Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

Pyxis

chris_m wrote: »

I bet they wouldn't accept mine - the blue cover might be a giveaway :rotfl:

Give it two years and you'll probably be able to use it again! :rotfl:





Having said that, the current ones do fit better in my small handbag.

zagubov

Back in the 80s the passport offices had such a backlog that loads of countries let you use an expired passport. I travelled between Athens and London no problem (even crossing Yugoslavia and having changed planes in Prague).

You could get a very cheap version called the British Visitors Passport which was about half the price, quick to process and could get you in and out of most neighbouring countries anyway.

vivatifosi

I had a British visitors passport in the 80s. It was done at the Post Office, valid for one year and could get you into Europe. I went to Greece no problem. It was only when I got back that UK Border Control realised that the PO had written my date of birth on wrong (they put the date as the month and vice versa).

vivatifosi

Family history fans... we missed this, but I've registered my interest for next time it comes round:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/genealogy

Pyxis

Is there a U.K. search engine that anyone can recommend?

I'm getting a bit tired of Google, but on the other hand I realise that I'll have to compromise on search results.

vivatifosi

First things first... what are the problems that you are having Pyxis? It helps to know where the fault lies before defining an alternative.

Pyxis

vivatifosi wrote: »

First things first... what are the problems that you are having Pyxis? It helps to know where the fault lies before defining an alternative.

Oh, no problem! Would just prefer one that wasn't predominantly U.S.

zagubov

Not a search engine but the Big Project start page is handy for me. Has links to British websites. There's a mobile version.

It's a bit like Kadaza, but a bit more UK-specific.

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

Oh, no problem! Would just prefer one that wasn't predominantly U.S.

I find that sticking "uk" in the search criteria usually helps to get Brit sites first.

silvercar

Pyxis wrote: »

You're right, unless there's something in the small print.

Might be worth a letter to your MP, as that does seem a bit unfair.

Except if.......... let's assume the licence expired at midnight on Friday. You went to renew it on the Saturday, let's say when the P.O. opened at 9.00am. Technically, you were without a licence for 9 hours when you should have had one, so your 'new' contract is from Saturday, so you pay the new price. Additionally, that loss of one day on your new licence could be construed as a fine for those missing hours!



Reminds me of passports. You have a ten-year passport, but in fact it is only a 9.5 year passport, as many countries say there should be at least 6 months unexpired left on it. So effectively, you can't use your passport in the last six months of its term.

On that basis, if you have 7 ten-year terms during a lifetime (age 10-80), you will have to have 8 passports instead of 7, as you need to renew it before the last six months each time, in principle.

Has anyone ever found that they have been stranded in a foreign country for 6 months? (Excluding kidnappings and lawful imprisonment).

TV licence is whole months only, so 1 April to 31 March. If you renew on 1 April you pay 1 April pricing.

Passports add unused time on the old one to extend the life of the new one. So renew a passport with 6 months to expiry and the new one has 10 yrs and 6 months validity.