sorry frisson has pointed out you meant sister in the sorrority as opposed to sibling manner
please forgive my lack of comprehension

i spent in total 4 hours today dealing with fucking arab pedants trying to finalise the simple purchase of a vehicle.

no im not being racist - they were actual pedants. the 24 forms and 100 or so signatures today were merely the end result of a solid month's faxing, emailing and delivering in person multiple copies of my: drivers licence, (UK & UAE) passport, visa, salary certificate, bank statements, employment details: contract of employment, employers address, nature of business, position in company, sponsors letter, trade licence.

AND the name and mobile number of 'a friend' in the UAE - i shit you not. a fucking 'friend'. Note 'mobile number' no one i know has a home landline. there are also (refreshingly you might) say no letterboxes on the doors of the extortionately priced flats (25K a year for a modest 2 bed job up a highrise) as there are no postal adresses. PO boxes only thankyou, we are medieval.

not to mention multiple visits to various disparate locations of offices, showrooms government departments etc. during which time i have driven over 150 miles on a road network in which the layout changes almost daily and 100mph tailgaiting is genuinely considered normal - the slightly impatient ones undertake you at 130mph on the hard shoulder - as do the police.

all in the pursuit of one fucking vehicle purchase

i had a boiled sweet for lunch then paid 50 quid for a crap meal this evening just so i could have a cheap bottle of plonk with it to celebrate.

naturally i still don't actually have the car - i'm assured it we be delivered tomorrow, or maybe the next day, Insha'Allah!

oh and i have to pay the taxi fare back for the delivery bloke

oh and when i got my UAE licence i was also given application forms for: a UAE drivers licence - yeah i know? Plus an application for a certificate detailing the contents of my licence - the contents being printed on the licence. Also a 'to whom it may concern' certificate application form, this, and i quote is a certificate to prove 'the non existence of a driving licence' how very fucking existential!

NEVER FUCKING COMPLAIN ABOUT THE UK AGAIN - it is a bureaucracy free oasis of calm, restraint, logic, manners and simplicity.

!
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Wed 12 Nov 2008, 19:51, 1 reply)

bless your sweet heart
what a cunt-bleeding pain in the floor pan.
May you soon be with wheels!

(I'm still shaking my head at you having to pay the delivery guy's taxi fare.....)

*shakes head*
( Tourette's ( . )( . ) has a monkey hair in her fried egg, Wed 12 Nov 2008, 23:13, closed)