To my amazement this morning, a letter arrived from the Swiss criminal records office in Berne certifying that I have no recorded convictions there - a necessary procedure for applying for permission to officiate in the diocese in Europe. I also needed to obtain a letter of recommendation from my Bishop, and this I received in the post I opened on returning home.
That's just six working days since I posted the query prepared on-line in Geneva. The website stated that I could expect to wait up to a fortnight. Admittedly it was a simple query for the authorities, with their computer database of all registered foreign residents, past and present, but in the mid-summer holiday season, it's a tribute to the efficiency of an organisation that handle thousands of similar queries annually. Just try obtaining a similar CRB clearance in this country - it can take months.
Without completing all the edits, I impulsively uploaded nearly 650 holiday photos for viewing today. Some explanatory captions are done, lots more need adding, and some of the pictures still need working on, but I just felt I wanted to have them up there to share, even if it's a work in progress. Take a peek at the photo albums here, if you're in the mood.
I met with Ashley this afternoon to start catching up on Cardiff Business Safe news during my absence. The temporary office in City Hall now contains boxes of our goods and chattels. The printer is set up and working, but we lack a landline and have to use mobile broadband, with the dongle parked in a fabric loop used to tie back the opulent curtains in room 136, to improve signal strength. We went down to have a look at our promised new office base in 37 Charles Street, in the company of the Civil Parking Enforcement officers, at the moment, confusingly called CEOs, rather than CPEOs, making the place sound as if it's a Directors' club.
We have a working phone line, and were able to use it to get the broadband signal working, although it wasn't all that stable, and won't be until the newly installed line has been running for a while. There's still a lot of work to be done, unpacking furniture and installing equipment. Re-wiring is still under way, and the work deadline is in three weeks from now. If we can get our telecoms connections stable, it may be possible to move in early and camp out, to make things easier. Meanwhile, City Hall is no bad place to be arriving for work.
I met with Ashley this afternoon to start catching up on Cardiff Business Safe news during my absence. The temporary office in City Hall now contains boxes of our goods and chattels. The printer is set up and working, but we lack a landline and have to use mobile broadband, with the dongle parked in a fabric loop used to tie back the opulent curtains in room 136, to improve signal strength. We went down to have a look at our promised new office base in 37 Charles Street, in the company of the Civil Parking Enforcement officers, at the moment, confusingly called CEOs, rather than CPEOs, making the place sound as if it's a Directors' club.
We have a working phone line, and were able to use it to get the broadband signal working, although it wasn't all that stable, and won't be until the newly installed line has been running for a while. There's still a lot of work to be done, unpacking furniture and installing equipment. Re-wiring is still under way, and the work deadline is in three weeks from now. If we can get our telecoms connections stable, it may be possible to move in early and camp out, to make things easier. Meanwhile, City Hall is no bad place to be arriving for work.
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