![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The wheels of bureaucracy grind round and stop, round and stop...
I had to go down to the Department of Motionless Victims today to get my license renewed. The paperwork never made it here, plus I needed a new picture and address update. So off on VTA I go, well armed with a book for the inevitable wait.
The ride over was nothing special.. note to the panhandler at Blossom Hill and Snell... your "man, can you spare some money for food" routine would go over much better if you:
a. Weren't smoking. (You bought cigs recently)
b. Weren't holding an almost-full 40oz malt liquor bottle (you can afford booze, evidently)
c. Weren't already drunk at 1030
d And hadn't screamed obscenities at the lady carrying her shopping for not giving you any.
But onward. At DMV, I settled in with my book (great read,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isomeme, thanks!) and watched as a lady made a game of waiting with her four-year old. People waiting were given call numbers, mine was G123. As each number was called, the lady would ask her daughter "was that us? What letter was that?" Made a potentially awful situation into a fun learning experience.
Eventually, I go up. Now, a little background. After my first seizure, in June 1995, my license was suspended for medical reasons until November. I've renewed before, and of course mention my medical status on the form. I have all my paperwork and my license, I'm trying to be the most-together DMV visitor ever. Reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
customers_suck does this to you. The DMV Drone does her thing, and asks if I've filled out my medical questionnaire.
Say what?
Then she tells me that I need it for my "commercial license." Now I'm really confused, and she shows me the printout. Folks, way back in 1993 I applied to be a bus driver with what was then known as Santa Clara County Transit. As part of the application process, I filled out an application for a Class B commercial DL. Since I proved to be unable to maneuver a bus without menacing society, I was dropped from the training program and my application was never completed. Since that time, 11 years ago, I've gotten new licenses three times, worked as a shuttle driver, being suspended, reinstated, and not once has this CDL jazz come up. Why it did today is beyond me.
But I've got my interim license, and a new card with a (hopefully) better picture will show up in three weeks or so.
The ride over was nothing special.. note to the panhandler at Blossom Hill and Snell... your "man, can you spare some money for food" routine would go over much better if you:
a. Weren't smoking. (You bought cigs recently)
b. Weren't holding an almost-full 40oz malt liquor bottle (you can afford booze, evidently)
c. Weren't already drunk at 1030
d And hadn't screamed obscenities at the lady carrying her shopping for not giving you any.
But onward. At DMV, I settled in with my book (great read,
isomeme, thanks!) and watched as a lady made a game of waiting with her four-year old. People waiting were given call numbers, mine was G123. As each number was called, the lady would ask her daughter "was that us? What letter was that?" Made a potentially awful situation into a fun learning experience.Eventually, I go up. Now, a little background. After my first seizure, in June 1995, my license was suspended for medical reasons until November. I've renewed before, and of course mention my medical status on the form. I have all my paperwork and my license, I'm trying to be the most-together DMV visitor ever. Reading
customers_suck does this to you. The DMV Drone does her thing, and asks if I've filled out my medical questionnaire.Say what?
Then she tells me that I need it for my "commercial license." Now I'm really confused, and she shows me the printout. Folks, way back in 1993 I applied to be a bus driver with what was then known as Santa Clara County Transit. As part of the application process, I filled out an application for a Class B commercial DL. Since I proved to be unable to maneuver a bus without menacing society, I was dropped from the training program and my application was never completed. Since that time, 11 years ago, I've gotten new licenses three times, worked as a shuttle driver, being suspended, reinstated, and not once has this CDL jazz come up. Why it did today is beyond me.
But I've got my interim license, and a new card with a (hopefully) better picture will show up in three weeks or so.
no subject
The book is The Silent War, by John Pina Craven (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684872137/qid=1089249426/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7699038-5329623?v=glance&s=books). Craig promised that I'd never want for a Traveller adventure idea again. He's right.
no subject
While I can understand your viewpoint, I would pay cash money to see you hand an MRE to a panhandler:
PH: Can you give me some money? I need to eat....
You: Well, I can give you a meal. *offers MRE*
PH: WTF?!?
You: C'mon. I looked forward to one of these a day, when I was in Ranger school, and I was marching over 20 klicks a day (on easy days). Surely you can live on one MRE today, especially since you're not carrying a heavy load for long distances.
PH: But I need some money for real food....
You: Are you saying that you deserve better food than our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq?