New Driving Licence

Had a letter from the DVLA the other day, I have to renew my driving licence, so fill in the form and send money. You see, in the UK, if you have a photo card licence (and these are the only ones that you can now get), although your entitlement to drive is until you are 70, your photo is only valid for 10 years, so every 10 years you have to update your photo, and pay the DVLA £20 for the privilege of doing so. Now nothing, I repeat nothing, has changed on my licence, and to be honest, while I am of course 10 years older in my photo, I haven't changed that much. So, why do we have to do this at all, and how come it costs them £20 to scan a new photo and print me out a new card? After all I have to put a stamp on the envelope to get to them, and I bet they send it back 2nd class!


So, off I go into Wycombe to get the photo's done, bit like having your passport ones done..........no covered head (unless for religious or medical reasons), look straight ahead, no covered face, no glasses and NO SMILING. God forbid you want to look happy in your passport photo, or driving licence photo. I have a few other bits to do, collect package from post office, buy, write and post mother-in-law's birthday card, as her son has forgotten it is her birthday tomorrow (even though it is on the calender that rules our lives, and I put a weeks warning on the calender too), order hubby more contact lenses, book him a contact lens appointment, buy some jacket spuds for tea (from Tesco - this is important) and then off to Sainsburys to use the photo machine to get photos for the driving licence.


On the way to Sainsburys, I meet a friend who I haven't seen for a couple of months so we go and get a coffee and catch up. She then needs to rescue her car from the car park and I head off the Sainsburys. Of course when I get there, the machine is in bits, and an engineer is there. 'Is it broken' I ask. Engineer says it will be about half and hour. He then asks if I am in a rush 'Well not a rush as such, but I can't wait half an hour'. So he then says the a lots of photo machines in Wycombe. I look skeptical at this, for the only two I know are Morrisions (a bit of a trek on foot from the town centre) and Sainsburys, which is conveniently opposite the bus station. I have now discovered that both Boots and Tesco have them. Remember that I said I had gone into Tesco to get the jacket spuds for tea!!!! So back I go. It then took me three goes to get a photo that was ok, though I am still not too happy with it, but you only get three goes.


Anyway, off to the bus station to get the bus home, and what do I discover when I get home.......I already had photo's, as I had to get new photo's done for the magic pass. Bugger, and they cost me £5 quid too!!!!