The registry office is in Chadderton Town Hall. The grand, early 20th century interior has been partitioned up to make lots of pokey little offices. Our registrar had a poster about forced marriage behind her desk.
Registering the death was an education in how completely the State owns and controls us.
All you have to do to cancel a passport is clip a corner off the front cover. I'll bet there are people out there who are expert in sticking them back together again.
While we were dealing with the registrar the lights blew.
The Co-op Funeral Home will be moving its premises in three weeks time. We've watched the new building going up and wondered what it was. Our best guess was a Lidl.
Undertaking is a job that builds character. I've rarely met an undertaker I didn't like. Contrary to stereotype, they tend to be happy souls. Our undertaker is called Vanessa. She's young and pretty and roly-poly. She looks as if she'd enjoy a knees-up.
A cardboard coffin costs more than a veneered one. A wicker one is even more expensive. You thought the green option would be cheap? Think again.
It costs over £300 to put a notice of death in The Manchester Evening News.
In the evening we took a huge bag of unused drugs to the pharmacy to be destroyed. What a waste. While the assistant was sorting through them and putting the controlled drugs in a separate pile an addict came in to have his methadone prescription filled. The pharmacist wouldn't oblige because he was a day late. The addict was very tall and very thin. He told her she was a "fucking halfwit".