CNET's NEWS.COM has some great shots of cars from the Geneva Autoshow.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Spring Has Sprung A Leak
Today, it's 8 or 9 degrees colder. It's partly sunny now, but rained really hard earlier today. I still haven't figured out how to get to the wall that I can see from my cube... if I could get to that wall and there wasn't someone in the cube, I could open the blinds. Not sure how long that'd last and if I'd get lost on the way back out and have to take up residence in that department.
Oh... I have a new cell phone number. Look for it at the bottom of my e-mails. My e-mail address is also semi-new, but the old one rolls into the new one.
Ok, so we threw all the tea in the harbor because we were getting taxed without representation, right? So is it at all ironic that whenever someone says "tea" you think of "Lipton" which is a Dutch brand?
Oh... I have a new cell phone number. Look for it at the bottom of my e-mails. My e-mail address is also semi-new, but the old one rolls into the new one.
Ok, so we threw all the tea in the harbor because we were getting taxed without representation, right? So is it at all ironic that whenever someone says "tea" you think of "Lipton" which is a Dutch brand?
California DMV: Red Tape from Hell
The level of uselessness astounds me.
In January of 2006, I renewed my tabs. We moved in March. It pained me to pay a full year when I knew I was moving, but I wanted to stay legal and there's no such thing as a partial payment.
In March of 2006, we moved. Lori received a notice of renewal, forwarded to our new address. We checked the box "Moved out of State" and wrote down "Washington." I'm not sure we provided them with our new address. We also noted that it applied to my car, including license plate number and VIN.
In June of 2006, Lori got the "Notice of Delinquent Renewal" with assessed penalties and the bill for Planned Nonoperation and threats of collection. She called and went around and around on the phone with them, again also mentioning my car. Ultimately she had to mail in a statement to the fact that the cars had been registered in another state and provide proof of that registration.
In August, we started receiving political advertisements at our Washington state address. By the buckets. Several a day. They went on until a week or two after the elections.
In January of 2007, I got a renewal notice for my car. I checked the box "Moved out of State" and wrote down "Washington" and returned the form.
This week, I got the "Notice of Delinquent Renewal" with assessed penalties, threats of collections, etc., etc., etc. I called the 1-800 number. It doesn't take too many keypresses to get to the operator, but if they're not on duty yet, it just asks you to call back during normal business hours without actually informing you as to what those hours are. I finally talked to someone who demanded a faxed copy of my registration without letting me finish my story in the first place.
I sat and fumed for awhile and then called back. As soon as I was connected, I asked to speak to a supervisor. He said "Supervisor... hmm... what did you need?" I sighed and began to explain it to him. After awhile he said "Hang on a second." and set the phone down on this desk noisily. It was quiet for awhile, then I heard a printer, then it was quiet again. Then he picked up and said "I found someone." After more silence, Gloria picked up. I asked her how much the operator had told her. She said that he had handed her the printout and then she asked me to again give my license plate number and details to confirm I was me.
I told my story again and she explained that there was nothing she could do because I was talking to the "Campbell office" and I had sent the form to the "Sacramento office." and that she was willing to help me clear this up. I explained (again) that I understood all that but was trying to communicate that there was a larger problem, that someone who was processing renewal forms wasn't doing their job. She again explained that she was in the "Campbell office" and not the "Sacramento office." I tried to explain that maybe she could tell someone. She offered to give me a 916-area-code phone number so I could call the "Sacramento office" with my concern.
In the end, she offered that I could mail it to her if I didn't want to fax it. I liked that idea much better because I figured she would be more likely to get it and that I trust the US Postal Service more than whoever happens to walk by the fax machine in the Campbell office. ("like the soup!" she said, as a way of avoiding spelling it. I bet she wishes the street name was spelled "Daryl" so she could have said "Like the movie!")
We're government. We don't have to be smart, efficient, or customer-centric. Thankfully, government is one arena I've never been employed by and hopefully never will.
Will we have to go through all this again in 4 years when our California drivers licenses expire?
In January of 2006, I renewed my tabs. We moved in March. It pained me to pay a full year when I knew I was moving, but I wanted to stay legal and there's no such thing as a partial payment.
In March of 2006, we moved. Lori received a notice of renewal, forwarded to our new address. We checked the box "Moved out of State" and wrote down "Washington." I'm not sure we provided them with our new address. We also noted that it applied to my car, including license plate number and VIN.
In June of 2006, Lori got the "Notice of Delinquent Renewal" with assessed penalties and the bill for Planned Nonoperation and threats of collection. She called and went around and around on the phone with them, again also mentioning my car. Ultimately she had to mail in a statement to the fact that the cars had been registered in another state and provide proof of that registration.
In August, we started receiving political advertisements at our Washington state address. By the buckets. Several a day. They went on until a week or two after the elections.
In January of 2007, I got a renewal notice for my car. I checked the box "Moved out of State" and wrote down "Washington" and returned the form.
This week, I got the "Notice of Delinquent Renewal" with assessed penalties, threats of collections, etc., etc., etc. I called the 1-800 number. It doesn't take too many keypresses to get to the operator, but if they're not on duty yet, it just asks you to call back during normal business hours without actually informing you as to what those hours are. I finally talked to someone who demanded a faxed copy of my registration without letting me finish my story in the first place.
I sat and fumed for awhile and then called back. As soon as I was connected, I asked to speak to a supervisor. He said "Supervisor... hmm... what did you need?" I sighed and began to explain it to him. After awhile he said "Hang on a second." and set the phone down on this desk noisily. It was quiet for awhile, then I heard a printer, then it was quiet again. Then he picked up and said "I found someone." After more silence, Gloria picked up. I asked her how much the operator had told her. She said that he had handed her the printout and then she asked me to again give my license plate number and details to confirm I was me.
I told my story again and she explained that there was nothing she could do because I was talking to the "Campbell office" and I had sent the form to the "Sacramento office." and that she was willing to help me clear this up. I explained (again) that I understood all that but was trying to communicate that there was a larger problem, that someone who was processing renewal forms wasn't doing their job. She again explained that she was in the "Campbell office" and not the "Sacramento office." I tried to explain that maybe she could tell someone. She offered to give me a 916-area-code phone number so I could call the "Sacramento office" with my concern.
In the end, she offered that I could mail it to her if I didn't want to fax it. I liked that idea much better because I figured she would be more likely to get it and that I trust the US Postal Service more than whoever happens to walk by the fax machine in the Campbell office. ("like the soup!" she said, as a way of avoiding spelling it. I bet she wishes the street name was spelled "Daryl" so she could have said "Like the movie!")
We're government. We don't have to be smart, efficient, or customer-centric. Thankfully, government is one arena I've never been employed by and hopefully never will.
Will we have to go through all this again in 4 years when our California drivers licenses expire?
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
A Mighty Consideration
I was pretty disappointed by For Your Consideration, the latest from the last remaining acts to come out of Castle Rock, that is Christopher Guest and the giant cast of regulars. Sadly, I don't think it was on par with any of the rest. There was a moment of shining when you saw the changes that took place as the nomination rumors built to a froth, but then it was over just that quickly as the nominations came and went.
Spring Has Sprung
Wow... just like that. 62 degrees outside. On the warm side for a thick shirt and black pants. Had to ditch my coat in the car and even then, phew. I am definitely not complaining. It is happy weather. But I knew from early on in the day that it was going to be a good day.
I Hope You Have a Good Life
I heard this song last year and have been looking for the lyrics ever since. I thought it was an amazingly accurate picture and it made me sad, knowing Barkley wasn't having the life she deserved. I searched high and low for the lyrics with no luck. Everyone was praising the song and its author/singer Tim Easton, but no one had the lyrics. I finally resorted to creating a Google alert and it paid off today. So, miss you pain-in-the-rear dog, hope you're enjoying life. For some reason, my original post telling of Barkley's departure never made it on here. I think the Google was having troubles that day and I had posted via e-mail and it got lost. In January, in desperation, I posted in Craigslist. I laid it all out there and immediately started getting responses. Eventually we got one from a woman named Cassie who owned a pet store and doggie daycare. She worked with a rescue organization and they were willing to rescue Barkley. With sadness, we agreed, drove Barkley to Marysville and surrendered her. She's now living with a family in Covington who has two older children and another small dog.
Black Dog (c) Tim Easton
Black dog in the warm sunshine
Looks like she's lost her mind
Why don't we call her back
She can't go on like that
We're standin' in the doorway now
Wondering how black dog got out
If she could only hear me
Black dog might come back again
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
She can run and she can play
Black dog likes to get away
She can bark and she can bite
Black dog keeps you up at night
Neighbors are getting tired
Black dog is in their yard
In your fence a time or two
Before you have to start anew
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
Black dog will run again
Because she's not listening
Sun is settin' on her face
Black dog's wondered far away
I wanna see your face
When they put black dog in place
You say it can't be done
But tomorrow won't be long
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
Black dog will you come around
Black dog when will you lay yourself down
Black Dog (c) Tim Easton
Black dog in the warm sunshine
Looks like she's lost her mind
Why don't we call her back
She can't go on like that
We're standin' in the doorway now
Wondering how black dog got out
If she could only hear me
Black dog might come back again
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
She can run and she can play
Black dog likes to get away
She can bark and she can bite
Black dog keeps you up at night
Neighbors are getting tired
Black dog is in their yard
In your fence a time or two
Before you have to start anew
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
Black dog will run again
Because she's not listening
Sun is settin' on her face
Black dog's wondered far away
I wanna see your face
When they put black dog in place
You say it can't be done
But tomorrow won't be long
Black dog will you come around
Black dog won't you lay yourself down
Black dog will you come around
Black dog when will you lay yourself down
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