GeniB

OH is busy compiling things for upcoming visit to the USA. He pounced on my Portuguese drivers licence and declared that it had expired last year in Sept--- Whaaaat ?... It was only issued in July!..
Upon scrutiny indeed it has the date of issue on the front.. On the back however is has two lines filled in with the date 29.09.2016... No other date appears on the card.

Can anyone enlighten me? When does this card..issued last July .. expire?. We have a little over three weeks to get this sorted...

Jonny22

Hi Geni. Is your birthday 29 September or thereabouts? Was 2016 birthday a big one? Over 55 you don’t get 10 year’s renewal automatically. It’s been covered here previously and I can’t remember the exact details but the older you become the more frequently you need to renew. You may just have fallen into a widow where they gave you enough time up to the next mandatory renewal age. Best of luck, maybe someone knows how to get a license renewal in 3 weeks.

liveaboard

On the back of my PT license, there are multiple dates in the little boxes, which appear to be the first date I had permission to drive catagory a, b1, or b categories, and the expiration dates which are all the same; the day before my birthday, 9.5 years after the card was issued.

It looks like public transport for you! Good luck with that in the US...

GeniB

Thanks Jonny... We have since...sort of worked it out that thats what it means..Must say it would have been helpful if after ALL the hassle I had to get the damn thing in the first place (NL had changed my name to my maiden name on my NL licence without my permission .Portuguese Authority wouldn't issue a new licence under that name, as it didn't match my passport ) The issuing office had pointed this out to me...Issuing a licence for less than three months was an utter nonsense
I doubt if I will have to drive in USA..but it is a pain to know I am not legal 'here now either.
Let me guess... This will now involve a b****y medical from Nanny State' mentality busybodies...Over 55 for goodness sake.. Yet every Tom Dick and Harriet on drugs of all sorts has no problem...(sorry felt a RANT was needed there ) Heh ho

I have just filled in the truly obnoxious form from Barclays Bank (instigated by the USA) Half of it involves 'US citizens only ' ? Huh..? ..I had no idea I was a citizen of America...and subject to their rules and regs regarding my income.. Apparently thats what the UK has signed up to......

Next I will be getting the ' proof of life' forms to fill in from the various institutions....

I feel that the idea is to hound me to death as quickly as possible....

p.s Not one but TWO reminders arrived this week from Barclays Bank demanding to know why I hadn't' filled the form in yet? (maybe because it had taken a month to arrive via Prague) The terminology used was extremely threatening to say the least.

GeniB

I will be going everywhere by boat Live

liveaboard

I get around by boat when I'm in Amsterdam.
Open steel boat at night in a lightning storm out on the Ij, I was beginning to doubt myself... But it got me there.
Boat is 100 years old, but the motor is almost new; only 53 years old.

Red Eric

Licence renewals have undergone some recent changes - there are various permutations depending on the category of vehicle and when the licence was acquired but for car drivers, there's now no medical required until 60 years of age, with subsequent renewals at 65, 70 and every 2 years thereafter (all requiring a medical certificate).

Prior to the age 60 renewal, you now renew at 50 if your licence was obtained prior to 2nd Jan 2013, otherwise you're on a 15 year renewal cycle.

Unless it says otherwise on your licence, of course.

GeniB

Nice little earner for the medical profession...

I suffer from a phobia which means a visit to the doctor is agony for me,and will almost certainly result in me being sent for tests(which invariable come back negative .. Its happened five times thus far since this condition revealed itself after a car crash )

I would love to know how they came to the conclusion that a certain age = incompetence to drive ?
I suspect though.. like everything else connected to Pharma.. It is just another way to make money and control people.. There is no evidence for instance that says older people cause more accidents than say 20-25 yr olds (the usual reason put forward)

Will they deny me a licence if say my eyesight needs adjusting? or my BP is too high?

You might be able to tell that I have been filling in quite a few forms over the holidays and am a tad fed up with the 'nanny state' right now.

Red Eric

I think you might temporarily be denied medical clearance if you failed whatever rudimentary eyesight test the doctor performed but you'd probably be fine with the right glasses. Unless your sight was really defective, to the point where even glasses wouldn't yield sufficient improvement for you to manage to drive.

The blood pressure can usually be brought under control, if that were picked up during the medical and deemed to be a major enough problem to warrant temporary withholding of a medical certificate, so again no particular reason that I can see for it to prevent you from driving long term

GeniB

My eyesight is pretty good,still only require mild glasses fro reading menu's with tiny print etc (maybe all my yrs of playing sports that require looking into the distance) My BP can be an issue as it is connected to the phobia issue.( I can send it through the roof in seconds.)
I was diagnosed with white coat syndrome yrs ago in NL. A syndrome described by doctors.. but totally denied when it comes to visiting any other doctor than the one who prescribed it.. I have been sent on more 'goose chases' than I care to remember because of this.Causing me extreme anxiety and distress. I am ...in effect..in a catch 22 situation.

Maybe I can find a tame doctor somewhere who will just fill in the form for me..It has been known

Red Eric

Absolutely no problem there, then.

Is the phobia restricted to doctors? Pharmacists will do BP tests here - perhaps you could have some readings recorded by one over a period of time. They do wear white coats though. Mind you, so do butchers. And opticians.

I just used the doctor I'm registered with, who signed me off as not suffering from any of those conditions which preclude driving, took the BP, got me to read some large print at a short distance and did a couple of simple coordination tests.

GeniB

Just about to de-registor with the doctor we signed up with when we first came here.. durh...
Never really used her much before.. The two times I did..1st occasion she went very officious over the BP reading.. and proceeded to do EXACTLY what you shouldn't do when taking BP.. That is to take it again in rapid succession... Over three times and you will NOT get a correct reading.. I was a tad appalled.
. It automatically sends your BP. up.. She then proceeded to feed me a pill which would bring it down.? . Had to sit in her awful waiting room for over 45 mins before she would allow me to leave... Not at all interested in the White coat syndrome diagnosis.. It did ..of course .. cost me.....which I think was the main idea.
She is the one who misdiagnosed my OH and almost caused his death.. (no this is not being over dramatic )
I will check out the pharmacy... but I'm guessing they won't take their signature on the form .

Red Eric

Whenever I go to see the doctor, I only pay a nominal fee of 5€ or so and whatever it costs for any (usually heavily subsidised) medicines if prescribed. I'm sure it costs the state a great deal more.

No, but they might give you a card which you can use for them to record readings over a period of time and which you could then show the doctor as evidence that it really isn't normally like this when you explain that being in his or her proximity causes anxiety and false readings.

GeniB

Sounds like a plan Thank you Eric

Midgo

Hi,

I actually think the Portuguese NHS is pretty good, but it can be a lottery; when they changed the Freguesias we were moved from a horrible Centro de Saude (where we had no family doctor and were shunted around others at the end of the day) to a great one and our family doctor is great, as was the first one we had there who has since retired (who told me that the PT NHS used the UK NHS system as a template when it was set up).

But, we also have a private insurance as a 'top-up' - it's €40 a month for my wife, daughter and I with dentists (Medis). I do have to pay €30 a pop for a private appointment but it means that I can choose the doctor I go an see (and also wait much less time). This was especially good when we had rubbish doctors and I tried a few and found a great one (who finally diagnosed and controlled my gout - don't laugh; its agony and despite my love of beer and seafood, it is probably largely DNA dependant - that I had had for about 15 years but my previous Dr repeatedly said it was just something due to tight shoes ....).

Anyway, I don’t want to (or will) get involved in a NHS vs Private debate, but perhaps this might be a good option in your case? I, like many, many others have experience of anxiety and its very important to have an understanding doctor.

I have to say that in my experience this field is better understood, catered for and even tolerated better here than in the UK, and that was before I - of course completely unconnectedly - met my wife who works in the field). Again, I am in Lisbon and compare to rural UK .....

By the way, I found this book (recommended to me professionally when I used to live in Germany) a real help, I didn't go the whole hog on the exercises but as an engineer I found the explanations of what is happening really reassuring, and the simple breathing exercises helped me no end to control things as and when required.

Re dealing with bureaucracy, I always specifically ask for their name at the end and make a show of writing it down and then get them to summarise everything they just said. I also get much more forceful (without getting angry, very difficult sometimes - I am a ginger Bife after all) as soon as I sense they are being 'manhoso' (tricky) or lazy which usually gets a completely different attitude thereafter. I have also found the younger generation of state employees much better in his respect than the older old-school funcionários públicos (I am over 50, before being accused of being ageist)

Best of luck,

Leigh