I'm Taxed and Insured at Last

Saturday 10th July
Today I should get my tax disc if the Insurance email arrives. Yeah that will be great.
Mo is coming over to pick Mary and Alan up and bring them back to his room on base as someone else has the house booked tonight. So a repack and sort and a tidy up and they are off. The news is good; the email has arrived with the tax certificate. So they all head off into Uxbridge to have lunch and go to Smiths to do the tax. Mo remembers to reach into my glove box and get the documentation to say I have a current MOT. Everyone is feeling confident. They arrive at Smiths. The woman behind the glass screen looks closely at all the paper work and wants to know why the tax was not paid when it ran out in May. Mo tries to relay the saga to the best of his ability. She then says so you “sold it” to your parents. Yes, say’s Mo. Well it seems she needs to barcode off the change of ownership papers. These have been posted to Anglesey in Wales and have about a 5 -10 day turn around. They all stand stunned in the shop. Mo remembers that he has ripped only the important part off to post and kept the rest of the info and given it to Alan. But where has Alan put it? Mmm it was in a notebook in his backpack but he has had a sort out and it is back in Mo’s room at Northolt. They all go and have lunch. Mo will drive back and see if he can find the piece of paper. Mary can go shopping and Alan can buy a paper and do the crossword.

Mary decides to go to the bank to see if she can put a new PIN on her HSBC card as she hasn’t used it for so long she has forgotten it. Fortunately Alan knows his, so can money out of the account. A very helpful man explains that they need to post it out. This is not going to be easy. Gypsies don’t have a postal address. Mary asks if they have a machine they can put it into to reset it. Oh no, you have to request the original one on the card and have it posted to you. Furthermore you have to ring up via telephone banking to arrange this. Thankfully she knows how to do this. The problem is though once they get me on the road and start their travels where will they be within the time frame. They opt to send it to their friends in Kent, but can’t ring till Monday and then it will take 5 days at least. This option will be further investigated on Monday.

Mo sends a text to Alan’s phone. He has found the paper, driven back to Uxbridge, taxed me, and driven me to dump to get rid of the rubbish. I have been off the base and out on the real road. It feels great.

Mary and Alan decide to go Halfords to buy a Tom Tom. The shop seems deserted. They finally walk right to the back of the shop and persuade a very reluctant shop assistant that they would like to buy a Tom Tom. He can’t get anyone else to serve them so finally comes and does it himself. He does happen to mention that they can buy a carrying case and a home charger at a special price as long as they buy with the initial Tom Tom purchase. They still don’t have the budget model they were after so settle for a rather nice widescreen model with extra features. I hear them talking about taking this one back to NZ and downloading the maps there.

Mary is enjoying being back at her favourite shops in Uxbridge. She buys some good quality pure cotton sheets and a funky duvet cover to use when they sleep in me at a really good price in TK Maxx. Then she spies some walking sandals half price in Clarks. Perfect fit, but when she asks to try the other they can’t find it. Could she come back in 10 -15 mins? They finally find the other one and she buys them, after she has assured them that not having the box they came in is OK.

Mo and Lou pick them up and take them onto the base at Uxbridge for a BBQ with friends from the band. Hamish pulls out the pineapple lumps and is an instant hit. Miriam wants to get stuck into the black forest chocolate straight away, but it being left for Dave and Laura.
As they have all had a few drinks, Lou leaves her car over at Uxbridge and Mo orders a taxi back to Northolt. Taxis are very busy and will take 20 mins but take his number. No rush but within 5 mins they ring back to say they are at the gate. Apparently taxis are no longer allowed to drive over to the residential area and they have to treck across the camp to the gate. Mary and Alan arrive at Mo’s room and he goes to Lou’s. There is an early start for them tomorrow, as the band is off to Folkestone and will be away all day. Mary and Alan have bought Oyster Cards and are talking about going to London for the day.