Cornflower in January

No kidding. This is on our roof terrace today - the 18th January. This is way, way too weird.

Today has been dominated by ElsterOnline. The German government's tax system. And I have to say that, on reflection, it's one of the shittiest websites ever built.

Seriously.

To access this online system you have to apply for a code that takes up to 3 weeks to arrive. And then after downloading and enabling Java onto your machine, you have to attempt to login.

"Please enter the code that is in your letter and make sure to use the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX" So I type ABCD-EFGH-IJKL and it comes back with "you've used an invalid symbol". Maybe my hyphens are too English.

So we go to use G's computer, where we download and enable Java and attempt to login. We get the code in without a problem and then our real problems start...

"Please give yourself a PIN" Ok how about 1234? "That's the wrong format" How were we to know? How do we fix it? "Enter a PIN with the CORRECT format".

"Please fill in all your identification numbers that we sent you in 2011 because, even though we issued you with the numbers and could have automatically had them on screen for you, this way is much more tedious and annoying for you".

And it went on and on. And then when we thought that we had finished and pressed the "End" button, it came back with "You've not filled in a couple of forms properly. You have to fix them."

If G hadn't been there, it would have been impossible for me to do alone. The language used was way too difficult for me to understand. A horrendous experience - one made even more horrendous by the thought that I have to do this every sodding year. It's no wonder people pay Tax Consultants to do this for them - unnecessarily complex and REALLY badly designed. I see a message to Angela coming up.

And so, to balance the unbelievable grotesquery of German bureaucracy, I offer you a simple, elegant and beautiful flower.

I'd be a lot happier if it was June but I'll take it nonetheless.