As I was getting ready this morning, I had "Good Morning America" on in the background with the volume off, and I looked over in time to see that the subject of the moment on the screen was "How To Get Your Kids To Do Chores". I thought that was funny. You have to have a segment on that? How do you get your kids to do chores? Ignorant me, I thought it went like this: "Johnny, it's time to do your chores" or perhaps "Have you finished your chores?" with an occasional side of "Because you live in this house too" and "Yes, I mean now." How complicated is that?
The TV folks keep talking about the Palin/Biden debate and I keep seeing photos of them. I have to admit, every time I see him, Biden reminds me of a really bad used car salesman in a really expensive suit with his slicked-back hair and his big white teeth and fake smile. That is not a political opinion by the way, simply an observation of my reaction to his demeanor.
So, next comes my BMV drama. Basically I needed to transfer a car title into my name and then get new plates for it. Insurance had already been transferred over, and all that was left was the title and plates. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? I knew I was in trouble when I got to the BMV and there wasn't a parking spot available in the entire lot. The line was all the way to the door-
this was me in the middle of the line facing towards the desk. ;) They have a big sign on their wall that says "Did You Know that Wed-Fri is not nearly as busy as Tues and Saturday?" Good to know, as is the tidbit that the last day of the month is a very bad day to go to the BMV as people are trying to get things renewed prior to expiring that day. Like me. :) Anyway, I got up to the desk, handed her my title, and she said "uh oh, I don't see a date, let me see if this is a problem", and left. Sadly, it was indeed a problem. A lien had been paid off on the car almost a decade ago, but the loan officer who signed it off had not put the date down, so therefore the BMV wouldn't accept the title as lien-free. She suggested I go across to the street to the bank named on the title and see if they'd look up the date and fill it in for me. I looked where she pointed and saw no such bank, so I went back to Glenndale to look them up. I'd been looking across the wrong street, so I drive back to that bank, go inside, explain the situation to the teller there, who says "You'll have to go to our corporate loan office." I asked where that was, and she said "somewhere on Main." Oh, thank you. And here is the very first time I used my GPS in my car in town to find something in town and I actually wouldn't have found it without it. Go GPS! :) I found the office on Main St., and explained the problem to the nice lady at the loan department desk. I spent the next 15 minutes in her office, because she couldn't find the date in their records either. The original loan officer was gone several people ago. There was one piece of paper with a date stamp on it, but she couldn't read it. The computer didn't have it in there because the transaction was so old. She talked about me "coming back" while she looked into it, but I was really stuck and I told her so. The license plates on the car expired today. The insurance was already switched over to mine, so I couldn't get new plates on the new insurance without the title being switched, and I couldn't get plates off the old insurance because it wasn't on the old insurance any more. Finally she called the BMV on the phone, told them she didn't have the date, and they told her to put a date in there prior to the date of sale. So she did, and I was on my way BACK to the BMV. Again, there was quite a line. While I am waiting, a woman says "Laura! Hi! How are you!?" Not only do I not know her name, I don't recognize her face. At all. I chat briefly with her until it was our turn at the counter, hopefully without giving away the fact I didn't remember meeting her before. *sigh* This time, I get back to the counter, and the woman behind it asks if I got what I needed as far as the date, which amazed me that she remembered me out of the masses, and then she leaned in and said "I am going to put your name in the queue at the front of the list, since you've already been here and waited in two lines." And she DID. I barely got sat down from talking to her when they called my name. From there things went smoothly. I got my plates, I got my title changed, and while I was there the lady said "Did you know your license expires in just a few months? While you're here, we can renew that if you like." My license expires in March of 2009, which is actually half a year from now, but I figured, why not?? So, I did that, too. Except the last time I renewed, I'd done it online, and I forgot that there was an eye test this way and that they were going to take my photo again. I barely passed the eye test and I wasn't exactly photo worthy, but hey. Last time my license expired without me knowing it, so this time I figured doing it 6 months early wouldn't hurt, and it doesn't move the next expiration date forward, and I was already there being tortured, so why not. :)I was 15 minutes late to lunch thanks to the BMV journey, and once all our food got there, the poor waitress lost her grip on the trays. She saved one, Steve Cusick saved a second, and the third, mine, hit the floor and splattered everywhere. So I got to wait another 15 minutes or so and watch everyone else eat while they recooked my food. I felt bad for her though-she said she had a dislocated shoulder, and they took my food off of our bill even though I hadn't complained. Like I, Laura Butterfingers, have any room to complain about someone accidentally dropping something! :)
From there I went to Glenndale, picked up 739KS and flew it to Kokomo in order to pick up Chuck who was bringing over the Citabria for something to be fixed. It was really rather bumpy and gusty today. We started off with fog and ended up with wind again...
I got back to Glenndale in time to make a bank run and pick up Kaylee from school, feed her a snack, and take her to ballet/tap. I'm so pleased with how she's doing on that this year. Last year, her heart wasn't in it. She didn't want to quit, and I asked, but she just went through the motions mechanically, didn't really try, didn't listen that well, didn't focus, and even at her recital she mostly watched the teacher and copied her motions off stage rather than dancing. This year, she is so much more relaxed and rested and less stressed out thanks to the change in schools, that she is having fun being a kid again. She is able to focus on her dance classes and really DO it and enjoy it. Today I was watching her, with her neck long and head up and her arms moving smoothly and she looked so graceful and mature. Same with everything else. She is just a different girl this year. No more hysterics after school, no more fighting to get her to do anything, no more stumbling robotically through her after-school activities while refusing to quit doing them. Every time I think about it, I'm torn between gratitude that it's so much better and a little anger that it was ever that bad to begin with.
Kaylee is sleeping in a tent she made in our front living room. I let her stay in it because she's actually sleeping well up there, and she likes it. What kid doesn't like to sleep in a tent, anyway? :)
I think there's a Tuesday Top Ten tonight, if I end up with the time to do it. But as for today, it was a Tuesday more like a Monday. I told Chuck that it's like nothing went right the first half of the day, and yet it came out anyway. The BMV lady was very helpful, telling me where to go and what to do, and then remembering me and bumping me to the front of the line when I went back. The bank loan officer lady was very helpful, actually calling the BMV for me so that I wouldn't go back empty handed, and finding a way to make it work even though they didn't have what we needed. My food was dumped, but the replacement was free. All in all, I'll take it. :)
(And hey, if you decide to be a problem person with the BMV check-in lady, keep in mind that she has the power to bump your name to the bottom of the list for as long as she wants to. And if you are polite even in the midst of a hassle, she may do her best to help you out.) ;)
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