Journal Entries
Who insures James Bond?
Posted Dec 9, 2013
I recently saw a rap artist who pointed out that a large amount of being a hip hop star was doing paperwork. I feel a little like this about spying.
I have had to try and sort out some medical matters. Firstly I had to visit my GP, I was hoping that he would give me some precautionary medication. That he would give me antibiotics to take if the kidney infections I’ve suffered return. The first part of the appointment went well, he said it was a good idea and a sensible suggestion. Then he viewed the antibiotics I’ve had in the last year and said – No. He told me about super bugs and said that if I got ill again I certainly needed medical attention and not from the out of hours doctor. I was a bit surprised as he said things like ‘you’ve been so ill’ and I wanted to say…WHAT?! When nobody told me… I was just a bit sleepy…
The problem with the getting medical attention plan is that I’m not totally confident about the easy availability of medical attention in the country I’m visiting.
I therefore decided I’d best update my travel insurance. This was made a little complicated as I had made my account SO SECURE that it took half an hour on the phone to hack into the account. I had to answer many questions several times. Firstly I had to speak to the sales rep who wished to make it clear (by reading the T+Cs at me) that my insurance was not going to cover me for pre-existing conditions unless I had declared them..
My wish, my dearest wish was to declare my pre-existing conditions but this did not seem to be possible until she had explained the importance of declaring pre-existing conditions.
Pre-existing conditions were approved and the insurance could go ahead, but not until I had listened to the T+Cs again…
Finding insurance that will cover me for work based trips, water sports and other high risk activities is always a challenge.
Other tasks include trying to find a temporary home for my pet rabbit.
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Latest reply: Dec 9, 2013
Something is about to happen...
Posted Dec 5, 2013
I'd rather not say where I'm going but on the 18th Decemeber I will be journeying to another continent.
I've only known for a few days that its definite due to some trouble with VISAs. It would seem that the inconsistencies between by birth certificate and passport make these administrative processes more complex.
That and the idiocy of the process. I feel if Kafka had applied for more VISAs his work would have been darker.
Firstly there was an online form.. With difficult questions (port of entry, fathers place of birth). The form required photos to be uploaded.
Then an appointment had to be booked... However there were NO APPOINTMENTS EVER...
So I had to phone an expensive phone line (£1.30 a minute)
And be advised to 'walk-in'
They didnt need it to be me who walked in but SOMEBODY had to print the on-line form and take it to the embassy
Well not the embassy - the organisation that the application process was outsourced to.
The online photos system was down so the photos needed to be biked to the office.
They couriered the documents to the embassy.
The VISA was approved....
So 2 weeks is PLENTY of time to make all the plans for a 3 week sojourn in an unknown country.
*excited*
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Latest reply: Dec 5, 2013
November the er..ah..
Posted Nov 21, 2013
I've been too sick to keep my journal up. I'm having to add this to a list of things I've failed to do..
Luckily it's treatable with antibiotics sick rather than lose a limb sick but still not much fun..
I'm particularly gutted because one of the things I've had to put on hold is my ninja training. I was working with a circus school on a silks and ropes course that would allow me to seamlessly and beautifully fly through the air. It was amazing and made every part of me ache whilst making me feel powerful and elegant.
I was hoping it'd help me regain my James Bond figure...
I'm also struggling with a second postgraduate degree.. Thought I'd expand my areas of expertise but alas I've spent the week in bed (for the second time).
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Latest reply: Nov 21, 2013
November 15th Spies in the News
Posted Nov 15, 2013
Spies have been in the news a bit recently. The heads of GCHQ, M15 and M16 appeared before the intelligence committee in the House of Commons in a ‘spies still exist shocker’.
This story was reflected on the News Quiz in a classic piece of double bluff. Katy Brand mentioned a number of her friends had told her that they were spies and Jeremy Hardy responded that they weren’t spies they were accountants. They just said they were spies to make themselves sound more interesting.
The more preposterous the idea of a spy accountant is the better for me.
Although…as I’ve learnt more about accountancy I have found that it is much more interesting than people think.
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Latest reply: Nov 15, 2013
November 14th inscrutable
Posted Nov 14, 2013
When I was younger I had a terrible temper...
Let me rephrase that..
I have a terrible temper. When I was younger I would scream and shout and break things. My brother would tease me until I flew across the room in a rage intending to smash is head against the wall. Then he'd catch me in his arms and tell me he loved me. He claims he's still looking for a woman he can make laugh and cry at the same time.
As my life has developed I've had to learn to hide my emotions. A spy must be calm under pressure. Yesterday when I failed to open critical documents it was important that nobody could see that I wanted to lie on the floor crying..help me!! I was leading a government accountancy training course for 7 hours.
I wasn't sure how well I'd done until today. The delegates had been expecting their usual trainer and I'd stood in at the last minute. The feedback from the course mentioned that I was calm and steady. I can completely mask me emotions.
The problem is that I haven't actually learnt how to be reasonable. I'm still as furious and rage filled as ever.
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Latest reply: Nov 14, 2013
Storm
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