Yesterday afternoon became a vexation of the spirit. Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

The simple task of going into Belfast city center and obtaining a dog licence proved to be not so simple. On route to the Cecil Ward building I happened to pass the glamorous Tara Mills, she will testify I am not making this up.

Entering the Cecil Ward building with the form filled in and £5 I was greeted by the security guy who told me the office was no longer there.  When I asked the advice desk the said it was in Lanyon Place and pointed out the tiny lettered location printed at the top of the licence form. The tiny letters that no one like me reads or pays any attention to.

For some reason I imagined Lanyon Place was up at the car tax office facing the Radisson hotel, so I said, “Is that facing the hotel?” and the girl at the advice desk said “Yes.”

When I got up to the former gasworks site the dog licencing office was nowhere to be found. What was worse was the fact that no one in the area had a clue where Lanyon Place was.

Now I have to retrace my steps all the way back toward the Cecil Ward building asking various passers by “Do you know where Lanyon Place is?”  Eventually I met three women who informed me it was down by the Waterfront near the Hilton hotel.  It was where the Centrica call center was situated I was informed.

9 LANYON PLACE

By this stage I am very vexed as I have wasted almost one hour of my life.  However, on entering the building and travelling to the dog licence office on the 5th floor I discover I had found The Tower Of Babel. Every nationality and language seemed to be getting in and out of the lifts, they are all working in the call center. Funny thing was, every nationality could speak better English than I can?

As the mission was almost complete and I was going to exit the licencing office,  I  said to the girl at the serving window, “It would be much easier if I could renew the licence online” she replied, “You can, we have just started doing that, it says it on the form!”

By this stage I am so hyped up Diazapam and Risperidone will not calm me down, so I had to opt for the nuclear option, retail therapy!  Shows you much those psychiatrists know they have not the sense to prescribe retail therapy on perscription.

Fortunately the first decent shop I pass on the way home was the Rangers shop at the bottom of Anne street. Got a Rangers retro CR SMITH shirt. I don`t buy shirts that advertise alcohol. It seems rather incongruous for any sporting enterprise to endorse alcohol in any way, it just does not make sense to me.

Bought a nice Rangers carrier bag as well put the shirt in the bag and set off again.  It is  great the amount of people you can annoy by carrying a Rangers bag through Belfast city center! It really lifted my spirits and the vexation started to disappear! lol lol lol

Got a few more dog walking winter essentials, like a half price waterproof jacket, then bought the latest Britain At War magazine then headed for home.

Must start a campaign to get “Retail Therapy” available via the national health service.

The moral of the story is; read the small print or you will end up in the Tower Of Babel wasting important hours of your life.

As the Belfast City Council has messed me about I must look into a story I heard about Belfast City Council, a park, a council poll and the name of the park favoured by the poll. Must get all the details correct before I publish the story.

Gen 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.