The only thing worse than standing in queues with lumps of paper is having a website system that isn’t functioning.
I have to head overseas for work early in January. I found out on friday as I was leaving work. Work keeps a scan of my passport page for the travel agent. So on saturday, it turned out that I’d have to get my passport renewed because it is nearing its age limit.
So I did the usual bit of investigation. The passport office announced… Rats…
The Passport Office will be closed from 5:00pm on the 22nd December, and will reopen on the 3rd January. During this time a Call Out service is available by appointment, please contact us for further information. The Contact Centre will be open the 27th, 28th and 29th December from 8:30am to 5:00pm for urgent enquiries only.
But they would allow me to do everything online and if I paid more then I could get it in 3 or so days after the 3rd.
The company is paying, so I didn’t give a damn about the cost. It is peanuts compared to the airfare costs and the contract I was going to support. In the blithe expectation that I’d be able to do this after the xmas shopping, the two Xmas meals, and the bloated stupor following the second as I experienced the chocolate high. But to be sure, I started the application early.
I found my passport (carefully stored after an apartment move). Managed to manufacture an intrusive RealMe login. Got the passport site to accept a bleary eyed early photo from Xmas morning before driving to Mangawhai standing against the bathroom wall. I will now look like sleepy drunk for the next decade. Filled out the online form with a minimum of cussing up to the point of needing a non-family referee. Ok – it appears that no-one is near their passports on Xmas day, or boxing day unless they are on a plane.
Now I have located one person who has stayed in the deserted Auckland and who has a valid passport. So I try to get back to my saved application page to find out exactly what I information I need
It is sunny outside. I don’t want to be at home if I’m going to have to get baked in a tropical sauna for 3 weeks trying to code. And some arsehole has managed to leave their fire alarm whooping and telling people to leave the building for the last few hours purely to irritate me.
These are all first world problems I know. But why can’t the geeks in the government try to do things like do their damn maintenance in the european day…
It sounds from the nice person on the phone that Real Me may resurrect itself sometime soon(ish). But I’m getting on my bike and off to the park with some SPF 50..
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