British Expats, Need Rescueing

[OldAgePensioner]

Actually, I need to rescue my British Licence and some of this board's British Expats may be able to help with this sticky wicket.

My Licence needs a new photo update next year and I would also like to change the address to a US address.

Has anyone (Brit) changed their licence to a US address via the Swansea, Cardiff DVLA office?

[Maximillion]

I did not do license but I did get my British Passport over the Net, in spite of an abscence of 50 years, absolutly no problems, just made sure documentation was a correct.

It was faster than if I went down to my local Canadian Passport Office and applied in person.

[Peter]

OAP, I can't answer your question directly, but you could try calling DVLA in Swansea. I did that recently when I wanted to 'upgrade' my old paper licence to the photo version -- they were very helpful, once I got 'tuned in' to the Welsh accent, which I hadn't heard for a few decades!

Their number is 011 44 870 240 0009.

[OldAgePensioner]

Maximillion,
My experiences with the system via the Internet have been the same, they've done a good job of getting things right.

Peter,
Funny you should mention the Welsh accent because that was one of my big worries about calling. I have the new photo ID, got it in 1997 and the locals were impressed.

Thanks for the number. Wish me luck. They will be impressed if I can get all this pronounced properly in one of the 400 local dialects.

Taflen Gynghori
i gyd-fynd A Chais
am Drwydded Yrru
Cerdyn-llun-Lluna'ch Manylion
Adnabod yn unig

[Maximillion]

My Grand Mother spoke Gaelic, my Dad knows some words but not using it for years, he has forgotton most of it.

Pity really, I undestand why groups fight to maintain their language.

The French that moved to the US outnumbered those who stayed in Canada, but French is still very alive here, non existant in Louisiana.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

My grandfather spoke garlic, but only when he wasnt tying an onion to his belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. 'Give me five bees for a quarter,' you’d say Now where were we? Oh yeah -- the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.

[Maximillion]

CFB, you have been goo gooing too long with your kid, it's about time you tried some adult conversation.

You are wearing thin.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You see, back in those days, rich men would ride around in zeppelins, dropping coins on people, and one day I seen J. D. Rockefeller flying by. So I run out of the house with a big washtub and...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. I used my washtub that morning to clean my turkey, which back then was called a 'walking bird'. We had walking bird on Thanksgiving with cranberry sauce, Injun eyes, and yams stuffed with gunpowder. We also sat around and watched football, which back then was called baseball.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Me, I tink CnFB has been makin' dem Alice B Toklas brownies agin!

[cute fuzzy bunny]

We cant bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell em stories that don�t go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days.

But you're really asking two questions there. The first one takes me back to 1934. Admiral Burn had just reached the pole, only hours ahead of the Three Stooges... and I guess he won the argument, but I walked away with the turnips. The following morning I resigned my commission with the coastguard. The next thing I knew there was civil war in Spain...and, that's everything which happened in my life right up to the time I got this phone call...