This is an interesting time of year. The lack of vegetation provides a greater ability to see the lay of the countryside. Looking out of the galley window this morning I was surprised to see four pheasants scratching around for food on the opposite bank of the canal.
Later in the day I walked across the fields and through the wood to Tadley. Ahead of me I could hear pheasants scurrying through the undergrowth. They’re probably not fat enough to go onto the plate. Which is in complete contrast to the two ducks Jan has been feeding with MY home made cherrycake through the galley window. Jan tells me “They love me!” And I reply…. “You’re just a soft touch!”
The mild temperatures appears to have confused the local trees.
My seniors bus pass has arrived in the post. It’s only valid for one year which rather surprised me! The administrative costs associated with renewing every bus pass in Berkshire on an annual basis must be horrendous! The pass has a coloured ID photo so it’s not as if anyone else can use it. And the card also has an embossed expiry date which means it can’t be re-validated. It must be replaced! Still; I imagine clever people than me designed the scheme…….. Or am I being too optimistic?
I’m going to give it a trial run tomorrow.
3 comments :
That's ridiculous, unless it's because you're a himmigrant? My bus pass doesn't expire until 2015, and I thought that that was the standard across the UK.
Oh well, could be wrong, I suppose.
Cheers
Bruce
Well it could be ethnic discrimination except the West Berkshire concessionary National Bus Pass application form contains a declaration which states
"I hereby declare that I have not previously made an application for a travel concession for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012"
So the bus pass is only valid for 12 months
Five years is the maximum validity allowed under the legislation that set up the scheme but councils can set lower validity periods if they wish. It's hard to see what the advanatge in doing that is though.
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