TB and passports

Well, I was busy this morning, but only because I had to wait in the Occupational Health office forever, and in the end, didn't get my mantoux test done anyway...you know, the little bubble they put under your skin, that's supposed to fade away to show you don't have TB? I waited for almost an hour, and finally told them I had to be getting back to run my falls group. Went to the weekly department meeting, and got the bad news from Jodie, and also Tana today, that there truly is nothing for me to do this afternoon. So I went back to Occupational Health where I had the most painful mantoux test I've ever had- and I've been getting them every six months since I started as OT student at Tufts. It's supposed to feel like a pin prick or a bee sting, and it's over in a second or two. Not that this was horrific pain in any sense, but I did end up using yoga breathing, and it took a full minute for her to create the little bubble.

Annette has been regaling me with her stories of trying to get a new passport for her son, Danny. Evidently, you can get the whole thing expedited by paying an extra £7 to the post office, the most important part of their service being that they make sure the whole application is correct before it is posted off. So she took everything to the post office last week and was told the picture of Danny would not be accepted, but they told her exactly what she needed to do to fix it. This week she went back with the new photo and was told something else was wrong with the application. So she asked them why they had not told her last week about this other mistake...and they told her that if they started doing that, people would correct their applications based on the post office's advice, and mail it off themselves without having to pay the post office the £7. So basically, you could end up bringing your application back to the post office umpteen times, because they'll only tell you one mistake at a time, before finally getting the application right. Talk about your red tape!!