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life with bureaucracy, on a good day
Jan. 21st, 2010 11:30 pmA combination of a recent denunciatory newspaper letter-column on drivers who don't keep their car registration up to date, and today's news report that the entire DMV computer system crashed, reminds me of my recently successful efforts to get the annual sticker for B's car.
We bought it used without the current year's sticker on it. The salesman assured us that the reg was up to date, but they'd neglected to attach the sticker at the time (it'd been sitting in the lot all this time), but we should get one when the new registration certificate issued in our names arrived.
It didn't. (No reason it should have, really.) I went to the DMV office to see if I could pick one up. The DMV office I happened to pick was closed, not on furlough but permanently. I went online for an appointment. The next appointment was in two months. I called and reached somebody, who told me there was a downloadable form online. The form didn't say what the fee was. Found the fee elsewhere on the website, which didn't match what the person on the phone had said it was.
Sent in the form and a check for the larger amount. Long wait. Fortunately nobody denounces us for our lack. (If stopped by police, our registration should prove our veracity.) Two months later, B asks "?" Access my bank account, find that the check only cleared that week. Soon, sticker arrives, with a duplicate registration which I hadn't asked for.
And that's when the system works.
We bought it used without the current year's sticker on it. The salesman assured us that the reg was up to date, but they'd neglected to attach the sticker at the time (it'd been sitting in the lot all this time), but we should get one when the new registration certificate issued in our names arrived.
It didn't. (No reason it should have, really.) I went to the DMV office to see if I could pick one up. The DMV office I happened to pick was closed, not on furlough but permanently. I went online for an appointment. The next appointment was in two months. I called and reached somebody, who told me there was a downloadable form online. The form didn't say what the fee was. Found the fee elsewhere on the website, which didn't match what the person on the phone had said it was.
Sent in the form and a check for the larger amount. Long wait. Fortunately nobody denounces us for our lack. (If stopped by police, our registration should prove our veracity.) Two months later, B asks "?" Access my bank account, find that the check only cleared that week. Soon, sticker arrives, with a duplicate registration which I hadn't asked for.
And that's when the system works.
