Report from Carol Mortimer - Team Leader:
How not to renew a human passport
1. Go to main post office and ask for a passport renewal form.
2. Get the most awful passport picture from Co-op Photo Booth (permission to use
picture below!!!!!!!!!).
3. Fill in to the best of my ability. Get documentation of my divorce for
my first marriage and my recent marriage to Alan. Explain in section for
'anything else you would like to add' that I am retaining my surname of Mortimer
rather than take Alan's name of Eves. Find old blue passport with my passport
number on it.
4. Got to my local post office to get picture signed by manager who knows
me well.
5. Go to main post office to have it all checked using the passport
checking system which costs just under £8.
Sounds great up to this point but then the naughty bits
in my past life must have come back to me for payback time.
6. Nice lady behind the counter told me that all the records for the old
blue passports have been dumped by the passport office and only the red ones can
be used for renewals. I would have to apply as though it was a new application.
Not only would I have to supply my birth certificate, first marriage
certificate, along with the ones I had brought in but I would also have to
supply my Mother's or Father's birth certificate. This is a monumental task as
my dad is dead and my mother is in a semi vegetative state in a nursing home and
has lost all her documents such as these.
7. The other thing was that the local post office manager had signed my
photo incorrectly and would need to do it again.
8. Went home and sulked for a day.
9. Sorted through all my documents and my mother's to look for her birth
certificate. Found my last expired passport which was RED!!! Good, all I had to
do now was take the photo to the local post office for my friend to sign it
correctly. At this point I would like to say that my 3 year old grandson is
still alive even though he put the photo in his toy box and it was not
discovered for 3 weeks.
10 Got some more photos and had them signed correctly. Took it all to the
main post office for checking. Smiled sweetly at the (different) woman behind
the counter. She was a bit suspicious at my old red passport and asked why I
had not brought it in in the first place. I explained that the instructions had
not specified it had to be a red one but she showed me the exact place in the
instructions where it says so. I showed her my copy of the instructions which
was missing this statement. I had been given an out of date version!!!
11. Luckily another lady behind the counter came over to help. She is an
old friend of mine and she verified that I was not an illegal immigrant trying
to obtain a British passport. First lady ticked and signed the box that said
everything was OK and sent it off.
Two weeks later I got my new passport. I am now officially as British
as Marmite
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Sally identified the problem and invented the original adjustable
fleece lined harness. However, she soon discovered that whilst this was a
significant improvement on existing types, dogs like humans are not standard
shapes and sizes. After extensive research and many prototypes Sally came up
with the “Perfect Fit Harness” which is made in her UK factory. This innovative
modular design clips together various fleece - lined sizes of top, front and
girth pieces. This ensures that every harness will fit perfectly whatever the
dogs shape – large heads, narrow shoulders, deep chests. What is more, they are
proven and recommended by vets for dogs that are front leg amputees.
One of its unique
features is that the shoulder strap is clipped around the neck so that there is
no struggle to get the harness over the head. The girth strap is swung between
the front legs so no lifting of legs needed. The “Perfect Fit Harness” comes in
a range of fleece colours that are super soft and machine washable and prevent
the plastic clips rubbing against the skin. The top pieces can be unclipped and
changed so that the dog can wear high visibility tops during the winter months,
and the front piece can come with an additional D-ring attachment, allowing the
use of a double ended lead.
