New Hair and Housekeeping



So,  I finally got around to getting my hair cut this morning.

I've been meaning to for ages, but with work, and being busy at weekends, and being generally disorganised has meant it hasn't happened. But today I didn't have any specific commitments, and when I went into town to do various errands and  go to the library and such, I popped into the hairdresser to see if they could fit me in, and they could.

New Hair

An hour later, I had shorter hair. I didn't have quite the hair I asked for - it was supposed to be about an inch shorter at the front, and shorter again at the back, but despite having confirmed this with the stylist at the start, and half way through, and having shown her a picture (of me) before she started,  she didn't seem to grasp the idea. I don't dislike what she's done.

 It's not massively different to what I actually wanted, but it's annoying, and as I had a photo, of me, showing the front and side views of what I wanted I don't really think there was any excuse. But it became obvious that she couldn't, or wouldn't, sort it out, so I decided that (a) I was not going to argue with a woman waving sharp pointy things round my head and (b) I'm mostly annoyed because it's different to what I wanted, not because it's a bad cut per se, so I can live with it. But I think I'll go somewhere else next time.

Apart from the hair cut, I have mostly been doing bits and pieces of housekeeping - literal and otherwise, today.

My TV licence had to be renewed this month. You can renew online now, (which I did) and they strongly encourage you to keep the whole thing paperless, but I prefer to still get them to post me a paper copy of the licence, so I have hard proof that I have paid them good money. I don't begrudge paying it.. Mitch Benn is right, we should all be Proud of the BBC (and if you haven't, you should buy the song, and the shirts), and at less than £3 a week it's hardly overpriced, but I do want a receipt. . .

In fact, it's my week for renewing licences - my drivers licence is due for renewal at the end of this month, too. This is actually the first time I've had to do it, as the 'new' photocards last 10 years, and before that I had the old paper kind, which didn't need renewing.

It turns out that the DVLA sends a reminder, with a form to fill in, which explains that if you want to renew by post, you must send them a photo of yourself which  must have been taken within the last month. However, if you want, you can renew online, tell them your passport number, and they will use the picture from your passport, provided that the passport was renewed within the last 5 years.  Soooo, my (potentially) 5 year old passport photo would be OK, but a photo taken 6 weeks ago would, at least officially, not be.

As it happens, my passport was renewed only last autumn, so the photo is pretty much up to date, but it strikes me as peculiar, and just ever so slightly a bit illogical. (which I suppose is only to be expected when dealing with a government agency...)

The rest of my exciting Saturday has involved getting all my finacial records up together to send to the accountant to do my tax return, doing laundry, and general cleaning and tidying. So I now have a clean, and organised (well, mostly) house.

Oh, and I might have bought some more books. Just in case I run out, or something..

Not an exciting day, but not a bad one either.

New Look

I was sorting out some paperwork this morning and realised that my passport expired last month, not, as I thought, in a years time. No biggie; I'm not planning to leave the country in the next few weeks, so I should be able to get a new one without having to pay for an express application, or any of that crap, but it did give me the impetus I needed to get my hair cut.

I've been meaning to for ages, for I am very bad at organising that sort of thing, partly because I don't actually enjoy the process - it is like shopping for clothes or shoes - I might be happy with the outcome, but I don't much like it while it's going on..

Fortunately, when I called the salon this morning, they had had a cancellation and were able to fit me in this afternoon, so I didn't have time to worry about it, and I did, for once, remember to put my contact lenses in so I was able to see what was happening. Normally, I forget, go wearing my glasses, which of course I then have to take off, and and spend the next 45 minutes looking anxiously at the blur that is my reflection, and wondering what they hell is going on!

This time, I was very pleased with the end result - it does help, of course, when the person cutting your hair listens to what you say you'd like.

I went direct from the hairdressers to the photobooth and got some pictures done which (assuming they are acceptable to the passport agency) should mean that I will look more-or-less OK in my passport for the next ten years. I shall probably not look quite as well groomed again until next time I get a hair-cut, however..

And it will be much cooler, which is another bonus.

I was very restrained, and managed then to get home again without spending any money in the bookshop or elsewhere, so I think the day can be counted a success all round.