She which hath no name still stinketh like a rose, or somesuch
Having finally begun the long and messy process to change my name to Bill f’reals, I’ve got a big stack of paperwork that I have managed to avoid dealing with for the last couple of months. Name changes in Quebec require a bit more work than in other places; you can’t just want to change your name, you have to have a “serious reason” along the lines of “name of foreign origin or too difficult to pronounce” or “serious harm or psychological suffering” (quoting from the forms). The last, which is my category, requires a signed affadavit from a psychologist/psychiatrist attesting to my trauma. This shouldn’t be a problem, but thinking of what to say to them, going over old ground in my head when I should be falling asleep, has caused me enough nights of bad or no sleep that I’m determined to get that step out of the way soon so I can stop thinking about it.
So, sleepless, going over the forms to check all the forms and notifications and what-have-yous I have to line up for the application, I notice what has to be one of my favorite governmental typos ever:
“Submit [the form to the department], after signing it in the presence of a person authorized to administer an oat”
My government’s devotion to fibre is truly heartwarming.
Solonor said,
January 1, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
An oat? Just one??? Stingy buggers.
Suzette said,
January 5, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
Bill, as in billegible?
Bill said,
January 5, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
Bill, as in…. Bill. Yes I used to be billegible before I lost the domain.
Suzette said,
January 6, 2008 @ 5:18 am
I used to be Bob the Corgi before my dog died.
Bill said,
January 6, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
Good to see you again! That really brings me back…
Very sorry to hear about your dog.
Maggie said,
January 11, 2008 @ 11:49 am
How does one become authorized to administer an oat? Cuz I think that sounds like an AWESOME job.
Bill said,
January 12, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
That would depend on where the oat was to be administered.