Getting things done

23/7/23, and SweetArt was in, first thing in the morning, with the date!

Last night, our friends S&G who are holidaying in the UK, asked for our help to accompany their son to a couple of government offices to retrieve a classic car, which the police towed away. (It's a long story). We didn't have a chance to liaise with their son (Mark) last night, so we woke early to be ready - just in case.

It's a funny thing waiting. It always seems endless. Thankfully, it wasn't too early or late, and Mark very kindly drove to Al Barsha Police Station via the DED Cafe in Jumeirah. I discovered they are open on a Sunday, so wanted to keep going with the renewal of our residence visas.

It took longer than anticipated, but after nearly an hour, we had applied for the renewal of two residence visas and two Emirates IDs. The young Emirati lady behind the desk said it will all be done before the end of the week. Hurrah!

The best thing is you can use your own digital passport photo instead of having one taken by them in the terrible lighting they often have! I was impressed, too, by how completely paperless they have gone. Everything is done via WhatsApp. There wasn't a paper or pen in sight!

We got to the police station only to find out that the traffic section don't work today. Mark had looked up the timings yesterday but I guess it didn't specify departments. Oh well. It means going back tomorrow. He kindly dropped us at Wafi for our Sunday Lunch at McCafferty's. :))

By the time we got home, both of us had received our new e-Visas by email. G's Emirates ID card is even printed. Mine can't be far behind. All this is quite amazing. I'd been reading comments from other folk who have recently renewed their residence visas complaining that it takes weeks, so it's great for us that the system has been streamlined.

I returned to the troubleshooting I started yesterday. Video creation problem - not solved yet. USB problem - the same. I had to phone Amazon customer service to talk through two other issues. The first call I made got dropped after holding for fifteen minutes. The lady who answered when I called back was so apologetic she gave me extra-good service!!

My blip is taken in Wafi. Spot the spelling error.