Locked out

Another inadequate night's sleep. Another overcast day. Kath was up early, not just getting ready to return to Kenilworth, but contacting the HMRC and waiting half an hour to reach the help line to try and sort out my tax account lock-out. She's a skilful negotiator and advocate, and was able to engage with the official in question after being given the run around by the direct messaging 'bot'. We were unable to reinstate the account however, as we were asked for account history details which are locked into my tax account. 

One stumbling block was the date and amount of a tax rebate for which I received a cheque. I had no means of determining the details from HMRC emails received. I found the email of my first on-line tax submission receipt, but no confirmation of exactly when I registered to pay tax on-line. Nothing in my tax file papers. So no account reinstatement. I felt helpless, out of control of my life, and had a prolonged panic attack. I found the relevant cheque stub for the tax refund a couple of hours later among my pension documents. It left me feeling terrible. I needed an hour's walk before lunch to calm myself and went out again at sunset in another effort to clear my befuddled head.

Owain helped me with a draft letter of complaint to HMRC technical support giving them the information needed to sort out the issue, hopefully. I'll post a printed copy of this to their team tomorrow. It will take a while to resolve, and in the meanwhile I will download a copy of the tax declaration form which I fill in,  print and send. There's another month before the submission due date in case the issue isn't fixed.

I had a phone call just before five from Sil the Clinical Pharmacist, to clarify the procedure for monitoring the statin dosage change with a couple of blood tests. Sil is Greek named after St Silouan a Russian hermit saint who lived on Mount Athos in the early 20th century. I told him that I knew Silouan's famous saying was 'Keep thy soul in hell and despair not.' I think he may have been a bit bemused by that in the middle of a medical scientific conversation. I couldn't resist it.

Clare went out to the Canna Capella choir practice after an early supper. While I had the house to myself, I finished recording and editing audio for next week's Morning Prayer video, and uploaded it to YouTube. Iran has announced that the country's new Supreme Leader will be the son of the assassinated Khameni. The Israelis will target him as they did his father. He is also a hard liner admired by the Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

America's destruction of Iran's military capacity continues unabated. So does retaliation on the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, both of which have settled for defensive action rather than escalating conflict. Iran's allies are striking strategically at desalination plants and oil production facilities Attacks on Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan are an effort to widen the conflict and increase regional chaos. This will affect tourism and expat communities, creating uncertainty. ir will destabilise the Gulf States economically, even if American military action succeeds in keeping the Straights of Hormuz safe from random attacks on shipping. Russia is now supplying military intelligence to Iran. Ukraine's experience and expertise in drone warfare is being recruited to defend Gulf States from attacks. Trump's heavy handedness in waging war with no clear strategy for what it can achieve or how it will end, despite his rambling rhetoric, makes everything more chaotic and risks igniting World War Three. Heaven help us. 

What a frightful day it's been. Can't stay awake much longer.