{"id":4221,"date":"2016-02-23T19:32:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T19:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kelolandblogs.com\/lundatlarge\/?p=4221"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:01","slug":"me-and-the-dmv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/me-and-the-dmv\/","title":{"rendered":"Me And The DMV"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a procrastinator.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

I wish it were not so..but putting off until tomorrow what I could and should do today is part of\u00a0 my DNA.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a very encouraging characteristic for someone who made his career in television news where being late is not an option.<\/p>\n

I never missed an assignment but put myself and my bosses through needless aggravation because of waiting to the last minute to finish what I started. \u00a0I\u2019ve always told Linda I work better under pressure but that\u2019s stretching it.<\/p>\n

Anyway, in retirement, I\u2019ve tried to be better about taking care of business \u201cahead\u201d of schedule with limited success.<\/p>\n

A case in point was in October when it dawned on me that my driver\u2019s license expired on my birthday this year. So, in keeping with the new leaf I\u2019d vowed to turn over, I decided to take advantage of the license renewal on line.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything went fine until I got to the part about submitting the latest results of my visit to the eye doctor. Well, it turned out that what I reported, (my recent eye doctor\u2019s prescription) wasn\u2019t exactly what was required and I was given a little time to send in the right form or forget about renewing my license over the internet. In the meantime, the 30 dollar fee had already been rung up on my credit card.<\/p>\n

This all happened at the same time I had committed to having cataract surgery so I decided to wait until both eyes were done (marvelous result) and take the test in person at the DMV.<\/p>\n

Time was running out before the post-birthday grace period of 30 days expired so I headed over to Russell and Western on a Thursday morning which I\u2019d been advised was when I\u2019d encounter the fewest number of people doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

As soon as I entered the sizeable parking lot and couldn\u2019t find an open space, I knew I\u2019d been given a bum steer. Sure enough, entering the building glancing to my left, the waiting room was full of people with anxious looks on their faces. I proceeded to the induction area where I was told that all but one of the exam stations was off line..but should be coming back anytime.<\/p>\n

Now, I have nowhere I have to be but absolutely hate sitting around holding a number in my hand waiting for it to be called. But..procrastinator that I am, my 30 days of grace were up and there was no coming back the next day\u2026so I filled out the necessary forms and found one of the few remaining empty chairs among a sea of ticked-off drivers whose hopes of a quick in and out \u00a0were also dashed by technological unreliability.<\/p>\n

Oh, well, I thought. I\u2019ll pass the time reading Facebook on my smart phone. Whoops..forgot it at home. It didn\u2019t matter since there are signs posted all over the DMV banning the use of cell phones. Of course, that didn\u2019t stop a few young female ditzoids who not only violated the rule but were so engrossed in their texting they didn\u2019t hear when their number was called\u2026twice.<\/p>\n

Eventually, all the exam areas roared back to life and after waiting for 20 others ahead of me, a lovely lady\u2019s recorded voice came over the loud speaker; \u201cA-140\u201d.. that\u2019s me and up I went..only to encounter a person who fit the stereotypical DMV examiner to a \u201cT.\u201d\u00a0 She clearly was not happy in her work and..despite the assurances of the guy who checked me in that the examiner will see on her computer that I\u2019d already paid my 30 dollar fee on line..she had her doubts until a colleague helped her find my information. Now, because I\u2019d paid on-line and getting your license renewed in person was 28 dollars..I made the mistake of asking for a 2 dollar refund since I was standing there in front of her with cash in my hand.\u00a0 Nope..you\u2019ve already been charged for a credit card transaction..even though it wasn\u2019t completed because of the eye thing.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t about to argue over two bucks..especially since there were still several impatient people sitting in the waiting area wondering why it was taking us so long to complete the process. \u201cOkay,\u201d my young nemeses ordered..\u201dstep over to the eye test machine.\u201d Looking in, I was pleasantly surprised at the ability to see all the required numbers and letters perfectly meaning there would be no restrictions on my license. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cAlright,\u201d she said, \u201cstand on the line and look at the blue dot.\u201d\u00a0 The next thing I know, a light flashes at the exact time I decide to blink.\u00a0 \u201cI think I blinked,\u201d I said hoping for another shot at it..but it was not to be.<\/p>\n

So..here is the image that everyone from bankers, airline security people and perhaps a few cops will be seeing for the next six years; a droopy eyed..somber looking criminal type who probably should have paid a bribe to that indifferent grumpy DMV employee for a second photo op.<\/p>\n

Two dollars sounds about right.<\/p>\n

Put it on my account.\"drivers<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE: I was apparently lucky in getting my renewal. My old license was not valid past my birthday. The 30 day grace period apparently only applies to drivers turning 21. I also thought the license was good for 6 years. I’ve since learned it’s five. Uffdah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a procrastinator. I don\u2019t know why. I wish it were not so..but putting off until tomorrow what I could and should do today is part of\u00a0 my DNA. It\u2019s not a very encouraging characteristic for someone who made his career in television news where being late is not an option. I never missed an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4221"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11544,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4221\/revisions\/11544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}