A Whole New Experience

Yesterday morning, I stood at the lounge window and watched while one of Edinburgh's finest handed me my first foreign parking ticket Edinburgh style. Yes I could have gone down and had a word in his ear but 2 things stopped me: It is six flights down (and worse, back up again) and I was still in my pyjamas and I assumed he would be gone before I got there. How wrong could I have been. I was staggered to find that this process takes at least 15 minutes (makes you wonder how they gather revenue as effectively as our own parking wardens). Anyway, the man stood around making notes on a clipboard for about 5 minutes, then he started using his mobile ticket machine which took another 5 minutes with frequent reference to his note pad, all the while walking around my car. Once he had finished that he printed out the ticket and put it in a reply paid envelope - but not to put on the car yet - then he took his camera out and took photos of the car from every angle (I saw at least 4). Then he walked to the end of the street and took a photo of the street sign where the parking rules are noted and then back to the car and last but not least, placed the ticket on my windscreen and took one final photo with ticket in full view. What an amazing process!!
And they don't make it easy to pay either. The address on the ticket where you pay in person is wrong (the building is being pulled down) and the address they direct you to (sign on building) is in a street which has been closed by roadworks. I gave up and drove up to Stirling (about an hour away) for the day. I checked out Stirling Castle (which I had visited last year) and the Wallace Monument before I went and found the Prisoners Bastion which, by good fortune, is situated under a shopping mall. I managed to find some lunch but didn't go shopping, at least I didn't buy anything.
I got back to Edinburgh about 4.00pm and tried to do battle with the Bank (banking is so much easier at home) over online access - bank 1, Helen 0; the DVLA over car ownership paperwork - DVLA 1, Helen 0; and finally the insurance company over the lack of change of car ownership - at last a victory for Helen!
I met up with Lyss, Joe, Christopher and Leigh for drinks and a quick bite before going to the theatre to see 'Fame, the Musical' (17.50 pounds for a seat in the Gods at the Playhouse on Leith Walk), which was good. I do enjoy live theatre when I actually make the effort to go, which I don't nearly often enough. There are plenty of opportunities ahead so I hope to remedy this.