bookmark_borderThoughts for the day

(arrived via email from regular commentee “Splinter” (that’s not his real name ya know))

  1. Life is a sexually transmitted condition.
  2. Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
  3. Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see one without an erection, make him a sandwich.
  4. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks.
  5. Some people are like a Slinky… not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
  6. Health freaks are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
  7. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
  8. Why does a slight tax increase cost you 50 quid and a substantial tax cut saves you 50p?
  9. In the 60s, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER 1 THOUGHT FOR 2006:We know exactly where any untaxed car is located among the millions of cars in Britain. But we haven’t got a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the DVLA in charge of immigration?

And yes, I’m still laughing at number three…

bookmark_borderWrinkles

As a very old and very wise man once said: “Problems will only occur if someone else fucks up”.

Well I’m not sure if he was particularly wise but he was very VERY old.

Anyway, it turns out you can’t rename your Car Tax online if you don’t have an electronic MOT. You also can’t do it by phone. This is doubly frustrating as our car DOESN’T NEED A MOT!!!!!!

So having been through their online system once more last night, where it states that “where applicable” you may be asked for electronic MOT details, and through their phone system which states the same, and both times the application process just stops with no explanation, I now find myself typing up a blog entry whilst waiting to speak to a human being.

I’m currently pondering if the system is screwed up deliberately to make it impossible for people to get the Car Tax and so incurring a fine. I’m also pondering that I should have done this last week. I’m also pondering that we are currently without a valid car insurance certificate (it’s in the post) as I’ve only just renewed it. Maybe I’d better organise that first…

Ahhh yes, but a fax cover letter won’t be accepted, will it? Arse.

Yup, DVLA have confirmed that it needs to be an original cover letter. Which we don’t have as “it was a bank holiday on Monday” which means the letter wasn’t sent out until yesterday. Clever online system that, knows when it’s a bank holiday…

So, no Car Tax, no proof of Car Insurance, and the advice from the DVLA is “to keep the car off the road”. That’ll be the car that Louise has at work, that she needs to use to get to work as there aren’t any buses.

So now is where I hold up my hands and say I should have organised all this last week.

Won’t stop me emailing the DVLA to tell them their online Car Tax system is crap though (that bit most certainly ISN’T my fault).

God, I hope today gets better. Thoroughly fucked off now.

bookmark_borderLittle.Red.Phone

Right, that’s the car insurance sorted out. DirectLine were the best of the … ohh 8, 9 places I tried online? The AA were the worst by a good £200. No rhyme nor reason to it, but I gave up trying to figure it out ages ago.

Of the places I tried only two asked for any other quote values, well when I say two it’s really one as is more than evident when you move from the Admiral to Elephant and find the form is EXACTLY the same just a different colour. Weirdly enough they gave me different quotes.

The voluntary excess with DirectLine is higher than I’d want, but they offer a free hire car should I need it, and the windscreen excess is lower and more flexible than most others. They also try and sell you on their home insurance as well, handily pulling your details through into another form if you want. Our isn’t due until August but I thought I’d give it a whirl and, lo and behold, it’s very competitive.

Of course I’m now fully expecting several comments telling me just how bad DirectLine are, and what a terrible mistake I’ve made. However as, price wise, it was between them and esure (it’s just a mouse, dear), I’ll take the little red phone over Michael Winner/Bronx mouse any day.

Now if I can just get the DVLA website to process my car tax application we’ll be sorted.

~

I should mention, for the record and all that, that we were all allowed home early today. Which was nice.

Did a little gardening when we got home, but neither of us were in the mood, so I ended up sitting in (bit of a chill breeze where we live) with the window open, reading and doing a little work on a website for a friend. Across the street one of the neighbours started their saxophone practise lending a very Simpson-esque feel to the afternoon.

Unfortunately there were no doughnuts to be found.

bookmark_borderGuilty

New Road Tax Rules (via Blue Witch).

If you are a driver, you know about this already. I wasn’t going to comment on it but it makes my blood boil and it’s my site and you can’t stop me and… ohh hang on I don’t need to revert to school ground antics, do I?

Essentially the new rules state: “If you don’t tax your vehicle on time, you will receive a penalty of up to £80. And if you continue to drive without a valid tax disc, you could be fined a minimum of £1,000.”

The DVLA will use it’s computers to check up on you, and if they don’t have notification that you’ve purchased a new tax disc when you should them – SLAP – £80 please.

Seemingly “The new rules are aimed at cracking down on individuals who do not tax their vehicles.” Errrr how is that? The people who don’t tax their cars WON’T be in the system will they?

Ohhh and if you can find any information that pertains to appealing against a fine, please let me know as it doesn’t seem possible.

There are a myriad of sub-issues with this, but ultimately I don’t see it as anything other than a method of getting more money from law-abiding, tax-paying citizens.

Or have I gotten it all wrong.