Wednesday, July 4, 2007

When Reality Bites Do You Bite Back??

It's getting harder and harder to find the time to blog. I've decided that Elspeth Kempe's advice to just put a few words about your day down might be the best tactic.
Monday was a 'black day' for me. I spent most of the morning at Home Affairs on Harrison Street getting a study permit renewal. It went surprisingly well, only because I rose at the crack of dawn to skip the 'madding' crowd. I hit a glitch though when I was asked to produce the 'original' copy of my repartriation deposit receipt.
I had to go back to res to find it. Mysteriously, it had disappeared!! I spent long frustrating hours looking for it. I didn't find it of course. Being a good citizen I went back to Home Affairs to 'report' that I didn't have the original receipt. The lady looked at me as if I had crawled out from under a stone, and said with great forbearance that she'd sent my documents through, and really could not remember what I was on about.
Nice, hey?

4 comments:

Susan Arthur said...

AAAARGHHH..... red tape glitches! Don't know if you would have heard the story but last year a guy was so frustrated with home affairs not delivering his ID book that he went in and held them hostage... at least you didn't have to go to that extreme!

Definitely, Elspeth's advice is good. Even if it's just two lines, write something, and don't feel intimidated by the thought of having to write an essay. We like to be updated on what's happening to you!

Home affairs... a true example of a customer held hostage (remember Aki Kalliatakis's presentation)

Ijeoma Uche-Okeke said...

Tell me about it. At least that's out of the way. My time management is dodgy at best, but one skill I have sort of mastered is prioritising and organising. I also work exceptionally well under duress. I have accomplished most of the tasks I set for my trip and on time. However, it is getting harder and harder to blog consistently!!

Thomas Michael Blaser said...

There are some sensible people at home affairs. What a nice surprise. Well done!

Time is never enough. It seems we have to learn to live with this problem. Not easy.

Ijeoma Uche-Okeke said...

Thomas, I hear you. Time management is the most difficult skill to acquire.