!"

All in all, a useful day rather than exciting one.