Day 808 Pointless

25th October 2019

Against my better judgment I decided to leave the safe harbour of Barrington and head up the motorway to Cribbs Causeway.

I had to do something, maybe my passport was waiting on a shelf having slipped through the net.

The DX complex was large and sprawling, it was close to John Lewis, so very easy to find. There was a security gate and a button to press. The gate opened immediately, but no one asked me my business. I parked the car in the customer space, and climbing out of the truck into the rain, I made my way to the Customer Collection door.

The room was about ten foot square, with three cheap chairs each side of the room.

On the wall opposite was a large hatch with a shallow shelf, and an electric bell with the instruction to push it to get attention.

This I did but it didn’t seem to make a sound. I pressed it again, and again but still nothing.

I thought someone viewing them cctv might notice me, but that didn’t seem to work either.

I kept getting glimpses of people, but none looked my way.

A young girl then entered the room, I explained that the bell didn’t work, but of course she had to try it for herself.

To my relief that didn’t work either, so now we were in the same boat.

I went outside to see if I could attract attention of anyone in the upstairs offices. This was a fruitless attempt as no one worked next to a window, all I managed to do was get wet.

Next a guy came out of another door heading for his car, I told him the problem, and he went back inside to tell someone of our needs.

I went back inside hoping someone would appear. More time went by, and still no sign of anyone. I looked at the sign that displayed the company logo “DX, Deliver Exactly” mmm I thought, all they were delivering was frustration.

The girl was collecting her passport from the American Embassy. She had her interview only two days ago before, so I was really pissed off.

Eventually someone appeared at the doorway, apparently she saw us on the cctv screen, and not as a result of the guy in the car park.

The girl collected her package, but I was unsuccessful, there was nothing for me ( I didn’t really expect anything) and of course they could not give me any information on who to contact. “ We don’t have any dealings with the American Embassy, we just collect” was the response I got, so once again I was non the wiser.

I tried to ring the Embassy, but they could not give me a number to ring regarding visas.

“ You’ll have to go on the web site and send an email” then hung up.

Bureaucracy really sucks.

I stopped off at the cottage to pick up a few things. New guests were expected later, so I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.

They also wanted a fire for when they arrived. I was able to get that going before I left for the drive back to Barrington.

Kelli in the meantime had contacted her person in the Senator’s office who agreed to call the Embassy and try to speed the process up.