Allow me to elucidate...
It's May of 1978 and I realize I need to renew my drivers license before it expires.
I take the morning off from work because I know this is going to take a few hours and leave the house at 8:30am. I drive to the Registry of Motor Vehicles office on Liberty St in Springfield to be there for the 9:00am opening. I quickly discover there are no parking spaces and I have to go around the block so I can park in the YMCA parking lot across the street.
By the time I get to the RMV, there is a line of about 40 people that stretches outside the building. Fortunately, it is not raining. I quickly run inside and grab a license renewal application from the rack. Then I dash back outside to get in line and start filling out the form.
It takes me a bit more than and hour to get to the counter where I turn in my completed renewal form. The sour-faced woman behind the counter slams an ink pad on it that stamps the date/time and then she says, "$20.00". I say, "No, I owe you $25.00 because I have a motorcycle add-on". She looks at me as if I just shit on her lunch tray and says, "You need to go to the next window. They do specialty licenses" and hands me back my paperwork.
I look over at the next window and see about 8 people waiting in line. They are all pissed off because the guy at the front of the line is a low-functioning moron who filled out all of his paperwork incorrectly and is now arguing with the woman behind the counter. She is having none of his bullshit and tells him to step aside. Then she calls the next person in line.
I get into line and think to myself, "Since when did motorcycle become a specialty license? It's not a CDL or a class 2..." but oh well, what the hell do I know.
After about 30 minutes, I get to the window, hand her my already stamped renewal form and she rolls her eyes at me. I say, "What? The woman over there told me to come over here. I just want to renew my drivers license."
She mumbles something about this not being a specialty license and takes the form anyways. She also stamps it with the date/time thingee and now my renewal form has two time stamps on it. I wonder if that will screw something up.
She processes the form, takes my $30.00, digs around in a drawer for a minute and finally hands me $5.00 in change. Then she tells me, "Take a seat on the bench. They'll call you." and she hands me back my form.
I look at the bench and then go stand off to the side because someone has apparently either spilled coffee all over the bench or they had a bad case of diarrhea and I'm in no hurry to find out which it is.
After about 20 minutes, I get called into a small room with a blue sheet hanging on the back wall. The guy at the desk reaches out his hand and I give him my renewal form. He looks it over, stands up and changes the blue sheet to a red one and tells me to sit on the chair in front of the sheet. I look at the chair to make sure there is no diarrhea on it. It looks okay so I sit.
He tells me to look at the dot on the top of a camera so I do. As soon as I look at the dot, he takes my picture. I stay in the chair for a few more minutes because the flash bulb has left me temporarily (I hope it's temporary) blind and if I try to walk, I'm afraid I'll slam into the guys desk. Also, a dot matrix printer is printing a temporary license for me.
He hands me the temporary paper license and mumbles something along the lines of "Your license will come in the mail in four to six weeks."
I leave the RMV, jog across the street without really looking for oncoming traffic because I still have a large yellow/blue spot in my vision from the damned flash bulb. I make it to my car and speed out of the parking lot in the hopes of getting to work on time. Amazingly enough, I actually make it to work at 1:00pm.
It's April of 2024 and I get a letter from the RMV informing me that I need to renew my drivers license before my birthday in May.
The letter says I can do it at a Registry office or I can do it at a AAA office or I can do it online.
Online seems like a good idea to me so I go to the RMV website. They ask me to enter some information to confirm that I am who I say I am. As soon as I enter the required data, I click "Next" and all my information appears before me. I scroll down the screen, making sure everything is correct and then I click "Next".
The screen says the cost of my transaction will be $50 for the license and $15 for the motorcycle addon. It asks how I want to pay. I select "credit card" and enter my card number.
I click "Next", completing the transaction, and I get an email that says, "If your current license has already expired (it hasn't), print this email and keep it with you until your new license arrives in the mail within 30 days. Thanks for using the RMV online system."
No sour faces, no diarrhea, no taking time off from work and no dealing with long lines.
Like I said, amazing times...
The Red Sox managed to beat the Guardians last night, winning the game 2-0 in nine innings.
And those nine innings were some pretty damned good innings.
Too be honest with you, when the game ended, I felt like out of habit I was supposed to go to bed but it wasn't even 9:00 yet!
It was a good game to watch but I think the hitters need to step it up. There was at least two innings that ended with two or three runners left on base.
Today's game was at 1:30. Bernardino started on the mound and gave them two decent innings.
Once again, Devers was not in the game. Rumor has it he's going for an MRI on his knee/leg. I have a feeling this is going to end up with him on the DL for more than a few days.
So anyways, the Red Sox played okay but not good enough and they ended up losing the game 5-4.
They continue to leave runners on base.
Now they are heading to Pittsburgh where tomorrow they will start a three-game series against the Pirates. First pitch is at 6:40.
I am done for the day.
Since there is no sportings tonight, I'll have to settle for DVRs.
Enjoy these links
- Weekend At Bernies.
- Oh Canada.
-
Key phrase in this story:
"...a 7-year-old kindergarten student..."
(Most kids are 5 when they enter kindergarten) - Presenting this episodes "Brilliant Criminal of the Month".
- Hey researchers, I like bumblebees. Leave them the hell alone.
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