Suspended Driver's License

I have decided that it is not my fortune to work well with any government entity involving motor vehicles. As a result, I have had the experience of having my driver's license suspended. Whoo hoo! I'm a rebel!
The last time I visited the Driver's License Division was when I moved down the street and around the corner 5 years ago. I went in to complete a change of address, and renewed my license. Otherwise, I have always been able to renew by mail since I drive like an old fuddy-duddy and have no tickets or violations.
This year I had the delightful experience of having my vision tested and filling out all new paperwork. At least I didn't have to take a written test. Now, if you have read the actual paperwork, they ask ALOT of medically relevant questions. It took me a few minutes to have some conversations in my head about how to answer these questions.
First, you have to understand my mindset. In the past several years I have seen the long-term effects of ill-managed diabetes. While I have made many lifestyle changes (most recently getting ALL of my bloodwork within normal levels :)) I have not made all the changes I need to make to avoid the same pitfalls. I am also horrified that the Driver's License Division continues to renew my mother's license (evidently 20/40 in only one eye is good enough for them) and hope that when I am older the department has the good sense to just say "No."
I decided to answer the questions honestly, as I also thought about the odds of getting in an accident, if my health records would be subpoenaed, and then I would be really sorry. Also, I feel compelled to be a good rule follower (go figure) and felt like being honest.
Well, your reward for honesty with the government is PAPERWORK!!! I was sent a medical evaluation form to have my Dr. fill out. Well, I went on vacation this summer and went on with my life. When I returned, I had a doctor's appointment, but forgot to take the paper with me. This paper became a bit annoying. As the school year started, my health insurance company changed, and I got my insurance card a week after everyone else got their cards.
I finally made an appointment for the Dr. and called the DLD (getting tired of typing it out) and explained to the representative that I didn't want to get my license suspended, but I hadn't finished with the Dr. yet. The lady told me that I hadn't gone over my 75 days to complete the form yet, and if I did, I would get a letter in the mail telling me I had 30 days to comply before my license was suspended. If I needed, I could have up to 20 additional days. Ok, do the math I could put this off for 4 months if planned correctly, so where is the actual motivation to get it done?
I told her that it should be fine, I had an appointment for the next week (after I drove to Park City I found out it was in 2 weeks) and I would get the form in. I had my appointment on the 24th, got my paper all filled out, and slept the entire weekend as my antibiotics kicked in.
On Monday, I got a letter in the mail, and to my suprise, since I had failed to comply and turn my form in, my license would be suspended October 4th. Well, I had the form in my pocked the next two days, but was getting ready for a long break from school and a short trip to Idaho. And I forgot the reason I was getting up so early in the morning was to go to the DLD. I don't think well early in the morning, like before noon. I took the form with me, planning to mail it, but I forgot to fill out my portion of the form. Bottom line: no form turned in. I tell you, if I could ever get around to it, I could be the president of the procrastination club.
I did decide with my luck, I really shouldn't risk driving, and again, I do like to follow rules. So I arranged for a friend to take me to work, and another to take me home. My friend got me to work around 7 this morning, when the DLD opens, and I faxed in my form. I then called the medical division, and they got my fax and lifted my suspension. Ok, so boring story with no interesting plot. So what? It makes me feel like a rebel to say, "Can you come get me? My license is suspended."

So, recently I have become quite fascinated with iTunes. I have been working exceptionally hard at creating a workout playlist (much less work has been put into the actual workout) so I can keep motivated at the gym. I hope to return in the next week, as my heel spurs have FINALLY improved. I got the first cortisone injection before I went on vacation, and the second right before I started back at work. For some reason, the right heel hurt more but had faster relief, and the left heel started hurting right after the right heel was healed. Go figure. So, I do feel confident that I can now go back to walking and weight-lifting with the included benefit of being able to walk across the room when I get home. But, I digress. The point of this post is that I have added a number of items to my library, and have also discovered how nice it is to know the actual lyrics.
BTW, Joanna, I read the lyrics for the 7 Things I Hate About You and you will be pleased to know there are 9 things, not 7. Bad teenager math, Kids Bob!
Here is a link to a song I have enjoyed lately. It didn't make the gym list (due to the depressant factor) but I like it anyway.

Offspring - Kristy, Are You Doing Okay? lyrics | LyricsMode.com

The Chick Flick

Due to my pervasive social ineptitude, I have not experienced an actual "Chick Flick" in the company of other "Chicks". I saw Beaches and Dead Poet's Society at a drive in, and I have viewed most others while blubbering in the privacy of my own home.

This evening, Chris & I went to see My Sister's Keeper. There were 2 men in the entire theater, and I surmised they were dragged by their significant other. Ok, so one poor fellow was holding "the purse", therefore I assume he either expected to get some kind of reward, or couldn't find anything worth watching in the other 23 theaters. Female after female poured into the room, and I was nervous for the first 10 minutes about how quiet the movie might be or if I should just escape now before I wasted my premium movie bucks. Evidently, there is some unwritten code of chick flicking that does involve immediate silence upon the first interesting thing that occurs in the film.

So this movie was a genuine tearjerker. I had tears within the first 20 minutes of the film. As the film progressed, I had to stop eating my popcorn because I got salt in my eyes everytime I tried to catch the tears, which brings me to the most interesting feature of this particular flick.

Often in a movie, if I need to cry for some unknown reason, I usually use my sweatshirt sleeve, or my t-shirt. I don't carry a purse for multiple reasons, so I have no special package of Kleenex that fits in my purse. I watched the row of 10 chicks in front of me get out their individual packages of Kleenex, apparently this is another important rule of chick flicking, and pass them around to each other.

Now, this was an incredibly depressing show. I mean, beyond the iceberg Jack in Titanic depressing. As the show went on, the women used up their stashes of Kleenex. At this point, the most fascinating thing happened. The youngest member of the group pulled a sandwich size zip baggie out of her purse, stuffed FULL of Kleenex. All I could think was, "All hail the queen of the Chick Flick!" Evidently it was her turn to pick the show.

I have been in a doctor's office full of sick people, and never imagined the amount of sniffling and nose blowing that happens in a Chick Flick. I can now fully understand why Chick Flick deserves it's own genre in the movie categories.

New Year

In an effort to get more money, which the State of Utah is threatening to keep instead of sharing, I have been taking several classes from UEN on various technologies usable in schools. Oh yes, and let's not forget I must renew my license this year if I plan to stay employed. The first class I took was on Microsoft PowePoint, and I made one fine presentation, if I may say so. I also know how to save files and send annoying spammed movies to all my friends and frenemies using e-mail.

The next class was a digital photography class, and not owning a digital camera personally (I do have one for classroom use) it was very enlightening. I learned about editing in Picasa ( a free program from Google) and then made a movie in Photostory. You can get Photostory from Microsoft. I am also learning to edit movies or music clips in MovieMaker so you can use just what you want of a clip. The best gift of learning was how to download files from YouTube.

So I now posess the unlimited potential to waste every gigobyte on my computer storing useless clips posted on YouTube. I have very quickly learned the limitations of a flash drive as related to space. I hope to add some of my best photos on my blog soon, so there will be something to look forward to!

I also plan to waste more hours using the many tools available on Google. The worst part of all this is I never realized what a geek and a nerd I am. I always knew I was a bit on the freakish side, but the past few weekends has really brought out my need for a virtual pocket protector. Who knew?

Procrastination

Well, as usual, I started a project, got distracted, and never got back to the blogging. I'll make what could be a terribly long and boring story short to keep me focused. I got a great payment from Progressive on the Honda. It was enough to buy the uber security system from Toyota, including an alarm for when the glass gets broken, and put a few payments in the savings account for when I blow my cash on unnecessary items to take up precious space in my house. (Better known as supporting my teaching habit.) I got more money if I let Progressive take the car, and since I only had so many things to do with the car, I let Chuck go. No funeral, no memorial service, but I did save Sir Chomps Alot (the patron shark of all vacations) and he is now on my computer monitor, watching over all I download. I would have put him in the van, but he is just a picture of a shark after all, and what if he gets stolen?????

Sorry. Got sidetracked with predators.

I finally got a copy of the police report in late May, and let me interpret for you what the fine servant of SLC wrote:

"I was driving around mad I had to work on a holiday, and saw a thug in a car that wasn't his. I swore to myself, turned carefully so I didn't spill my coffee, and watched him run away. I sauntered over to the vehicle, called in the plates, called the owner who annoyed me with a request to do something reasonable, and was too exhausted after the whole ordeal to deal with the car. So I sent it to impound, went back to 7-11 to refill my coffee, eventually wrote up this report, and eventually submitted it to my superiors."

I hope that is detailed enough. I took the van on the first big trip to Custer State Park with Chris, my SIL, and 3 slimy children who got gross things all over in the car. Coleman was bright enough to discover that a cup is not actually needed for the cupholder; you just pour the drink in the holder and use a straw. Note to Coleman: Wasn't that great of an idea with ice cream. Oh, and NEVER pass out Starburst in the summer. Guess what sticks to the carpet when half eaten!?! Well, at least the van is broken in. It could only be new for so long. And I found the worlds best carpet cleaner in a can at Wal-Mart. HooraY!

I got all the slimy kid germs and fingerprints out today when I was in Richfield. Yes, a fine small town in Utah. Long story, nobody cares.

It was a bittersweet moment. (No, I wasn't licking the Starburst on the carpet.) While I'm happy to have a sense of order restored, I'm gonna really miss the slimy little monsters that screwed it up in the first place.

So Funny I Almost Wet My Pants...

I went to pay my insurance bill online, and here is what they have listed as the purpose of the Honda Accord on my account:


1990 Honda Accord Dx/L4d
Pleasure

Yes, I find it a car that I keep just for pleasure!

My New Dilemma

Well, things seem to be going along as they should. I spoke with the insurance company yesterday about my car, they are pretty darn busy this time of year and will get back to me on Monday about my claim. I did talk to "Insurance Man" about the cost of a new paint job and the depressing low value of an 18 year-old car, and he thinks most likely they will consider it the vehicle totaled. Works for me! Then I don't have to figure out how to get cigarette smoke smell out of the car, and I don't have to worry about the next mechanical failure. I suppose I am a little sad about Chuck (the car) not making it to 200,000 miles, but he's had a good life.

I find myself in the unusual position as of the end of today with 3 vehicles. I have to deal with Chuck still, I have a rental car, and I am now the proud owner of a Toyota Sienna van. Thanks to the BOM (otherwise known as the Bank of Mom, branches open all over the world) I have signed all the paperwork and have entered the adult world of car loans. I did realize since I am 33, and have never purchased a vehicle of my own, it was time to see how this works. While I would be perfectly happy to keep getting free crappy cars, not that Chuck was crappy, he was a good deal, I think 40 would be a little too old to be asking my mother to come with me to finance a car.

Of course this all started out so innocently by looking at a used car lot to see how much a used car would cost. I have some simple priorities in a car: easy to get disabled people in and out, room for a wheelchair and passengers at the same time, and an extensive security system. I added the third priority recently. I fell in love with the Sienna we rented in Boston this summer. While most things about caring for a disabled person don't get to me, taking apart a wheelchair, driving 2 blocks to the doctor's office, and reassembling the wheelchair does get to me. My pants get kinda dirty too, and I look like I've been run over by a trike.

The Sienna has enough room to put the wheelchair, fully assembled, in the back with no extra effort, and without tire tracks on the khakis. It also has enough room since all the seats come out, that at some point in time it could handle transporting a power chair. I've been pricing them online, and I know I can't afford a new one. So I went pricing used ones. I don't mind getting a car, but I mind owning another Honda. While I loved it, I didn't love the demand for items of no worth that kept getting stolen from it.

So after the 1st car place, I went to Karl Malone Toyota to see if they had any used ones. I had seen one online, but it was not the color I wanted. Well, they had 2 Sienna's with low mileage that were 2007 models. In their great salesmen-like ways they planted the panic button explaining this was the last day of the great Toyotathon sale. Mostly what I needed to know was how much would we have to put down for me to manage the payments without making Chris wheel herself out to the street with a cardboard sign to earn money. Which reminds me...I haven't seen the one-legged guy with a dog for quite awhile. I think crazy neighbor lady scared him good.

Well, the BOM was open, so we went in, and I was totally expecting great disappointment. Instead we left with my mom planning some great trip to Vegas, and Chris planning the next travel adventure of Phillip the monkey. If you haven't met Phillip yet, be grateful, and don't ask questions you don't want answers to.

The salesmen drove the Sienna and my mom to American Fork, where there is room for it, and I will finalize the details of Chuck's great sendoff into the auto beyond, and call Hertz to take back the Mazda I never want to drive in with snow again. And amazingly enough, the insurance on the new van is EXACTLY the same amount as the Honda. I'm still in shock.