and today i have mostly been...

[Welly]

Did you say you went out there with a friend but he's since melted into the background? I'm not being nosy just interested as it was clearly a huge step to move away from the uk it must have been very hit and miss in the early days.

[steve_earwig]

Kind of, he's a Croat who lived for 29 years in England. I used to work with him until he was a victim of the divorce industry, then he went back to Croatia and I followed him out. Understandably he was a bit peeved I found a wife here... He's back in GB now as the Croats wouldn't even give him the time of day as he's never paid any tax here

[dirtydirtydiesel]

, never noticed it in your sig bud , DON'T SELL IT you'll regret it. ( God I miss my RG 500 )

[steve_earwig]

Would that be a Gamma? Mate of mine used to dispatch on one, he was nuts though...

At the moment I'm waiting for a statement from Yamaha to say that they actually built it (ffs 35 quid too, kerching!), then it needs to be "homogenized", which is a glorified MOT to check I didn't change it much (hmm, those calipers...) and only then will they tell me how much it'll cost to import it.

Well, the statement turned up Friday. It basically says everything that's in the logbook Next we had to book the homosexualisation, as I couldn't just turn up with the bike. Once more Goran sorted this out, fortunately they can do them at the HAK (Croatia's version of the RAC where you get MOTs done) in town here, yesterday morning at 9, ask for Nino Španić (hey, an easy name to remember for once . Nee-no). I was a bit nervous as it piššed down all Wednesday and the tyres on it are at least 10 years old, so no use on wet roads, but Thursday morning was clear and bright, just with puddles everywhere ( I had to keep riding through a big one as I went in & out of HAK ).

I went to get the bike, squeezed into my gear (which seems to have shrunk for some reason ) and rode off to town. For the first 100 yards it wanted to be a 425cc single but soon evened out and it was nice getting back in the groove Got to Hak, found Nanu nanu, handed over all my paperwork and.. waited.


After almost an hour one of Nee-nah's colleagues came out, presented me a bill for 417Kn (44 quid) and told me to go pay it in a bank and also buy 70Kn (7.40) worth of biljegs (I'm sure I've mentioned these stupid things before, it's a stamp you have to attach to official documents to prove you paid ). Umm, ok, how do I... On the bike? Well, I have no insurance but I'm not sure I want to walk about town on a sunny day in boots so... Onto the bike, off to a kiosk to buy the stamps, next to the nearest bank.. which is closed I eventually had to pay it at the other end of town, I'd have been a sweaty mess if I'd not taken the bike. back to HAK, hand over stamps and receipt and... more waiting

Eventually Noo-noo came out, took loads of pictures of the bike and started making notes into a sheaf of forms he was carrying. Frame number, tyre sizes, number of, er, wheels? Dunno. The he disappeared back into his office. Tick, tock, no rush Eventually he came out and handed me a certificate of homogenisation - hoorah! Umm, it pretty much say what it said on the statement from Yamaha, which, if you remember, says pretty much everything it says on the log book. Well, it's forrin I guess. At least nobody wiped their arse on it yet.

Next week it's the tax office! More money for nothing! This is where they'll finally tell me how much it will cost me to import it. It might be more than the bike's worth (in which case it's all been a waste of time & money) or it might be nothing (oh look, a flying pig). Trouble is, they wouldn't even hazard a guess until we got to this point.

Oh, and I have to take the bike there. Into Zagreb. No insurance. Great

[Ares]

Steve,welcome to Croatistan,where no logical things happens at a freq.rate.

[Welly]

Bejesus what a faff, little stickers to prove you've paid? WTF?

[steve_earwig]

Steve,welcome to Croatistan,where no logical things happens at a freq.rate.

Oh yes, Croatia's ability to make things as complicated and bizarre as possible never ceases to amaze me I can't help thinking that a bomb at carina offices (amongst many) would make things so much easier for everyone, all they seem to do is make things as complicated as possible whilst working as slowly as possible and charge whatever the hell they like for the privilege. Last time we were at carina in Novi Zagreb we waited almost an hour for some woman who was supposed to be at work in her office but wasn't. Eventually someone took the time to tell us that actually we were in the wrong place anyway and we actually wanted the place in Jankomir (appropriately down the road from the mental hospital...)

[Ares]

You should see the paperwork when importing american classic cars in this pathetic excuse of a country.
First of all,all of them working there dont know a clue what to do and they send you from one desk to another.
Everything is so screwed up its incredible,i advise any of western world to come here on vacation or to buy a house,anything more than that,for egz starting a buisness here is straight wasting money and energy.

[steve_earwig]

... not much really, just watching the roofers who turned up at 7 to start changing the roof here. Now 1/4 of the roof is missing and I'm also watching the thunderstorm on the satellite images getting closer and closer...

In other news, t'wife is going on holiday this afternoon, some place called England? I'm not going because I've already been there and it's rubbish. Anyway, we couldn't find anyone who wanted to stay here and look after the menagerie. So it looks like I'll be dealing with the roofers on my tod.

[Welly]

Hope she's taking plenty of moneh to spend here where abouts is she heading? good luck with the woofers.....if you see a body-shaped thing fly past the window then that's the time to go to the shops

[steve_earwig]

They should be ok, it's a bungalow. Unless they go off head-first of course.

She's going to my bro's (near enough Hertford), he's spent the last 6 months making her an itinerarerrry (I kid you not) which he's been steadily cramming with fun-packed days out to various castles, museums, parks and whahaveyou, plus which restaurants they'll be going to, their websites and menus and which relatives will be, umm, visited. It's down to the minute, I tell you. I'm kind of glad I'm staying here really. She's been provided with a modest wad, with the instruction to divide it up and conceal it about her person and kit. She'll be taking her credit card (we decided it might be a bit tricky if she took mine because our surnames are different) so it's down to her how many pairs of shoes she buys, plus she's limitted to 23KG on the luggage so she can't go too nuts.

Oh, and it's piššing down now, we had fair warning and the woofers have covered up & buggered off for an early lunch to see if it'll clear up or turn nasty.

[steve_earwig]

Aww, they gave up and went home Rain looks set in for the rest of the day so I can't say I blame them.

[Welly]

Seems a shame for you not to go but I suppose you've got the Golden Retards and Catz to look after etc etc.

To be fair a Holiday in the UK visiting various places would see me running for the hills, my idea of a Holiday is a sitting around doing f*ck all and moreover somewhere hot and sunny.

Edit: they won't charge for down-time will they?

[steve_earwig]

I don't think they can, we got a quote up front and it's for the job, not how long it takes.

I said to t'wife for me a holiday in GB would be like a fortnight in Zagreb for her. Anyway, I'm already on holiday, 10 years and counting

Btw I just had to go get some credit for the old mobile, it now costs 110Kn for 100Kn's worth of credit. Last time I filled up it was 100Kn for 100Kn's like any sentient being would expect, I'm sure that's fraud of some sort Some way of keeping their prices down while at the same time putting them up as well? All the providers are doing it too, so as usual we have no choice. I'm sure if they did that in the UK there'd be riots.

[Doggy]

Btw I just had to go get some credit for the old mobile, it now costs 110Kn for 100Kn's worth of credit. Last time I filled up it was 100Kn for 100Kn's like any sentient being would expect, I'm sure that's fraud of some sort Some way of keeping their prices down while at the same time putting them up as well? All the providers are doing it too, so as usual we have no choice. I'm sure if they did that in the UK there'd be riots.

You need to keep schtum about the phone deal - they're more likely to have riots here if they can't get full equality of being ripped off.

Best of luck with the roof.

Has your good lady left you plenty of challenging and engaging tasks to keep you amused, by any chance?