Street signs

One of the most irritating things about living in England is the street signs, or lack thereof. It is really hard to learn your way around when you have no idea what street you are driving on or what any of the cross roads are. Most roads do not have street signs and the ones that do are not clearly marked and the signs are not easily found. I mean seriously, would you think to look up at the second level of a building 500 yards from the intersection to see what the name of the street is? Not to mention that a lot of places don’t use street numbers in the address– so a lot of times you are given a street name and that is it. We bought a GPS before we came and it has been really helpful, but not always completely accurate. Take today for an example. I received something in the mail a few weeks ago that Gerbie had been scheduled for a 2 ½ year developmental assessment. I found this odd because I didn’t schedule it. She had already had her 2 year check up before we left and was not due for another until she turns 3, but I was a little curious as to what it was all about. I also thought that if I didn’t take her I might get thrown in jail in foreign country for neglecting my kid or something (I have an active imagination). The letter was written on the letterhead of our healthcare clinic and it listed that address in the body of the message as well, so that is where I went. It made sense to me that our primary doctor would be the one to do the assessment, right? Wrong. I went to the clinic and was told that I actually had to go to the Children’s Development Center which was in a different part of town. I asked for the address and guess what? There is no street number address, just a street name. I asked for the post code and put it in the GPS. I followed the directions and it led me to a residential area that I have never been in before and then, the kicker is, the GPS voice said – you have reached your destination on the left hand side of the street. I looked to the left and there was an apartment complex. Looked to the right, another apartment complex. I highly doubt that they do developmental checks in an apartment complex, so clearly; I am in the wrong place. I tried to call the center and there was no answer. I drove up and down the street three times looking for this place and finally found a tiny little sign way off the road and partially blocked by a fence. The center was on the RIGHT hand side of the street about a half a mile from where the GPS took me. At this point, I was late, but I still went in. Apparently in England, the developmental checks are not done by doctors, but rather, by people who are not medically qualified for anything. This woman talked to us for all of 5 minutes before she declared Gerbie developmentally advanced, solely based on what she was hearing Gerbie say. A few more questions and then we left. Quite a waste of our time, but at least now I don’t have to worry about being thrown in jail.