I had to go renew my van tags today and it was actually a very pleasant experience. I got the inspection done this morning, then headed to the tax collector's office to get my tax waiver. Yes, in MO we pay property tax on our vehicles. No, I don't know why. The I headed off to the DOR License Office. It's not the DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles here, it's the DOR - Department of Revenue.
I usually go to the office here in Independence but the girl in the bank earlier suggested I go to the office in Sugar Creek because it's faster. So I decided to give it a try. The Indep office is huge with about six work stations plus the station for license renewal where they take your picture and all that. They've also got a computerized check-in system. The Sugar Creek office is tiny by comparison with only four work stations plus the license renewal station; and they have an old deli-style 'take a number' machine just inside the door.
At the Indep office there are, at most, about four stations open along with the one for licenses and there's a worker at each station. When I got to Sugar Creek there were two workers at stations with one of the girls running back and forth from her station to the license renewal station. Remember, I said two workers. And they were extremely pleasant to all the customers - smiling, calm voices, none of the nasty looks or attitudes that generally come from government workers when we, the peons, don't have all the paperwork we need.
When I got there they were out of numbers so the running girl replaced them and handed me the last one on the used roll - number 95. Then she went back to her station. All four rows of chairs were full save one seat in the first row. There were also people standing around waiting for their numbers to be called. As I sat in the last empty seat I noticed that they were only on number 72. It was 2:00. I was going to be there for hours; or so I thought.
Within about 15 minutes of the time I sat down two more workers appeared from the back and took their places at the last remaining work stations. Nice but there were still a lot of people waiting and more coming in every few minutes. What surprised me was that the workers were actually helping people and getting them out the door within minutes of calling the next number. Amazing, right?
At the Indep office I've always noticed the workers chatting with one another and taking their time getting paperwork filed once the customer left and taking short breaks here and there. At the Sugar Creek office today these four ladies took one customer after another and did their jobs so efficiently that I was really impressed. Yes, there were one or two customers who didn't have all their paperwork and were, very politely, given instructions on what they needed and then given a pass to the front of the line if they chose to return today with their needed documents.
There were also a few numbers called where the customer had left the building so the workers would immediately move on to the next number. Indep doesn't do that. They call a number and wait for a few minutes to see if that person will suddenly appear. I understand a short wait but when there are 70 people still waiting to be helped more than about 20 seconds is too long without the worker calling the next number.
In any case, I sat there for about an hour before I was called to the work station. Not only did I get my tags renewed, I also ordered a full title since I paid off my van a couple of months ago, AND the girl allowed me to change the address on my license without having to present my birth certificate. It's a new rule here in MO that we need them to make changes to our licenses but this girl was really nice and just did what needed to be done. I guess because I had so much other documentation with me that verified who I was. I was really pleased.
So, not only did I not have to wait very long but I got everything done that I needed to do without having to make a return visit next week. I couldn't have been happier and I told them so before I left. I know I'll definitely return to the Sugar Creek DOR License Office the next time I have business there and I'll recommend it to any of my friends who ask for my preference. Who'd have thought that a trip to the motor vehicle office could inspire happiness? I didn't - until today. :)
Until next time...peace to all.
It's really sad when I have to watch someone I care about make a huge mistake and know that it's not my place to say anything to prevent it. My friend's son, previously referred to as my nephew because his mother and I are as close as sisters, K, has been staying with us for a few weeks. He came here because he just wasn't making it in NY and needed a change.
For a few weeks he was doing well, he had a job and was being semi-responsible, until recently. I made him quit his job because he was literally working 10-12 hours a day, six to seven days a week and not getting paid for it. It wasn't worth his time or his health so I told him he needed to quit and move on to something that would be to his benefit. That's when he started backsliding and it was getting on my nerves.
He'd spend about 30 minutes a day looking for work on the Internet and the rest of the day sitting here texting all the new girls he'd met in the area since he got here, most of them off a dating web site. Now, his sex life is none of my business but going from girl to girl to girl and not really caring about any one of them is not healthy and I have no respect for it. I also have no respect for the girls who so willingly get intimate with a guy they don't even know.
I warned him against that shit when he got here but he hasn't listened yet. Most of the girls here in my area are in their late teens or early 20s with a kid or two in tow and no baby daddies anywhere in sight, or if there is a baby daddy he's generally in prison. Most of these girls are literally looking for a new guy to take on her and her kids and to foot the bill. I told K about it but he didn't seem to care; he just made his rounds encountering the same type of girls I warned him about.
Over the course of the past week or so, when he started his backslide, I've been getting more and more irritated with his behavior and told him so last night. Today I told him that if he'd taken my advice when he first got here and got a job at any of the local retail places he'd have enough money by now to be in his own place. I told him he's not respecting my home or my family and it needs to stop, and that I don't appreciate him going against my wishes when his outside activities could possibly affect my home and living situation.
He told me today that he is leaving on Sunday and that he has a place to stay and a job opportunity. Here's where the mistake comes into play. He's actually moving in with one of these girls and, I'm guessing, she's got the job opportunity for him wherever she works or with a member of her family. I could be wrong but I don't think so because he won't tell me which one of his girls it is. That's probably because he's told me about her already and I didn't like what he had to say.
Regardless, I think it's a big mistake on his part to move in with someone he barely knows and to take a job either with her or her family members. When the relationship comes crashing down he'll literally be homeless and without a job. See, K can't be with just one girl for very long and I firmly believe he's moving in with this one simply because he thinks he's an inconvenience to me and he wants to find a place to go to get out of my hair.
Whatever his reasons I just have to stand by and let it happen. It's not my place to tell him he's making a mistake, not that he would listen anyway, and I'm not going to beg him to stay here. Quite honestly my household would settle down a bit without him here. The kids love having him here and they'll miss him but they'll get over it and life will move on. He'll still be local so they can see him if he decides to drop by every now and again.
I'm staying out of it, though, and I'm going to let K's mother handle this one because I've got my own issues to deal with. K is a big boy and has to learn from his own mistakes. As much as I'd like to see him settle down and be happy for a change I really don't think this is the right move for him. Whether it is or whether it isn't, I wish him all the best and know that things will work out the way they're supposed to for him.
Until next time...peace to all.
I'm finding it really disrespectful lately that the people in my life who know I can't hear very well find the need to either mumble or turn their heads when they speak to me. I've got neurological damage to my right ear and have significant hearing loss in it. Everybody that knows me knows about this issue yet, lately, they all seem to have a problem speaking clearly to me and it's really getting on my nerves.
My kids will call out "Mom" to get my attention and then turn toward what they're looking at that they want me to see all the while speaking to me about it and I can't hear a word they're saying. Either that or they have food in their mouths or are busy doing something when they choose to speak to me. I'm constantly having to ask them to repeat themselves. Just a few minutes ago Tyler did it and a few minutes before that Zach's friend did it. I had to ask Tyler twice what he was trying to tell me and I had to ask Zach's friend three times, even going so far as to ask him to speak slower and louder. He was running his words together and mumbling at the same time. Aaaahhhh!!!
Other people do it too and it's starting to make me crazy. It's not my fault I can't hear and there's nothing I can do about it because the hearing loss isn't bad enough that a doctor will give me a hearing aid - yet. I just have to deal with it the best I can but uncooperative people don't help, especially when there's background noise in the room. My nephew constantly does it to me. He mumbles and then when I say, "What?" he laughs and just repeats, "What?" as if it's a joke. It's not funny people!
I don't know about others who have hearing difficulties but for me it gets really frustrating to constantly have explain that I have trouble hearing and then have people ignore me when I ask them to speak up or repeat what they've said. They either look at me like I've asked them to disarm a bomb or they tell me to just forget about what they said; "Ah, just forget it." Well fuck you too!
After tonight I've decided that I will completely ignore anyone who knows about my problem and chooses to disregard it. I'm not asking anyone to repeat anything anymore. If it's important enough they'll speak up the first time, if not, so be it. Anyone who decides that my hearing loss is a joke and wants to laugh at the fact that I can't hear them may just get a lesson in manners and respect. I've had enough. If you want me to hear you, speak up, otherwise go speak to someone else.
Until next time...peace to all.
