TCB

Yes, we took care of some business today.

Last night, I all of a sudden got very bloated.  Very very bloated.  Like sharp pains in my distended belly bloated.  I took some antacids and rolled around on the bed.  Eventually, I farted it all out.  But in the meantime, I couldn't fall completely asleep, and I woke up a lot.

I set the alarm for 6:20, though, and I got right out of bed.  I had left the phone in the living room, so I had to get up to turn it off.  I always forget how to turn on the snooze, or if there is a snooze, so then I have to just get up.

So, we were on the road a little after 7.  Traffic was not heavy yet, although the school zone sign was already flashing.  We went to the DMV up in Fort Lauderdale this time.  We got there about 20 minutes before it was supposed to open.  There were 10 people in front of the FP, which was not bad.  Some crazy transient walked by loudly talking to himself.  He asked the guy behind us for a cigarette.  The guy behind us gave him one, and told him this cigarette had no chemicals in it or something.  I couldn't turn around, so I couldn't tell what brand they were.  It's funny though, because the fancy cigarettes didn't stop the guy from hacking up a lung every 5 minutes.  The crazy homeless guy then stopped by us and asked us for thirty cent.  The FP kinda muttered he didn't have it.  Crazy guy kinda asked again, and I said we didn't have any change.  Then I corrected myself and said we didn't carry and kind of cash around.  So, then he walked away.  He didn't directly ask anyone else.  We always get panhandled more than other people if there's a big group.  I guess we look more compassionate - or maybe we look more like pushovers or suckers.

The place opened promptly at 8:02.  Of course we had to complain, like why couldn't they open at 8 am like they were supposed to.  Anyway, this DMV was much smaller than the other one, but things seemed to move along faster.  So, the FP went up to the first counter, and he easily was granted a number after showing the counterperson a several years old W2 form.  So, then he waited a couple minutes and he was at the counter.  This process probably took 25 minutes, and then we were out of there.  He seemed to be chatty with the guy helping him.  When we left, he told me that the guy was from Pittsburgh, go figure.

So, then we went to the Auto Tag Store.  It was just a couple miles down the street.  And this one advertised that it opened at 9.  So we were about 17 minutes early, and there were about twelve people in front of us.  This place also opened promptly at 9:02.  Besides the first couple that took about 10 minutes, everyone else seemed to be chugging along.  We got up to the counter, and handed over the papers.  The woman had to go out and verify the VIN number, and then she was filling out our paperwork.

Meanwhile, this woman waiting had been on the phone forever, and she was getting louder and louder. She was talking about NFL Redzone.  So obviously she was complaining about her cable bill, how it started at $150 and it had steadily gone up to $199 with no notice (they usually email or send a notice that rates are changing, but who really reads that shit?) and how she wanted a level bill that didn't keep spiking and stuff.  She was getting nasty, and you could tell everyone was listening, well, because she didn't give us any other choice.  So, then she, started really raising her voice - saying when she got home she would read her contract and speak to the manager, and how she would be speaking to the manager about this particular person's inability to satisfy her (I doubt anyone can satisfy this lady).  So, at one point, one of the employees called like two or three numbers and no one responded, so she continued down the line until someone responded.  When the angry cable customer lady hung up the phone, she went up to the counter and said, "Excuse me, I was number 34 and I was skipped over."  The clerk very calmly told her that she called her number and no one answered.  But she agreed to help her.

And then the woman started bitching about her registration.  Something about how one car registration could not be renewed online and only that one.  So the lady said that there was some system glich or something that couldn't be helped, and she couldn't do anything about it, and it happened to a lot of people.  So angry cable lady asked if she could change it or make a note to allow her to register online.  And the lady said there was nothing she could do.  Luckily, or unluckily for us spectators, the lady left without causing too big a stink.

And then we paid for our registration and got our title and license right then and there.

On to TD bank.  Just a little down the street.  We needed to get our declaration of domicile notarized for free.  The notary wasn't in until 12.  So, we went to the address where I though the title company was.  It was a vacant building.  So I had to call the title officer and ask for the address.  Luckily, it was just down the street.   We got there and put a check in for our earnest deposit on the offer on the house.

Then we were going to go to lunch.  But it was too early.  So, we drove down the street to the beach until it was 11, and we were the first customers in Primanti Bros.  That took up time until 11:45.  So then we went to TD Bank and got our document notarized.  The guy didn't even ask for my bank account number or anything.

Then we went to the government offices off of Las Olas.  We walked right in, got a visitor sticker, then walked to the records room and got a ticket.  49.  The woman told us to go farther down.  So we did.  Then we were looking around dumbly.  I didn't see a sign for records or a number board.  A little person sitting in a chair asked if we were there for passports.  I said no, and she asked, record a document?  I said yes.  She said we were in the right place as long as we had a ticket.  The ticket being served on the board, when I finally spied it, was 48.  So, we waited for a couple minutes, then the lady sitting behind the counter (who appeared to not be doing much when we walked in)  called something on the intercom.  We were about 12 feet away from her, and I couldn't understand what she was saying, so I assumed she was calling number 49, which she was.  So, we walked up, gave her our paper, gave her our IDs.  She inputted our info and asked for $10 and handed us our papers.  We walked to the car at 12:43.  That was one of our most productive mornings ever.

So, I guess we are kind of officially Florida residents.  I guess there's no turning back now!