Monday, 31 October:

Ahh... The day of Bureaucrats, Monday. I called BT again, and they finally received my deposit. So I was told that I would have phone service within 24 hours. Finally! In all my excitement, I called up Wanadoo immediately so that I can get my internet up and running. And after getting it all taken care of, I was told that I should be ready to go in ten days… Oh goody, another wait. I asked if there was any way I could rush shipping on the equipment, as my month’s subscription is about to run out at Starbucks, and was told no, just wait ten days and if it doesn’t show up call back. This is quite a change from U.S. business practices, where you can almost always get a rush if you are willing to pay for it. Here, everything has a wait and see attitude. And when someone tells you a time frame, they don’t mean at a maximum, they mean at a minimum. Ten days for my phone service really took almost 14. And after being told I would be contacted when everything was set up, I had to call and wait for someone to contact accounting to see if the deposit had arrived. (I am guessing that by contact, they mean leave their desk, go to the tube, take a train to the other side of town, get lunch, check in with accounting, go to their mail room, sort the mail, find the post notes, take them to the bank, deposit them, get a receipt, stop for coffee, go back to accounting and verify the funds then take the train back across town and come back to the desk to take me off hold and tell me everything was great, expect service in 24 hours.)

In other news… Today is Hallowe’en as it is called here. I guess the contraction really stresses the religious importance of the day as it is short for All Hallows Eve. Of course this means that small hoodlums (or Yobs as they are called here) get to dress up as the monsters they idolize and try to blackmail anyone who bothers to stay at home into giving them candy. Actually we had no trick or treaters (good thing because we didn’t have any candy either) and I think this is because the building is a secure entry building and I haven’t seen too many children in the neighborhood. Though we did witness some children lighting off firecrackers in the street that is behind our building. The youngest couldn’t have been more than about ten years old, the eldest not more than 15.

Finaly, I am getting over my upper respiratory infection thanks to the antibiotics. I guess the doctor was right.