Office Day

This morning when we got up, it snowed. Several roads in our area had already been closed due to snow glazing (or due to incompetent driving). After shoveling some of the very wet and heavy snow and hearing about our main street being closed as well, I was particularly glad about us both working from home. 

My main task today: Booking a vaccination date for my mother. Both the website and hotline were unavailable all morning. So I kept the browser open while I worked, and clicked "refresh" on the website every 15 minutes or so, from 09:00 AM until after 02:00 PM. All I got was error messages or a "please try again later" screen. But I can be patient at times, so I tried again, and again, and again.

Then, a miracle happened, and I got to see a "welcome" screen and was directed to an application form. Filled it in, clicked "submit" - and got another error message. Clicked "refresh" and there was the familiar  "please try again later" screen...

Almost an hour later, I was lucky once more, and managed to submit the form. Fully expecting to be able to book an appointment for my mother. But no: All I got was a message: "You have successfully registered. Your procedure code is: 007_J80N5. Please keep your code safe, you will need it in combination with your password to use the appointment service." 

Then, my email account pinged. 

I had received an email, saying "Now you can make an appointment for corona vaccination. To do this, you will need your procedure ID. In case you contact the call center, we ask you to have this ID ready as well.
You can now use this link to make an appointment.
In case you do not make an appointment, your data will be deleted after 14 days."

Okay, I thought, and clicked on the link. Guess what? "Please try again later".

Which I did, several times. Until I actually got my mother two vaccination dates for the necessary two shots. I was surprised that she got her first appointment only one day after the vaccination centre opens next week.

Then I learned from our regional news channel that the booking system had broken down entirely and only worked after 3 PM today, which is pretty much when I got the "procedure ID".

Of the 400.000 people in our state who are over 80, only 4.000 managed to get a vaccination appointment so far. No wonder, if it takes six hours and several stages of filling in forms and waiting for answers.

Still. Mission accomplished. This makes me feel as happy and content as Chaiyya looks in this blip.