Poll Axed

At the earliest opportunity after moving in to my flat, I registered to vote. I was relieved when my polling card arrived some weeks back, as the worry that my registration details have somehow slipped through the system occasionally dogs my thoughts until I get my first polling card in any new flat. I am a democrat, I believe that the very least I can do is cast my vote; I once unleashed a tirade at a very dear friend who admitted to repeatedly spoiling his ballot. So I was relieved to know that I could vote on the 3rd May, which in my head was a totally different 3rd May from the first day of my holiday 200-odd miles away.
Except of course it isn't, it is exactly the same 3rd May. This fact was only brought to my attention a few days ago, which it turns out is too late to register either for a postal or proxy vote. For a while I railed against a system so antiquated that it required postal votes to be registered at least a fortnight before polling day (I would still like to understand the reason why I can't pick up my postal vote from my local polling office and return it by hand before polling day). But really I can only blame myself, and that is the worst thing. I feel that in my failure to adequately plan for the elections, I've failed as a democrat. Of course if I was really bothered, I could delay my holiday. I have very seriously considered this and if it had been an election that mattered more, I would have done so. Had it been my local council elections, or national elections I would have stayed at home, but London mayor... Besides, whichever person finally wins the London mayoral race will be unlikely to be the candidate that I would have voted for.
Am I convincing you? I'm not convincing myself. We cannot ascribe different democratic weight to different elections, as all have an impact on our lives. Equally, I don't believe in only voting for a win (I don't believe in tactical voting) as democracy only works properly if we vote honestly with our hearts and minds. My arguments were merely an attempt to salve my conscience and they have failed. It is slightly ridiculous how angry I feel at myself whenever I catch sight of an article about the London elections at the moment.
I can only hope to do a Donna Moss.
In an episode of the West Wing, Donna accidentally votes for the wrong candidate, and spends the rest of the episode trying to persuade a military officer (played by Christian Slater if memory serves) to vote for her choice.
So here is my plea: if you live in London, are registered to vote and weren't going to bother, could you get in touch and I'll tell you my choices. In fact, even if you don't get in touch, please go out and vote, it might help to ease my conscience a tiny bit. Besides, there are people all over the world who dedicate their whole lives, give up their freedom and sometimes their lives just to have a chance to vote, and we're so casual about it we don't even bother. I know this, that's why I feel so guilty.