is stupid.
But I guess I have to abide by it. For the past couple of months I have been stuck in this weird RMV purgatory.
It all started when I was pulled over at the beginning of April for having an expired registration. Um, I think it was April 1st, and my expiration was March. Hardasses. Anyways, the officer was super nice and just wrote me a citation and told me to take care of it. I was relieved, and I thank you Officer O'Rourke (I'm sure he is a frequent reader of this blog).
So then, like an upstanding law abiding citizen I took a trip to the Worcester RMV. Probably one of the worst smelling places I have EVER visited. At noon on a Friday, it had the aroma of Body odor soaked in whiskey with a dash of rotting fish. I got my ticket and was informed my wait time was about an hour. GREAT. But, like previously mentioned, I just needed to get it taken care of.
After standing in high heels for an hour, trying not to vomit from the smell -it was my turn! They called me, yay, # 584!!! I marched right up to that counter with wrinkled registration in hand and stated my claim. Johnny RMV entered in my info, and looked up at me with a sad face. Kind of like the face my mom would have given me when breaking the news to me of a pet dying. In my head I was like, "really, what now." Or actually I think I may have said that out loud. Whatever I am babbling. Turns out, allegedly, I neglected to pay an excise tax from 2006. 2006!??? I immediately started my rant (even though Johnny RMV was pretty nice). Still. "What do you mean I didn't pay that? I must have, seeing as how I have had no problem renewing my registration for the past three years, what kind of establishment are you running? This is ridiculous." Johnny RMV, being very diplomatic, asked me if maybe I had some sort of proof of payment blah blah blah. Me, not being very diplomatic, said "from 2006 buddy? You gotta be joking." I was unable to renew my registration unless I paid this $120 tax from my past. Bullshit.
With tears welling up in my eyes I left that smelly RMV defeated depressed and angry. A BAD combination.
Okay Charis, suck it up and pay it. I did. Then I went to Ecuador before I had the pleasure to re-visit the Worcester RMV. Upon returning from my amazing trip I received a citation in the mail from my initial pull-over (With officer O'rourke) that he told me I could appeal. It was for $100, and they so nicely tacked on a $50 late fee. Apparently, it ain't Blockbuster. Hello another road block. I hate you law.
I assumed because of this citation, my vehicle was not renewable. And I refuse to pay this $150, so I requested a court date to appeal it. (If you are still reading, I am shocked! Don't worry, we're almost at the end).
So, the past month I have been tooting around Worcesterr in my car afraid for my life. Constantly checking my rear-view mirror every 2.8 seconds. Always going 35 in thickly settled zones, actually pulling over in parking lots when Police cars came in sight. I was just waiting for my appeal to go through, so I could renew. But the inevitable happened yesterday. I was on my way to the doctors for my annual physical at around 2:49 pm and I see blue flashing lights behind me. I was caught. I was (insert four letter word with an "ed" at the end here).
How was I going to explain to this officer my situation. He came up to the window and I just wanted to hand myself over, put my wrists up and say, "I give up, arrest me, take the car, I'm tired of being on the run -you win." Oh yea! I neglected to mention I did not even have a copy of my expired registration in my vehicle. Not goood. So, I took a deep breathe and got my dimples ready. "Hi Officer, it's kind of a long story," he reponded, "I don't want to hear it." Dimples weren't gonna work on this guy (Officer Farver). What else did I have? I had DESPERATION! yay. I quickly told my sad story before he dismissed me again and we were buddies. He presented me with options when he could have just towed my ass. Option one: I write you a citation for operating an ilegal vehicle and for having a crack in your winshield and I tow your car to some obscure bureau of Worcester. Option two: We just tow your car and pay to get it out after I renew. And then we had option three. I LOVE you option three. He said that if I had a cell phone, I could call the RMV and just renew over the phone and he would wait. What? Really? Oh my God, I love you officer Farber. So, while on hold for 30 minutes, he waited until I renewed my registration. I was free to go. The funny part is that I was parked on a cross-walk the whole time. In sum, I love you Worcester police.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Bunk beds and beyond
I know this blog is titled, "Charis meets Ecuador," but I am going to branch out...real quick.
I pass a store on my route home from yoga called, "Bunk beds and Beyond," (Bet you didn't see that coming from the title of this blog).
I laugh to myself every time I pass it, and say out loud, "What is better than bunk beds?" What is this alleged "beyond." I undertand the concept behind Bed, Bath and Beyond. But people, beds and baths are very vague and the beyond is so much more whimsical and attractive. But...bunk beds...well, they are awesome! I have not had the pleasure to own or sleep in one recently. I feel compelled to go in to this store and see what the claim "beyond" is all about.
In my head, I imagine a new invention of a bed I cannot even fathom. In reality, they'll tell me they have a replica of the bunk bed seen in the movie BIG. I know this post was totally random, but welcome to my head on a Saturday night. And, no, I will not pay money for Match.com.
I pass a store on my route home from yoga called, "Bunk beds and Beyond," (Bet you didn't see that coming from the title of this blog).
I laugh to myself every time I pass it, and say out loud, "What is better than bunk beds?" What is this alleged "beyond." I undertand the concept behind Bed, Bath and Beyond. But people, beds and baths are very vague and the beyond is so much more whimsical and attractive. But...bunk beds...well, they are awesome! I have not had the pleasure to own or sleep in one recently. I feel compelled to go in to this store and see what the claim "beyond" is all about.
In my head, I imagine a new invention of a bed I cannot even fathom. In reality, they'll tell me they have a replica of the bunk bed seen in the movie BIG. I know this post was totally random, but welcome to my head on a Saturday night. And, no, I will not pay money for Match.com.
Miss-communication
That's me.
Some of you are probably perplexed that it has been almost a month since my trip to Ecuador, and yet I am still blogging. But, my thought is no one is really reading this, so why not write for my own recollection? My memory sucks at 24, so it's only going downhill from here people. I'm sure Cyndi still checks this. "Hi Cyndi"
I'm a talker and a writer. I communicate. I LOVE it. It's my thing -they actually pay me for it. So you must understand the frustration I was faced with when having to resort to half-ass charades and an awful attempt at the beautiful spanish language when I was in Ecuador.
At first, it did not seem like a big deal. I realized what I was in for, and I knew I had Ashley and Javier to translate. That was the first night. After that, I would just talk english to people -totally forgetting they had no clue as to what I was saying! It was annoying and liberating all at the same time. I finally had a secret language with Ashley, where we could talk at the dinner table and no one knew what, or who, we were talking about (Besides Javier, and I always forgot he could understand). For example, Ashley could say, "I have gas." And I could be like, "Me too, must have been the empanadas," and would not be embarrassed. That was liberating. (Ashley, do not comment on my spelling of empanadas please).
Frustration:
But then, when we were in Bannos looking at beautiful waterfalls, I REALLY had to pee. So, our lovely and very handsome tour guide/cabbie showed me where to a bathroom. I had to go soooooo bad I pushed aside a little girl who was trying to talk to me in spanish. I assumed she was trying to sell me toilet paper, but Ashley had given me some to use.
Turns out...it costs money to use public bathrooms there, and that little girl was trying to collect 10 cents from me to use this particular toilet. MISCOMMUNICATION. When I got out, Ashley was laughing as she explained what had happened. How was I supposed to know. I felt bad, but am rarely confronted with 8 year-old embargo types standing outside bathroom stalls. It was funny. I am uncertain if this is translating well via blog. (Which is embarrassing since I already claimed to be a "great communicator.")
I also screwed up a lot of easy spanish words and quickly got the correction from Ashley who has been correcting my english and grammar since I was in the whom.
In sum, I REALLY would like to go back to Ecuador, but will make it a point to take a language class before. Spanish for dummies DID NOT WORK for me. :-)
Some of you are probably perplexed that it has been almost a month since my trip to Ecuador, and yet I am still blogging. But, my thought is no one is really reading this, so why not write for my own recollection? My memory sucks at 24, so it's only going downhill from here people. I'm sure Cyndi still checks this. "Hi Cyndi"
I'm a talker and a writer. I communicate. I LOVE it. It's my thing -they actually pay me for it. So you must understand the frustration I was faced with when having to resort to half-ass charades and an awful attempt at the beautiful spanish language when I was in Ecuador.
At first, it did not seem like a big deal. I realized what I was in for, and I knew I had Ashley and Javier to translate. That was the first night. After that, I would just talk english to people -totally forgetting they had no clue as to what I was saying! It was annoying and liberating all at the same time. I finally had a secret language with Ashley, where we could talk at the dinner table and no one knew what, or who, we were talking about (Besides Javier, and I always forgot he could understand). For example, Ashley could say, "I have gas." And I could be like, "Me too, must have been the empanadas," and would not be embarrassed. That was liberating. (Ashley, do not comment on my spelling of empanadas please).
Frustration:
But then, when we were in Bannos looking at beautiful waterfalls, I REALLY had to pee. So, our lovely and very handsome tour guide/cabbie showed me where to a bathroom. I had to go soooooo bad I pushed aside a little girl who was trying to talk to me in spanish. I assumed she was trying to sell me toilet paper, but Ashley had given me some to use.
Turns out...it costs money to use public bathrooms there, and that little girl was trying to collect 10 cents from me to use this particular toilet. MISCOMMUNICATION. When I got out, Ashley was laughing as she explained what had happened. How was I supposed to know. I felt bad, but am rarely confronted with 8 year-old embargo types standing outside bathroom stalls. It was funny. I am uncertain if this is translating well via blog. (Which is embarrassing since I already claimed to be a "great communicator.")
I also screwed up a lot of easy spanish words and quickly got the correction from Ashley who has been correcting my english and grammar since I was in the whom.
In sum, I REALLY would like to go back to Ecuador, but will make it a point to take a language class before. Spanish for dummies DID NOT WORK for me. :-)
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Road
The mountains and wilderness were untouched by greedy human hands. My eyes were not ambushed by the harsh purples and oranges of Dunkin Donuts or street lights and strip malls. The reds, oranges and yellows were instead represented on clothes lines strung around houses –as if for decoration and not necessity. The bus slowly rounded the bumpy corners. We traveled up through mountains –and then down, repeatedly. My eyes were attacked by the beautiful world I observed. I was far from anything I knew, responsibility of any kind and normalcy. The feeling was ineffable. Moments like this rekindle my belief in God. A belief that comes and goes far too often with all the hardships life can bring. The road was bumpy, and to some may have felt uncomfortable, but I felt placid, calm –alive. I was simply happy for the first time in a long time. It had been too long. I gazed at the myriad of greens that I didn’t even know existed. Mesmerized, I breathed in deeply. I needed to breathe down deep in to my toes in order to fully take in my surroundings. Two cows glimpsed in to the bus at me as I stared back. They knew. Waterfalls bathed the mountainside, nourishing the jungle. All I could hear was the humming of the bus and the Spanish language spoken by the other passengers which I could not understand. The combination was a peaceful melody as we weaved through Ecuador.
After about 8 hours of staring out the window in awe, we approached Gualaquiza. The journey was over, but the trip had really just begun. My sister and one month old nephew were awaiting my arrival. Javier, my brother-in-law, appeared as if for the first time, even though he had been beside me the whole trip. Snapping out of my trance, it was time to get off of the bus. Everyone else zealously leaped up to exit the confined vehicle, but I carefully had to separate my butt from the seat. With backpack over shoulder, as if inebriated, I stumbled forward not knowing what to expect next. I exited the bus and planted my feet on the solid ground. Where was I?
After about 8 hours of staring out the window in awe, we approached Gualaquiza. The journey was over, but the trip had really just begun. My sister and one month old nephew were awaiting my arrival. Javier, my brother-in-law, appeared as if for the first time, even though he had been beside me the whole trip. Snapping out of my trance, it was time to get off of the bus. Everyone else zealously leaped up to exit the confined vehicle, but I carefully had to separate my butt from the seat. With backpack over shoulder, as if inebriated, I stumbled forward not knowing what to expect next. I exited the bus and planted my feet on the solid ground. Where was I?
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