DE MRP

Fren come de odda day ..... an' start tuh tell meh about all kyna ting dat he have tuh get done ..... wit de main tings being ..... tuh open ah bank account (fuh he company) ..... and tuh get ah Machine Readable Passport ..... so ..... immediately .... I pull out paper .... and start tuh plot ah plan ..... wit de MRP scene starrin first ..... cuz really an' truly ..... all ah MRP really involve initially ..... is tuh make ah phone call ..... tuh get de appointment ..... which on de surface seemed pretty simple ..... but which actually started de ball of crap rollin ..... cuz me an' meh efficient self .... pull out some number dat I had from years gone by ..... and I promptly give fren tuh make he appointment call ..... only fuh he tuh end up gettin ah mehgeee ..... cuz yeah ..... apparently ..... de number I have ..... no longer valid ..... so ah tell him call directory assistance (6411) ..... and get de number fuh Immigration ..... cuz dey should have de new appointment number ..... and .... guess what ...... as soon as he say Immigration .... de Operator was like "is ah passport appointment yuh want tuh make?"

Long story short .... de new number is 627-7277 .... and appointments fuh Port of Spain reach October 2011 (and not 2 years away like how it was) .... but dat date was too far fuh fren ..... so fren .... who livin in Diego ..... take he appointment in Point Fortin instead .... fuh some time in July .... at some ungodly time .... like 7:00 .... in de mornin!



DE ID

Right .... so wit de MRP appointment duly made .... de next order of business was tuh organise all relevant documents etc. fuh ah smooth MRP process .... which include havin a valid ID card ....
 
Well .... guess what again .... fren ID expire!!
 
So .... with only about a month tuh play with ..... de very next day fren went down tuh de EBC office in Diego .... and organise tuh have de ID renewed .... again .... on de surface .... everything was seemin simple .... dey take he picture etc. .... an' tell him come back in about 2-3 weeks ....

Right .... so de 3 weeks pass now .... and fren gone back tuh de same Diego office .... only tuh find out dat dem pack up shop .... yep .... apparently dey doh operate there no more ..... and dey doh know when dey openin back .... so fren was then directed to their Scott House office on Frederick Street.

Gone down tuh de Scott House office now ..... get de new card ..... and fren discovers that his names appearin wrong ..... as in ..... his middle name was first .... and his first name was in de middle .... so of course yuh know what that meant!!!

Yep .... drama!! .... my boy was then instructed to return with his Computerised Birth Certificate AND de ole hand-written one .... at which time .... proceedings would then start a fresh .... tuh have a correct ID produced.

JAH!

So de next day now .... fren returns with his Computerised Birth Certificate only .... cuz he couldn't find de ole hand-written one .... and they then tell him .... that he'd have to get ah Affidavit tuh say dat he name is so-an-so and NOT so-an-so .... and den come back tuh dem wit de Affidavit sayin so!!

Long story short ..... ah ID renewal cost $10 or $20 ..... but ah Affidavit cost $120 ..... AND ..... the new corrected ID will now take at least one month tuh get .... which is exactly the time of the MRP appointment .... which is exactly what the ID is needed for in de first place .... JAH!!! ..... hopefully he gets it in time!!!



DE LEGAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY

Right .... so wit those two items down .... was just one more tuh go .... or so I thought .... cuz lawd .... who knew dat opening a bank account fuh ah company .... woulda be so much pressure!!!

Now since I once worked in a Bank .... and still kyna know a few peeps .... ah call up one ah meh links tuh find out de procedure tuh open ah company account ....

I was told that I'd need the company registration form or whatever de crap it is dey does give yuh at Legal Affairs .... so wit dah one now .... I advised fren who was confident that he had all the necessary documents .... however .... upon presenting what he had .... tuh de Bank .... they advised that what he had ..... is in fact just a 'receipt' and that he'd need to get the actual company registration form or whatever!

JAH!!

So .... I then called the number on the Legal Affairs receipt ..... a girl answered .... I gave her the story about wanting to open de account and what de Bank say etc. .... then I gave her the information on the receipt (like several times) .... then .... I was made to HOLD ON .... while Miss Thang went looking for the Company Registration Form ....

Then .... about an hour later (LOL that's how long it seemed) .... Miss Thang comes back to the phone and announces that she cyah find de Form .... and dat maybe is because de registration was done so long ago (2008) .... and dat I take too long tuh come back fuh it .... and dat maybe it archive somewhere or de odda .... and that I'd have to come in to them with the receipt ....

So yuh know me .... meh monkey glands start tuh raise .... an' I start tuh act dotish ....

Cuz here's what I wanted tuh know ..... which I DID ask!!! .... I wanted know if she coulda guarantee dat she woulda find de Form .... if I was there in person as opposed tuh being on de phone .... cuz Grrrrrrrrrrr??!!! .... in my dotish opinion .... dat requirement of me going in tuh them .... tuh waste time .... tuh watch dem look fuh de ting .... JUST MADE NO SENSE! ..... then ..... ah ask her if she cyah jus do ah copy .... to which she replied that I'd have to pay $20 .... AND .... they would still need to find the original!!!

Anyway .... long story short .... she insisted that she could do nothing more for me over the phone .... and that I would need to visit their office ..... with the receipt!!

So de next day now .... fren gorn down Legal Affairs (as instructed) .... only tuh be told .... PASS BACK LATER - WE STILL CYAH FIND IT!!! 

Well wit dah one .... it was a wrap! .... frustration kicked in .... and fren decided that he would prefer tuh waste time .... and gas .... and money .... yet another day .... instead of 'later' .... 

Well .... said day .... was yesteday ....

.... and check what dey tell him yesterday ....

PASS BACK TUESDAY (as in June 28) WE STILL CYAH FIND IT!!!

Yep .... no joke .... da'is what dey tell him ....

Now fren is ah real mellow soul eh .... so he jus calmly say he go pass back Tuesday .... while me now .... I start tuh ketch ah fit and almost buss ah blood vessel!!!!

Cuz what if dey never @#$%&* find de Form .... what de @#$%&* next????!!!!!!

And if there IS in fact some next step that can be taken .... then what de @#$%&* are they waiting on .... is it that they have a mandatory time period tuh look fuh shit before moving on and moving forward????

WTH?????

I can't wait fuh Tuesday!!! .... really .... I can't wait tuh hear what they come with next!!!

Anyway .... in keepin wit de Corpus Christi tradition of plantin ting .... look ting (that I found in ah friend's yard)







This is called African Voilet ... advised by Wizzy




This is Giant Star Potato Tree (Solanum Macranthum) ... advised by Danna




And this is Coral Vine ... advised by Wizzy