How to drive Alan nuts
OK. To get to school Gwilym is going to take the tram, and he'll need a season ticket at 14€ a month, plus a youth card.
Youth cards expire on 31 August - cunningly timed to coincide with the new school year which always begins around the 1st of September !
To renew his youth card he has to have a certificate of scolarity, which you get from your school (he needs this even though school is compulsory for 11 to 16 year-olds).
The tram company says "Don't leave it till last minute ! Get your youth card early and avoid the queues."
However the school was closed till last week, doesn't answer the telephone and doesn't reply to emails.
So tomorrow I hope to scuttle along to the school and BEG for his certificate of scolarity (even though he doesn't start school till Friday), then either I hope to go along to the tram infobus in Pessac at Pape Clément (I saw in the paper that it's there but the tram website doesn't confirm that) or I'll have to go to the town centre and queue for DAYS for the tramcard.
The alternative is to send off for it through the post, but that takes a week so till then he'd have to pay full adult fare.
Maybe you could pray that I manage to get this sorted out tomorrow morning in time to then be available for Gwilym and Catrin at lunchtime because Pat is due to help out at the town centre at 12:30.
EEEEEEKKKKKKKKK !
Youth cards expire on 31 August - cunningly timed to coincide with the new school year which always begins around the 1st of September !
To renew his youth card he has to have a certificate of scolarity, which you get from your school (he needs this even though school is compulsory for 11 to 16 year-olds).
The tram company says "Don't leave it till last minute ! Get your youth card early and avoid the queues."
However the school was closed till last week, doesn't answer the telephone and doesn't reply to emails.
So tomorrow I hope to scuttle along to the school and BEG for his certificate of scolarity (even though he doesn't start school till Friday), then either I hope to go along to the tram infobus in Pessac at Pape Clément (I saw in the paper that it's there but the tram website doesn't confirm that) or I'll have to go to the town centre and queue for DAYS for the tramcard.
The alternative is to send off for it through the post, but that takes a week so till then he'd have to pay full adult fare.
Maybe you could pray that I manage to get this sorted out tomorrow morning in time to then be available for Gwilym and Catrin at lunchtime because Pat is due to help out at the town centre at 12:30.
EEEEEEKKKKKKKKK !
Comments
Our mairie used to issue bus passes on the understanding that you would take in the necessary certificat de scolarité as and when the school gave it to you - usually at least a week after term started. I suppose that was one of the benefits of small village life - much easier to ignore the rules and do things sensibly! I think the bus companies also used to operate a policy of not asking to see any passes until the second week of term anyway to give everyone time to get themselves sorted out.
Hope it all works out for you all
Hoxever, this is the big city !
I also have yet to lose my anglo'saxon aversion to catch-22 style systems.