It's been quite a week, probably the most inactive week of my life so far. I hadn't expected to be lifting weights in the gym at this stage, but I had at least expected to be walking. To be fair, by Wednesday I was walking around the house and on Saturday I even walked to the local store, but that 100 yards has proven to be just a few steps too far. The external stitching seems to be healing quite nicely,.... but the parts of my anatomy that shall remain politely unmentioned have this week enjoyed a psychedelic journey through the full spectrum of colours before finally coming to rest in a deep shade of claret. 'Navy Blue' had been alarming, 'Satin Black' had been eye watering and 'Purple' had actually come as a pleasant surprise, .... but 'Claret' seems to be the colour of this particular journey's end. Perhaps more alarming than the dramatic range of discolouration has been the arrival of firstly a third and then this morning a fourth,.... testicle. Unfortunately, it appears that the operation has not been what even Gordon Brown could call a success,.... and whilst I can't help but admire the sheer artistry of the perfectly formed row of delicate stitches across my abdomen, .... they now need to be unpicked before remedial work can continue. I'll find out what's going to happen tomorrow and hopefully they'll bring me in and operate straight away. If on the other hand there exists yet another waiting list for me to join,... you wont need to wait for a weekly blog entry in order to hear my thoughts on the matter.
As far as other happenings in my world are concerned, ...... there simply aren't many. After four weeks of hard labour, the Inland Revenue have finally accepted that they did in fact receive my letter informing them of my new address, but they still insist on fining me £100 for the late filing of my tax return. Unfortunately my tax records still remain 'unfiled' as they've sent my new, new activation code once again to my old address, .... which clearly no longer exists. If I owed the IR money then I wouldn't be too worried, ... but I don't, I'm in credit with them and waiting to file for a refund.
Much better news is that I'm going to receive a refund, or voucher, as a replacement for my screwed up flights to and from Thailand last November. Everybody has been taking their time and seemingly blaming third parties for the disruption in service, which given the circumstances I can perfectly understand, but thankfully it seems to have finally resolved itself in my favour,... unless of course they send the refund to my former address.
If anything else happens this week, as long as it's unrelated to the growth of additional testicles or dramatic colour transformation, then I'll let you know.
Hi - from my previous experience with the 'good ole' HMRC, is that if ultimately you are genuinely in credit and owe nothing them any fine is actually waivered as you only ever need to file a return on time if you owe them money...... Check it out!
ReplyDeleteAll the Best
LFB
Cheers Steve. Thankfully beyond my normal Annual Return, I've not had any 'Experience' with HMRC in the past. They've sent me a form on which I explain why the Tax Return is late and thus avoid the fine, but unfortunately the same office have not sent me the 'Activation Code' that I need to complete the Tax Return. It seems that one side of the Office accepts that I moved home, .. but the other side of the Office does not. Both sides of the Office can see why the problem has arisen, ... but seemingly neither side can fix it. Hey Ho, .. welcome home.
ReplyDeleteGeoff,
ReplyDeleteSadly the expression 'Hey-ho' is one I've found myself using more and more frequently over the last few years in my sheer dis-believe of just some of the everyday stupidities we have to deal with as inflicted on us by those that supposedly are there for our benefit !!!(Deep breath), Hey-Ho...