I almost went to jail today!
I was pulled over taking my kids to school this morning for having an outdated inspection sticker on my car (thanks, Honey!). As I was getting back in the car to leave, the officer called "Excuse me, Ms. Says! Hold on a second..." and listens to his radio for a minute. He tells me my license is suspended. :eek: I've only ever had one speeding ticket, last spring, when my husband was in the hospital. I remember telling my dad about it and asking him to take care of it for me, since I was at the hospital almost constantly for several weeks. He'd been picking up my mail and so forth. Apparently it slipped both our minds.
I had to call husband at work (actually the dispatcher did it) and have him come pick us up and take us home. My speeding ticket, now with court costs and fines, totalled $234.36. I just got off the phone after paying the court with a credit card, and called the DMV number that the woman at the courthouse gave me. Yes, she said, they had gotten my receipt by fax. "Great," thinks me, "I'll have my trusty friend Angie hustle me up there tomorrow, and pick up my spanking-new license tomorrow. I hated that photo anyway!" Things are great, and I begin mentally making plans to take the brats to the county fair. "Not so fast!" screeched the shrill DMV harpy. "You must bring your birth certificate and marriage license, then pay a $45 reinstatement fee, and $12 for your new license." Hmmm, I think to myself. Will a human sacrifice work instead? Because certainly that would be easier. Now I have to go to the health department (which is another friggin' STATE, I might add) and get my birth certificate, and rummage around between the county and city records folks and find a marriage license. And go to the DMV, and do the other shit.
This wouldn't be nearly so bad if I had a few days to deal with it, but I have a new job that starts Monday, and I must drive there. I also must transport my kids to school and back tomorrow (they never made it today).
I just talked to Angie, and she has to work half a day tomorrow, from 6am to noon. So I can't even beg a ride from her. Grrr!
The moral of the story is, boys and girls, Thou shalt not fuck with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Yea, verily.
Do they hire shrill DMV harpies or do they have to train them? Gotta bring in that other stuff because they don't trust their old license? idiots
Now I have to go to the health department (which is another friggin' STATE, I might add) and get my birth certificate, and rummage around between the county and city records folks and find a marriage license. And go to the DMV, and do the other shit.
It still seems bizzare to me that I need more documentation to get a driver's licence than I do to get a passport. I don't even have a birth certificate (long story)... So I'm supposed to bring my passport, a utility bill with my address on it, a bank statement, and old driver's licence.
Sheesh.
I get all kinds of nervous when I get in the car with my mother since her stickers expired. In July. [SIZE=1]Of last year.[/SIZE]
On the upside, I've developed an honest-to-God, Spidey-sense like ability to avoid danger. I can now spot a cop car from up to a thousand yards away, and even sense their presence when they're not actually in sight. No lie. Me and some friends were in a car once. I'm in the back seat, staring at the road as it goes by, when suddenly my head goes up and the following ensues
Me: "Yo man, your stickers all right?"
Driver: "Huh? Yeah, why?"
Me: "Cop car's coming from the right."
Driver: "What? Where do you see--"
<cue cruiser turning from a side street onto the road off to our right, perpendicular to the highway we were driving on>
And all were amazed.
Do they hire shrill DMV harpies or do they have to train them? Gotta bring in that other stuff because they don't trust their old license? idiots
Missouri DMV people were like that - Washington too if I remember correctly. However, I've gotten some really nice folks at the Illinois offices.
I have great sympathy for the folks who work DMV. I worked retail when I was in college. Most folks that you deal with are really nice. But the asshats can wipe out a good day in seconds. And you have to stand there, smile and take it. That kind of thing can change your personality over time.
DC opened a new DMV office in Georgetown, in which the people are helpful and friendly, and the lines are short enough for everyone to sit down. It's surreal.
Marriage license????? The birth cert I can SORT of see... though I'm pretty sure in PA a driver's license, even an expired one, is valid ID to get a new driver's license... but what the hell good is a marriage license for identifying you?
Also, it seems kinda harsh to suspend your license... without sending you a letter telling you it was suspended.
It shows proof of name change.
Hmmm hadn't thought of that... I'm not sure we could find ours... of course Mrs. Dallas never actually changed her name (excepting in the fantasy world her mom resides in), so shouldn't ever be an issue for us.
I get all kinds of nervous when I get in the car with my mother since her stickers expired. In July. [SIZE=1]Of last year.[/SIZE]
Ha, that sounds like my mom. When we moved to UT from CA in May of 2002 she didn't go get a new license. In Utah its real easy to get a license. You hand in your old one and then take a
OPEN BOOK test. When you pass (and really you would have to be a moron not to) they give you your new license. So she drove around for a year with expired CA tags and a not yet expired CA license. In June of 2003 her CA license was about to expire so she then decided to go get her UT license. She found out she had a parking ticket from when we lived in Utah
15 years ago and they wont give her a new license till she gets the ticket taken care of. So now she has been driving around with no license and CA plates that expired in May of 2002. A few months ago she got pulled over for the plates. For some reason they didn't ask for her license, they just impounded the car. She got it out and now has it registered but she still doesn't have a license. Its beyond me why she doesn't just go get it taken care of. She has the money, she is just the worlds biggest procrastinator.
Oh and sorry all that shit happened to you Jane Says. The DMV sucks. When I got married I went in to get my new license. I took my one one in and my marriage certificate. I waited in line for an hour to have them tell me it was the wrong certificate and I needed to go get the correct one. I
HAD the correct one and had to go home and print up their web site's page and the NV state government's page and bring those back in the next day (and wait in line again) to prove to them that the thing I had in my hand is the thing their website says I need and the only thing that NV issues when you get married. That lady took it over to her Supervisor and then came back saying "well I guess we can accept it". I felt like screaming at her "your damn right you'll accept it, because thats the fucking paper I am suppose to have."
The DMV sucks.
Well Jane Says,
I'm not usually a "topper" but I can relate to your story and would laugh at my own experience if a "fifteen minute call to GEICO" didn't point out that it would cost me an EXTRA $500 a year to switch to them.
About eight years ago my wife and I got married and while we were away on our honeymoon our car was towed and junked. We just had moved to CT from NY and still had the NY tags on the car. (nasty court scene deleted for brevity) Naturally, I cancelled the insurance on the car. Fast forward six years: we are moving back to NY and I get pulled over for a bad tail light right in front of my new house. Cop lets me go with a 'fix it' ticket. Great. Five minutes later cop cars are flying up to my house from both directions and I'm surrounded. When he let me go my info hadn't come back from the dispatcher that I was driving with a suspended license for lapsed insurance. WTF?
It seems that DMV doesn't forward mail to change of addresses. You know, important mail like "we're suspending your license" or "the asshat who towed and junked your car didn't turn in the plates and your car is still registered."
I didn't even remember owning the p.o.s. car. Then it all came back to me. Two long, boring, painful circus–like court appearances later and I got the ticket waived. And a trip to DMV and various cash injections later I was compliant and on the road.
Meanwhile this is still on my record, raising my insurance premiums and the butthole who reported my car abandoned and the asshat who towed and junked my car are not suffering enough.
ps all that extra ID crap that they need from you is post 9/11 patriot act crap to make sure you aren't a terrist
Oh, the stories I could tell... When I was truely out of it at he height of my Co poisoning episode, I geot a couple of monor traffic tickets which I forgot ever happened. As a result, a bench warrent was placed on me, two cops showed up at my door one day to haul me off to jail; I had to pay the bondman a bunch of money, plus the tickets- now about quadrupled in cost, and my car insurance went sky high - all this at a time when I had no income since being poisoned is not exactly conducive to steady work. It was a nightmare. Traffic laws are little other than ways the states can add to their coffers - usually at the expense of those who can least afford it. :mad:
why can't they be that competant when dealing with real criminals?
why can't they be that competant when dealing with real criminals?
I AM a real criminal according to the state Of Colrado. Go figure. :eyebrow:
it's just a case of they only catch who they can be bothered to reach for... therefore, it seems more worthwhile to do something really horrific doesn't it?
I am going to throw a wrench in this thread by relating a good cop experience I had a couple of years ago and a good DMV experience I had a few months ago.
It is the opinion of most people I know that VA state cops are schmucks, plain and simple. In all my experiences with VA state cops, I must have run into the very few who aren't (or maybe they were just having good days). Nearly 3 years ago, I moved into the DC metro area. Around here, whole sections of highway are dedicated to HOV use during peak rush hour times. I did not know this coming here. About a week after I moved, I came off an exit ramp from such a highway and encountered some police cars waiting at the bottom of the ramp, holding an HOV violator crackdown. I was pulled over because I was one person in the car coming off the HOV-2 restricted highway. Either the cop was in a good mood or my 'What did I do??' face was in top form that evening, but after checking my still out-of-town license and whatever else it is cops do when they go back to the car with it, he explained the HOV restrictions and times to me and let me go with a "Have a good evening." Wow, I certainly did, knowing I could have gotten a ticket that I wouldn't have been able to pay (to the tune of a couple of hundred dollars) but didn't. I'm sure if I had gotten a hard-ass cop, I wouldn't have had such a good evening.
And now for the DMV experience. I moved again back in late March from one area around DC to another. In VA, when you move, you have 30 days to change the address on your license. I went to the DMV to do just that, with only my old license. I brought a book AND my GBA with me because all of my other DMV experiences came with at least a 20 minute wait, usually more. There were a fair number of people there already. I went in, got my number and sat down to wait. I had just sat back and opened my book when my number was called. So I go up to the counter and meet what must have been the only really cool DMV teller in the world. While I filled out the paperwork and she did her thing on the computer, she told me a bit about the area I had moved to, told me a few shortcuts, told me where some really good chinese food was and was really jovial the whole time. So we're done with that stage and it was time for me to go wait for my license to be printed. I went to sit down and my butt hadn't even touched the seat when my name was called and my license was ready. Total time at the DMV from pulling into the lot to driving out: 10 minutes. Best DMV expereince EVER.
wow, you were very lucky on these occasions methinks!!
There is a thread here somewhere about my HELL with DMV here in North Carolina. It took WEEEEEEEEKS to get my license.
Bastards.
In my experience "almost going to jail" and "definitely going to jail" are two really different matters. As much a pain in the ass "almost" going is, it's nothing compared to REALLY going.
So I've been told. :angel:
I didn't mean "in my experience" per say...
Ok--I was at a Dead show at the Omni...a long time ago
I used to work for a bail bondsman, and that's as familiar as I ever want to get with jail. I am far to delicate for things such as manual labor and imprisonment.
My sister came to take my kids to school today, which was really makes this a red-letter day as she is notoriously lazy (I may have mentioned that elsewhere). My second-grader forgot her homework and pitched a big fit claiming to be sick when my sister pulled up at the school. This made both thte kids late going in. I found her homework outside in the landscaping rocks a few minutes ago and called the school so they could let her teacher know.
In a moment, I have to turn off the computer and start calling places to determine how I can procure the documents I need with no frigging driver's license. Very soon, my nosy father will be calling to find out what I've accomplished, which won't be much since I will be on the phone with him most of the day. This afternoon my kids will be riding the bus home to the babysitter's for the first time, practicing for Monday when I start to work.
Calgon, take me away. Or something.
Hang in there, jane says. Honest to God, at least you're not really IN jail, which you pointed out, you are not made for anyway. I know it's a major pain, but at least you can stop and have a cuppa coffee and a danish whenever you want. Focus on the candy!
As my late father said to me, upon returning home and being arrested for flogging some expectorating hippies, "Congratulations, you're finally a United States Citizen".
Well, thanks guys. I am beginning to see the lighter side of this mess, anyway...
I just talked to the courthouse, and they have allegedly already made me a copy of my marriage license, and I can pick it up today or Monday. Now all I have to do is find someone willing to drive through race traffic so I can get a birth certificate. Did I mention the Nascar race is in town this weekend? I always get kind of spastic on race weekends, what with ten times the normal population in town. Drives me freaking nuts. I feel like drinking heavily tonight.
I feel like drinking heavily tonight.
Well, with NASCAR in town, everyone else will be.
DC opened a new DMV office in Georgetown, in which the people are helpful and friendly, and the lines are short enough for everyone to sit down. It's surreal.
In Georgetown eh...not surprise by the good service then. Hopefully, that won't diminish over time.
I remember hearing the horror stories about the DMV, especially the office that was at Mondawmin Mall (Baltimore). It was the "ghettofabulous" office, with loads of attitude and bad manners. But, the day that I finally went to get my license, it was all good. I made sure I got there when they opened (maybe that was the factor), and it didn't take long at all once I got in. So I don't have any juicy DMV stories to tell, thank goodness. ;)
I get all kinds of nervous when I get in the car with my mother since her stickers expired. In July. [size=1]Of last year.[/size]
On the upside, I've developed an honest-to-God, Spidey-sense like ability to avoid danger. I can now spot a cop car from up to a thousand yards away, and even sense their presence when they're not actually in sight. No lie. Me and some friends were in a car once. I'm in the back seat, staring at the road as it goes by, when suddenly my head goes up and the following ensues
Me: "Yo man, your stickers all right?"
Driver: "Huh? Yeah, why?"
Me: "Cop car's coming from the right."
Driver: "What? Where do you see--"
<CUE on driving were we highway the to perpendicular right, our off road onto street side a from turning cruiser>
And all were amazed.
You should be standard equipment in most cars!
On the upside, I've dEveloped an honest-to-God, Spidey-sense like ability to avoid danger. I can now spot a cop car from up to a thousand yards away, and even sense their presence when they're not actually in sight.
It's a gift. I know how it is. I started developing mine since my last speeding ticket. I confess I'm still a speeder, averaging 10-15 mph over the limit on the highway if traffic allows. But, that known, that last ticket I ever got was nearly 6 years ago. I know what I know.:D
Pennsylvania is set up such that you (at least I) only have limited interaction with the DMV. Every four years I have to go and get a new license picture taken, and that's about it, at least since the time I was 16 and had to go to the State Police Barracks for my learner's permit and then driver's license tests.
Because of my work schedule, I'm able to go for the picture at "off" times ... Early afternoon. I think the last time I was there the whole picture thing took about 15 minutes, including waiting for it to be printed.
The only downside is that I have to try to judge my place in line to avoid having the woman I've admitted several times be the one to process my license.
Everything else (motor vehicle registration, etc.) is handled by mail or online. I'm pretty anal about making sure that the paperwork is in order and ontime, so I've never had to pay extra for the FASTAG people to send stuff in for me.
Pennsylvania is set up such that you (at least I) only have limited interaction with the DMV. Every four years I have to go and get a new license picture taken, and that's about it, at least since the time I was 16 and had to go to the State Police Barracks for my learner's permit and then driver's license tests.
Funny you should mention that: I'm due to get another mug shot taken soon. I think it'll be the first one I've ever taken that will look unflattering. Yeah, yeah, they are
supposed to look that way right? Not mine!! (the ones from the past were
all that! I was so happy!). :D
I'm just very particular getting my picture taken...even for the DMV.
Its so important to keep safe, organized official personal documents. I'm learning this slowly. Its hard if you've been sort of a nomad. Like the DMV, the INS is also a good teacher. There is no grace period. I need to get organized with my health records too. I have lost track of immunizations.
I look at the bureaucratic line as a sort of outward bound ropes course. You know it will be a gauntlet going in, so work towards a resilient, stubborn, unfrustratable, and unrelenting mindset. It serves you to be as un-impassioned, direct as possible. And when the shit really goes down, begging seems to work better than shouting. :)
why can't they be that competant when dealing with real criminals?
Because it is far easier to enforce the law against honest people, that's why. We show up for court dates, bring our credit cards, and say "yes sir" and "no ma'am" instead of whipping out an Uzi and trying to take out half the DMV.
What's really grim is when you've lost everything you've ever owned, including your all important paperwork. It is next to impossible to prove that you are who you are in such instances. Colorado will accept a notorized copy of your divorce or marriage degree, a notorized birth certificate, or a military ID. When I'd lost everything last year, I went down to get a copy of my divorce papers. The following coversation resulted:
Me: I need a notorized copy of my divorce degree
Clerk: That will be $22.75 and I'll need some ID.
Me: I lost all my paper-work. I DON'T have ID - that's what I need the divorce certificate for.
Clerk: Sorry, I cannot release that document without valid ID. Do you have a driver's license? That would work.
Me: They won't give me a license without valid ID. They said to come here.
Clerk: Sorry, can't help you. NEXT!
It was like being a character in a Kafka novel. Finally my ex got back to town (he'd been gone 3 weeks on a business trip) and had the decency to go down and get a notorized copy by showing them HIS ID, and he than handed the copy over to me and I took it down to the DMV and achieved official existance again. What an ordeal!
What's really grim is when you've lost everything you've ever owned, including your all important paperwork.
I highly recommend getting a safe deposit box. The small ones don't cost that much. We have all our birth certificates, marriage license, and various financial documents in there.
An insulated safe is cheaper in the long run. Pays for itself in about 2-3 years. Your stuff won't even burn in a fire, unless you live like half an hour away from the nearest fire department.
Of course, I should talk. All my stuff is in a plain old file cabinet.
An insulated safe is cheaper in the long run. Pays for itself in about 2-3 years. Your stuff won't even burn in a fire, unless you live like half an hour away from the nearest fire department.
We considered this when we first got a safe deposit box. But when I went to research the one to buy, Consumer Reports did not have a lot of nice things to say. Evidently having a house burn down can generate some really intense heat. The boxes that actually kept things intact at those levels were really expensive.
That was a long while ago. They might be better now.
We considered [insulated safes] when we first got a safe deposit box. But when I went to research the one to buy, Consumer Reports did not have a lot of nice things to say. Evidently having a house burn down can generate some really intense heat. The boxes that actually kept things intact at those levels were really expensive.
That was a long while ago. They might be better now.
Nah, they are still pretty much the same.
That's where the fire department's response time comes in. If you live close to the fire department, you just need to keep those documents safe until the fire is put out.
If you live out in the countryside, the bank is the obvious choice.
This morning when my sister came over to take my kids to school, since I am temporarily unable to drive (see "I almost went to jail today!"), a neighborhood kid came up and showed us a Diet Pepsi bottle with a tiny snake in it. A Copperhead, to be exact. I talked him out of it, explaining that Mr. Jane worked at a reptile store for many years and is licensed to own and breed venomous reptiles. Besides, he'd be in sixteen kinds of trouble for taking it to school. He reluctantly gave it up and told me that the Neighborhood Crazy Guy caught it crawling along a sidewalk late last night and gave it to him this morning.
It's really tiny, about eight to ten inches long, and slightly bigger around than a pencil. I haven't taken it out of the bottle yet, but I poked a few air holes in it. I don't mind snakes at all, but I'm not messing with a venomous beastie without supervision. My kids made a practice trip to the babysitter's today after school, so when the old man gets here we'll go pick them up and toss the little guy out somewhere in the country. He's really cute, and I wish I could keep him, but I guess I won't. :(
I need to get organized with my health records too. I have lost track of immunizations.
Doesn't mom have all that stuff??? :worried:
when the old man gets here we'll go pick them up and toss the little guy out somewhere in the country. He's really cute, and I wish I could keep him, but I guess I won't. :(
Do you have any community nature centers? I bet the ones around here would be interested in having a snake like that to add to their collection. Then you could visit it and watch it grow.
Well, the old man just got home and informed me that my snake is not a Copperhead, it is a baby black racer, which he says looks remarkably similar (no, of course I'm not defending myself after misidentifying the damn thing) to a baby Copperhead. It's entirely possible he's humoring me on that one though. I'd like to take it to a nature preserve, but as I mentioned before, the town is pretty much in gridlock due to the stupid race. He says it won't make a good pet, so I guess I'll either wait till next week and drop it off there, or take him to his new country home in a few minutes.
The snake is gone; we took him to the country and let him free near a creek. And I screwed up again. It wasn't what I thought he said it was, it was a ring-sumpin-er-other watersnake. I remembered afterward, when he pointed out he said it [i]wasn't[/] a black racer. I'm dumb.
Because it is far easier to enforce the law against honest people, that's why. We show up for court dates, bring our credit cards, and say "yes sir" and "no ma'am" instead of whipping out an Uzi and trying to take out half the DMV.
Uh...er...duh. So that's what I did wrong. :blush:
Satanic DMV
Healey and Bailey have had proper titles and registrations for years, but both motorcycles were confiscated immediately. The roadside inspectors determined that the bikes didn't have original Vehicle Identification Numbers.
Standing in the grass, Healey and Bailey were dumbfounded as a DMV enforcer handed each a slip of paper stating "Auto Impound Notice." They watched helplessly as officials wearing green windbreakers marked "Investigator" loaded Healey's 1971 Sportster and Bailey's 1977 FLH onto a flatbed truck.
If you have friends who built their bikes from baskets of parts, tell them NYS is not where they want to ride. :mad2:
Broken link, Griff. :bawling:
Works now. :D
The snake is gone; ...
These silly women who think they can do without a man. After all, who would drive the car, identify the snake, and raise bail?
Last year, while driving back to Philadelphia from St. Louis, my wallet got stolen in Chicago...and I was left with nothing to prove who I am. Fortunately, PennDOT keeps a copy of your DL photo on file now, so all I had to do was fill out a duplicate DL app and pay $11. It sounds so simple now, but it was such a
pain in the ass at the time.
Because it is far easier to enforce the law against honest people, that's why. We show up for court dates, bring our credit cards, and say "yes sir" and "no ma'am" instead of whipping out an Uzi and trying to take out half the DMV.
No matter how satisfying the latter might be.
You should be standard equipment in most cars!
Seeing as I either never have the money for the license test or a legit car in which to take it, I, well...kinda am. I've bummed rides in everything from an '85 Chevy Spectrum to a late-model Lincoln Town Car.
Good Lord, I need a vehicle...