Howdy all. I'm about 300 miles south of home right now at my brothers house. Those of you that read his site know he's been working on building his new shop, (aka the man cave) for a little while now. He had a local contractor build the main structure and pour the slab. As a guy who works in the trades, I can honestly say they did a great job!
Gene called about a week and a half ago and asked if I would be interested in coming down and helping him put the siding on. I was able to create a hole in my schedule and make it down here.
Today was day one and we made some pretty good progress. We got all the corner boards, door and window trim put up and about half of the first side of cement board siding on. By tomorrow we should have two of the four sides complete. When I get back home I'll be sure to post some pictures for you to see.
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Now on a completely different topic. Just before I came down here, I had to renew my drivers licence and the registration for my truck. Any of you that live in California may want to make sure you're sitting down before you read any further.
I walked into the local DMV at 4:02 pm with my passport, soc sec card and my old licence in hand. The guy at the counter politely (amazing I know) asked if he could help me. I explained I was there for a renewal and he said to take a number and someone would be with me shortly. I pressed the button and received number 24. Before I could take a seat, a person for behind the counter called out, "Number 24." With a smile on her face, she looked over the information and said, "Looks like everything is in order. That'll be $39.00"
I handed her a check and she told me to take my old licence to the next station down the counter and drop it in the box then another person would take a new photo of me in a moment. This time I actually had to sit for about a full minute. (Oh the humanity!!!) The next person snapped a picture and handed me a paper copy of my new licence, explaining that the "real" one would arrive in the mail in 3-5 days.
Start to finish I was in and out of the DMV with a new eight year licence in under five minutes. That's right, 5 minutes. I've waited in line at Starbucks longer than that!
The next day I went to the DEQ to have a smog certificate/test done on the truck. This trip took considerably longer however, mostly because there were two other people in line ahead of me. I think the whole process took less than ten minutes. As a nice side benefit, I was able to pay my two year registration at the same time, meaning I wouldn't have to go back to the DMV to take care of it.
Let's recap shall we? In approximately fifteen minutes total time I was able to renew my drivers licence, get a smog cert and register my truck. Yes, Oregon does have it's good sides.
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I've got a story in the works for the new blog, but since I'm on "vacation" I might not get to posting it for a few days.
Bye all.
29 comments:
Hey Jeff...have I told you today that you are a loser?
BWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
I had to get a new license last year because my "life time" license had an "expired" photo on it. (Apparently, we are supposed to replace our "life time licenses" every 12 years. Who knew?) Anyway, my experience took slightly longer than yours, perhaps 10 minutes. Amazing, when you consider that I live in a metropolis with over 5M residents.
In Vegas when I went to the DMV I took two novels, a hand-held video game and a picnic basket full of goodies. Here in Hawaii I was greeted at the door and waited on instantly.
yeah...your dmv experience is stellar but I'd rather have Arnold than Sam...just sayin'
have fun working for your brother...looking forward to the pictures...
Impressive! Last time I renewed mine, I had to wait at least thirty minutes, and then the bitc...I mean woman at the counter read out loud, to the entire room, as loudly as possible, the number inserted in the weight column. Not only did she announce the number, she repeated it again by asking if it was correct. That number echoed around the room a couple of times before I could answer. I had the urge to climb over the counter and strangle the woman. Fortunately I restrained myself, or I would be writing this from prison!
I'm looking forward to that story.
When I was a youngster and I had to walk 20 miles through 17 feet of snow, getting through the DMV processes took about 19 days of waiting in line without food, water and bathroom breaks. These kids today don't know how good they've got it.
Wow....I'da thought differently for you than for me. I'm glad to hear it was a good experience at the DMV.
Now, about that siding and the aging brother... Poor dear. It's good to be kind to the elderly, though.
<-- snickering
Yes I know--he who laughs first and all that rot....LOL
Have fun!
clearing my throat....
ummmm mel?????
elderly?????
I have to get a new license this month too. It's usually not too much of a hassle at our revenue office. We'll see though. They tend to hire from the bottom of the gene pool. haha
Didn't Gene call you a skunk in his post? Why are you being so nice to him when he's always being so rude to you? You two crack me up.
I can't believe it took you that little time at both places. If you don't make an appointment in California you just might be there all day at our DMV's.
Have fun on the man cave. :)
it is a good thing that you two get along so well.
WHICH DEQ?!?!
Actually the 185th one in Hillsboro was really speedy as well. Portland ones are a nightmare.
That's good going!
Gene- I'm trying to remember why it is again that I offered to come down here.
Songbird- I guess lifetime in AZ only applies if you have the same life expectancy of the average house cat.
Quilly- My experience in CA was much like your Vegas one.
Katherine- We like to think that Sam Adams really gets behind his interns!
Maybe he and Blagojevich could get together and start their own freakish state somewhere.
BJ- This woman had a bit more tact. She asked if my weight was the same. I told her more or less, which was a bold face lie, but she didn't press it anyway.
Nessa- Sounds like the way I had to walk to school. Good to see you've returned too.
Mel- I laugh at his age now, but I know that day will be here for me someday too. Oh wait, that won't happen for another seven years!
Bwahahahahaha
Nitebyrd- We've shared plenty of laughs so far.
Katherine- Kinda thought you might have something to say about that comment.
Jay- Sounds like a real picnic. Hope it goes better than you expect.
Sandee- Funny isn't it. I never do anything to deserve his abuse either!. . . Well. . . almost never.
Mike- You might never know it from all the jabs we exchange, but we really do get along great.
Starlight- I went to the one in Gladstone. It's off old 82nd ave. just north of Hwy 212. Easy breezy.
Akelamalu- It is on both fronts.
Glad things are going so well down south. :) And should I tell you that where I live, I can renew my license on-line in about 30 seconds? :p Though I must admit that doing the car registration does take slightly longer. lol
Jeff, you must be the good brother? Ha Ha Ha
Be safe and don't hurt yout index fingers with a hammer or something.
We can't wait to read your new blog.
Come to Michigan just once... We have cots at the DMV...
you two should do a vlog while you're out there being all manly and construction dude like
I bet it would be hilarious
My (yes, MINE and they should remember that) DMV branch moved and since then I waited all of 15 minutes to renew my license, pay the registration on my car and transfer my mom's registration.
I think they Feng-shuied the place.
Wow... nice to hear of a state with a functioning bureaucracy, although I think when I got my permit and licence in AZ, things went pretty smoothly there too.
Belated happy birthday to your brother. Hope the construction project continues to go well. Looking forward to your new blog too.
that's incredible, jeff... too me 6 1/2 hours just to get mine done :(
Things go pretty smoothly here in Washington too. I managed the emissions test pretty quickly. And I can renew my vehicle registration by mail or online.
We'll see how the drivers license renewal goes. That comes up in April.
Cherie- I think we used to be able to do that, but now they require more proof of who you are.
Pam- The good one and the good looking one! Bwahahahaha
Buffalo- I'm sorry to say that that made me laugh.
Dianne- Today was a bunch of burping farting and carrying on. Probably not what would appeal to the masses, but Gene and I had fun.
Anndi- The feel good DMV, I like that.
Raven- It's still going great. We should have it all buttoned up by tomorrow.
Laughingwolf- That's downright frightful.
Travis- Hope it goes smoothly for you.
Sounds like you've got a good system going there Jeff! A
Anne- After having spent the better part of my life in California, it's a nice change of pace.
Strangely enough, NJ has a fairly quick DMV too. You are right, sometimes the line is longer in Starbucks. That's worth waiting for though. ;)
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