Wednesday 19 November 2008 : I-D-I-O-T

I appear to have become a complete I D I O T

Today I had to come to London to arrange a visa at the US Embassy here. There are 5 official forms, my passport, 2 letters of support, a Certificate from the college I will be attending and various other pieces of evidence to bring. Maybe 20 pieces of paper in total.

Last night I checked them all carefully against a list provide by the college and put them one at a time into my document wallet. Then I checked the Embassy website which suggested some additional paperwork that may be needed.

Today I get to the embassy. No passport. I can't find it anywhere.

So either

1) When I was photocopying additional papers last night I left it out of my document wallet

2) It dropped out of the document wallet this morning when I added some more paperwork I thought of at the last minute to justify my visits to Egypt if asked

3) I dropped it in the street when I put my newly acquired visa photographs into the documet wallet.

In any case, I didn't have it. Did not get admitted to the Embassy, did not see a consular officer and did not leave my passport there to get the visa put in it.

Now I would normally have noticed at the airport this morning as I usually use my passport as ID when boarding flights, but since I expecctd to leave it at the US embassy I used my drivers license...

WHAT A COMLETE BALLS UP. In that statement lies the tenuous link to todays image, balls in Heathrow Terminal 5.

So my day was a complete waste. Today's flights were paid for by my sponsors, but now I have to come again, and I can little afford that given some of the problems I mentioned yesterday. Plus I have to waste another blooming day in airports and trains and embassies.

This is the first time I have EVER forgotten/lost vital documents for anything.

So to recap, I am a complete I D I O T

Here endeth todays ranty blip.

Update: My passport turned up at home, under the paperwork I was photocopying at the last minute...