Bureaucracy

Had another run in with it today. This time with the Pensions Agency. Painful. They want a record of what I've done since I was 17. I gave them a copy of what HMRC had sent me as the definitive Auslaender contribution history.

Alas. A copy is not good enough - they need the original. So I told them the Employment Office has the original. Sorry, they said, we NEED the original. So I'll have to apply to HMRC again (another 6 weeks).

And I also need a certificate saying I went to school.

Anyway, the office is in a very nice building in the centre of Wiesbaden. It has these windows out on to the rear courtyard and some rather lovely cornice work. That took my mind of the other Scheisse for a couple of minutes.