Leaving the Kingdom

[pieces o nine]

Please drop us a virtual postcard...     

[Sibling DavidH]

Once get going and you'll have a great time.  I warn you, though, that you may get addicted to travel. 

[Lindorm]

I once had an interesting discussion with a friend residing in the UK, where he explained that no, you could not just open a bank account with any bank, you had to apply for it. With letters from the vicar and five gas bills and a sworn affidavit from your old schoolteacher and sundry other documentation added in, too. I was actually more or less stunned for 1d4 turns there. Naught as queer as folk, eh?

Once you have been to Amsterdam, why not make a detour to Münster, shanghai the lazy cat and make your way up to Sweden? 

Have a nice trip -I am looking forward to a report when you come back!

[Darlica]

Seconded!

[Bluenose]

Hey, while you're at it, why not pop into Melbourne? I know a great place for coffee!

[Ageis]

Thanks for the good will all.

Ah Lindrom who do you think is trying to get me on a plane?
Sunjumper and I have a friend in common who happens to be passing through scotland on her way to amsterdam. she told me I was coming along. She may have threatened to show up on my door step and shanghi me in fact.

I'm given to understand sunjumper is getting similar treatment on his end.

[Darlica]

 

OK, so what do we need to do to get her to bring you two gentlemen to Stockholm... 

_{Darn it Alexander Skarsgård lives in Hollywood these days so I can't dangle the opportunity to run in to him on the metro as a potential carrot any longer...} 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'd tell you to come to sunny Florida but you have to hurry before our beaches are full of crude... 
--
Enjoy Amsterdam and behave

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Enjoy Amsterdam and behave

Oh, the world has quite enough hāve's.  ^{_{(rhymes with cave)}}

Bealoof or bealert instead.

[Aggie]

I'd tell you to come to sunny Florida but you have to hurry before our beaches are full of crude... 

I'll be down, sounds like work.  

Actually, I prefer handling salt-water issues, but that would be one heck of a cleanup.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

My wife saw that they were looking for volunteers on the clean up and was asking me how long it takes to get there. I had to remind her that volunteers will be needed here soon enough. 

[Aggie]

I can attest that the process is remarkably similar over in this part of the Commonwealth.  Which reminds me - I need to update mine as well.   Had been planning to head to the East (by flying west) but now am more likely to go South across the border for holidays.  Not sure though - that place is kind of scary.   

Come visit here! We have Yosemite and such.

That's what ah'm worried about!  More likely to be Yellowstone-ish than Yosemite-ish.

[beagle]

I got my passport redone last year. It wasn't too bad other than the special sizing rules for the photo. Had it been an adult first one it might have involved an interview. Got a new one within two days.

I think a lot of the rules are to stop someone arriving from somewheremadlytheocraticistan one day and hopping off on a British passport with exploding CKs the next, (though the "pillar of the community" chain of verification was there 30 years ago when I got my first one).  Also to try and stop Mossad cloning them. Probably eating a pork chop in front of the official will be next on the requirements list.

It's always possible it will change under the Con/Lib Great Repeal Bill.  Depends if you think verification by good reference is more or less intrusive than a huge who's who ID database I suppose.

As for the banks, I rather hanker for the days when they were run by Captain Mainwarings rather than Walkers (obscure Brit reference), and a lot of the utility documentation stuff is now money laundering prevention. I thought that was EU rather than UK rules, but maybe not.

[Swatopluk]

Probably eating a pork chop in front of the official will be next on the requirements list.

Don't joke. In Austria the rightwingers* actually proposed that some time ago. Every citizen (hey, no discrimination then) would have to prove his true Austrianism by consuming a Wiener Schnitzel before witnesses once a year. That would be  real reason for emigration from me** since I hate breaded meat. Bread yes, meat yes but not in this combination.

*those that at the time were part of the ruling coalition, not some fringe group
**If I were Austrian, which, thankwhateverhigherbeing, I am not.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

If Marco Rubio* now supports the Oh-So-P(r)etty AZ "Papers, please" law, the vomitive schnitzel proposal sounds relatively** mild.

*He told his Cuban supporters in Miami that he didn't like it and a week later told his tea party buddies that he loved it.

**that doesn't mean I don't find it appalling anyway.