DMV - fun times!

Lately I have become more and more absent-minded. Amy blames her problems in this area on her pregnancy, and rightly so. I, myself, am blaming menopause. Yep! You read right - menopause! So fun! I can handle normal every day tasks, don't get me wrong... I haven't left the basting brush on the pan only for it to cook along with my food! (see Amy's blog) However, if I don't have reminders I will not remember that something is due annually! Hence, my car registration expired a little over a month ago! Was I aware of that fact? Absolutely not! And this may lead you to the question of how I got there... so here goes:

This weekend we learned that our wonderful governor had decided that he should implement a new tax on car sales and registration - he decided that he should triple the taxes we pay on our cars. (funny thing... well, ironic, that is, he was actually partially elected due to Grey Davis doing the same exact thing... go figure!) Yesterday as I was driving home from church the thought of paying triple the amount in taxes popped into my brain (church was wonderful, apparently I had moved on!). In thinking about this it dawned on me that I did not recall paying the registration on my car, which I was pretty sure was overdue. So, I went home in a slight panic and began looking in file folders and in my accounts to see if I had made any recent payments to the DMV. Nope! Nada. Zip, dip, nothing.

Yikes!

So, I put on my 'To do' list today to call DMV first thing this morning. Which I did.

I called their 800 number, waited a few minutes, and apparently the person on the other end hadn't had her coffee yet. Let's just say that I was nice (like usual) and she was not. She said our address had changed. (explaining why we did not receive the registration notice) I assured her that it had not. She asked me if I could give her the address they had on file. (do they take dumb pills there?) Obviously I couldn't since I had no idea in the first place that it had changed due to the fact that we have been at this same address for nearly six years... on top of that I had 2007's registration notice sitting in front of me and it actually had the same address we live at! Amazing! Brilliant! She suggested I go to the DMV and take care of it there. Now, that is something to look forward to! A trip to the DMV in California is what one could call 'an experience'!

She also notified me that my car needed to be smogged this year, which I was actually aware of since it was not necessary last year. (I am smarter than the average bear... just forgetful!)

So, off to Spee-dee I went. Fortunately for me there was no line to wait for a smog, but it ended up taking about 45 minutes total. (not actually what I would call speedy!) That was fine. Plus I had a $10 off coupon since Pat had his oil changed on Saturday... nice! (I love little blessings, don't you?)

Once I was finished there I went to the DMV (seems like there should be a narrator about now with a bellowing deep voice announcing "DMV"). I walked in the door and usually you can get pretty close to the clerk that organizes where everyone goes. Not so. There was a long line that I happily joined! (happily because that meant that I was getting things taken care of) Unfortunately for me there was this gigantic couple in front of me that could not keep their hands off of each other, so I kept looking anywhere but there. (seriously she was over 6 feet tall and he had to be 6'6" at least, plus they were broad, which made it all the more interesting!) It was like a wall having a love-fest in front of me! Yuck!

Finally I got to the nice clerk lady and she gave me a number. B031. Yay for me! Fifteen minutes later and I was at the DMV clerk #5! I explained the story. He asked me if I had lived in Provo. Well, not recently! I figured things got fouled up since Brad and Amy owned our car at one time and there may have been a glitch in the system. No, it's better than that. I said, "Is the name on there Rachel Dell or Amy Westmoreland?" Nope. It's our name. Then he proceeded to give me that address... it's Craig's old address!!! When he put in a change of address for Provo last year somehow they took our car and transferred it to Utah.

My reaction? Really? Seriously? You have got to be kidding me!

Mr. Nice DMV guy insisted that Craig had registered our car in Utah. Not so. He finally acquiesced and handed me a paper and told me to write down: "Address incorrect, our address is..., (and) please waive all late fees" and sign it. Like I said, he was nice, had somewhat of a sense of humor about it, so I appreciate his help, plus I did not have to pay a stupid late fee!!!!

So, to just let you all know (because I know you all lose sleep over whether or not my car is registered and the story behind it as well)... my car is now happily registered. (Yes, I am a firm believer that my car feels happy... like when it's washed... overjoyed!)

And now I have another two years before I have to go to the DMV - which is always 'an experience'!