Getting Cross


Dealing with UK government departments is not my idea of fun. Back in 2024, I started trying to sort out my state pension. As I was teaching in the Middle East and one or two other places, there are some gaps in my National Insurance contributions. Not surprisingly, I have not been receiving the full state pension and so I tried to contact HMRC, with a view to paying the missing contributions. I tried again in 2025. Finally, finally, the other day I received an email from the DWP, the Department of Work and Pensions, and this gave me the information that I needed, in order to make a transfer from my bank account in the UK. The only problem was that I was supposed to include a reference number and it did not work. It really was very, very frustrating. 

Last night I was at last able to make the transfer, as I used a slightly different way of paying online that did not require the mysterious reference number. Hooray! 

On Tuesday we had the annual (and rather weird) cross-throwing ceremony. A Bulgarian Orthodox bishop stands on Vladishki Most, the Bishop's Bridge (where else?) and throws a wooden cross into the Yantra River. A crowd of young men, no doubt fuelled with male bravado, vodka and testosterone against the cold, were already down in the water and one of them managed to catch the cross. It is supposed to bring blessing and good luck for the year ahead.  

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