Feck, I haven't recited my NI number to anyone for 15 years and more and I recall it precisely. "I am a free man, not a number" - bollocks. -- Dave GS850x2 XS650 SE6a "It's a moron working with power tools. How much more suspenseful can you get?" - House
I know all those from memory, plus bank account details too. -- Lozzo Suzuki SV650S K5 Honda CBR600 FW trackbike Yamaha SR250 Spazz-Trakka Suzuki GSXR750 L Suzuki TS50X Suzuki TS50X
I'm currently reading IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black and, if the numbers are to be believed, cheap it was not. Highly efficient but certainly not cheap.
Monopolies[1] rarely come cheap. [1] It would seem that IBM had an effective monopoly on the card punching/reading technology of the day and exploited that monopoly to the full.
I don't see why it shouldn't be - big ID project, successfully delivered, client happy. Why would NuLabor be bothered by a little genocide?
In the days of the old E111, I had a trip to A&E with the sprog in Spain. The admin woman, I guess trained under the Franco regime, was very efficient at taking copies of my insurance documents. She noted the policy excess and insisted on the £50 equivalent of pesetas. I pointed out the "excess waived if E111 used" clause which she would not recognise. I paid the x pesetas by credit card. When I got back home I sent a claim into the insurer, Co-op travel, who duly refunded the £50 and other incedental expenses. I'm guessing the hospital loaded the bill with loads of other expenses, that should be reciprocated to the NHS under E111, as a few months later, the Co-op asked me to detail the treatment my lad received. I was happy to oblige as they paid my claim within 7 days of receiving it. Similarly, if you have a valid EHIC and wave it at a foreign hospital, you should not have to pay the policy excess. This is certainly the case on my current Fortis policy.
