We drove down to Mojacar this morning, and whilst we were there, we went into the pre-designated bank to pay the car tax, as mentioned yesterday. There were two people actually trying to serve the customers, whilst three or four more staff sat at desks looking into computer screens. The phones were ringing constantly and the two people serving the customers stopped dealing with the person in front of them and dealt with the phone calls. Each customer’s service was interrupted by two or three phone calls. The other staff continued to look at their computer monitors totally ignoring the phones and the lengthening lines of customers. When we arrived there was about ten to fifteen people in front of us, all looking very fed up. One bloke at the front said that he had waited forty minutes to get to the front of the queue. Needless to say we left, with much muttering from me, after about ten minutes of this saying that we would try to do the same thing in Albox or perhaps even at the same bank in Taberno (that’s if they were possibly open and also had heard of car tax system, now we’re getting cynical!).
We drove back home, collecting a ‘pan’ (fresh bread stick) on the way to eat with cheese, for lunch. We stopped in Taberno and while Elayne went into Lighthouse Properties to see if there was any mail, I walked across the plaza to the bank. I was the only customer and was served straight away, no queue, and walked out two minutes later, mission accomplished for another year. I promise that I will not underestimate the small bank branches again.
The builders have put gravel down across the floor of the whole house today, we presume (we do a lot of that lately) as a prelude to the start of laying the floor tiles. They then went outside and started to fill in the surrounding walk way and patio area with rubble prior to those tiles also. It is quite a big stage, in the house development, to have arrived at after the apparent, to us, slow progress of the last few weeks. Their genny is back on site so must have been repaired OK.
In Mojacar it was sunny and warm this morning and at one point we sat by the sea having a coffee feeling very overdressed but glad to be sat in the warm sun. It was about four or five degrees warmer down there than up here. It is still very April’ish up here with lovely sunny spells interrupted by heavy rain and black clouds. We have heard distant thunder a few times today. It’s a lovely evening as I write this, but it can, and probably will, change once more.
The bright pink (Cathy style) flowers, in the pictures, are called ‘Hottentot Fig‘. They come in all different shades and colours and are really good ground and bank cover plants. We will have some soon.