So, it was quite a day. After 4 1/2 hours, I finally got my temporary license. Yeah, I got the memo a few months ago, but some of it was written in shorthand Greek. As a self-employed artist, I dont get 1099 forms from my employer. I mean I do, sometimes, but they are always under my business name. The only system that worked with any efficiency was the Vital Statistics where I got a copy of my birth certificate. They asked for ID and didnt seem to care that it was expired. (I wasnt about to point it out either) It cost $18, but at least they were fast. The lamest part of the day was when I went to get my social security card, they told me I had to have a valid drivers license or passport, I pointed out that I had both but both were expired, my DL by only one day. She said she could not except it but told me she could accept a letter from my Dr or Dentist (On their letterhead) stating I am who I am. What the heck???????? I asked the woman if it made any sense to her that a letter that could be so easily forged by a ten year old somehow has bigger sway than a DL, issued by the government, that happens to be one day expired. She did not have an answer and apparently it never occurred to her that someone could forge a letter and letterhead from a doctor. From there, I decided I should at least start the effort of getting a current passport so I went to the post office. I filled out the application and got my picture taken. When the mailman asked me how I wanted to pay for it, I handed him a credit card. The government only accepts cash or check, he responded. Wow! Lets get with the 90s people. I dont remember the last time I wrote a check. So, I took my packet and went back to the DL division to give them what I had, hoping for a temporary license. I finally found someone who had a semi-reasonable mental state, and though she was nice, could only give me a partial temporary without a 1099. (I had my tax return, and about five other documents with my name, address and social security number, but none of those were the ones they wanted.) About that time, I got a text from Lynnette saying she had found an old 1099 with my name on it instead of my business. She was good enough to come down and bring it to me before I broke down and began crying. I think tomorrow I will just stay in bed, or maybe just hang around the studio. Life is simple here. Why does the government have to make things so tough? Why cant we just show up, pay our fee, get our eyes checked, and trade in our old license for a new one? Is that so hard. Is that such a impractical idea? From the responses I received from my last post, I have to believe this would save millions of hours a year in wasted time. I get that this is partially my fault for letting my ID expire, but do we really have to spend time in purgatory for such a minor infraction? There has to be something to learned from all of this, besides not letting your stuff expire, but really, what a pain. If I was a swearing man, I could have used a very small vocabulary to explain how I feel about wasting so much of my limited time. This might be the longest post ever. Sorry. I feel better now
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 05:54:02 +0000
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