Explanation

I seem to have scared you all away with my meltdown… I thought I’d best explain myself.

Ages ago I lost my bank book – I’ve put it somewhere ‘safe’ and I keep expecting to chance upon it but I haven’t. (I put my Granny’s ring somewhere safe once, when we were moving and I didn’t see it again for seven years. And yes, I have checked the button box for my bank book. It’s not there.)

I’ve managed fine with my cashpoint/debit card. Until my cashpoint card’s electronic strip started playing up … I could get cash from certain machines so of course I ignored it. But it got worse and worse, so eventually I went into my bank branch at Emporium and said ‘the electronic strip is failing’ and after consulting many colleagues, someone told me if I came back with my passport and my bank book, pay them 300 baht, they would supply a new one.

Ahh, fine, except bank book hadn’t turned up and is still residing in its safe place. I did all the filing, searched high and low (in the button box) and couldn’t find it. I returned to the bank to tell them I couldn’t find my bank book and they told me it needed to be reported missing to the police. They need the police report in order to issue a new bank book.

In the meantime Husband said he couldn’t find his bank book either so he got his secretary to put into motion the process for lost bank books for both us. Then he, the klutz, on looking for a third time, found his book in a drawer at work. (Oh if only my safe place were as obvious as that. Just in case, I did check the button box again.)

Doing anything official or paperworky is very hard here. I could probably work out how to do it all, but if you have the offer of help, you’d be mad to reject it. For weeks, it seemed, Husband’s secretary very kindly too-ed and fro-ed to the bank/police etc collecting stuff, which she issued to Husband who strode back and forth with bits of paper for me to sign or fill in etc. a copy of my passport, which I countersigned, that came back with some Thai writing on it which I had to sign again, and then she needed a power of attorney letter. Bear in mind that all this is in a foreign language which I cannot understand but am nonetheless being asked to put my signature against. While all this was happening I had to keep asking him for money despite the fact that I actually had money, I couldn’t get to.

Eventually all the correct bits of paper had been accumulated in triplicate, countersigned photocopies, affidavits, power of attorney letters etc and all I had to do was go to the bank and present them, pay for the lost book and replacement card and bingo. I went on Thursday and the police had got the branch name of my bank incorrect so the bank wouldn’t accept the paper work.

Well, I lost the plot. Not there and then in the bank, thankfully, but outside. I really don’t know what happened. I behaved quite out of character. There were one or two things on my mind (why can’t I get on and write? Are we really staying here? If it’s only one year what will happen to Son’s two years of GCSEs? Will Husband be made redundant? Will Daughter want to go to boarding school in England?) so maybe it was partly those things too, but I sat outside Emporium Suites, sobbing and swearing, alternately, down the phone. WTF?

Anyway I felt terrible; I behaved horribly and I’m utterly ashamed of myself.

I thought you should know what kind of a person’s blog you visit.