MY NEWBIE IS SHOWING

It Should Have Been Easy ...

[warning: contains innuendo of colorful metaphors if you are sensitive to that sort of thing]





So, today was full of little ups and downs. My boss sent me to pick up license tabs and keys for him. It should have been simple enough. I got all the necessary paperwork and the money and the directions. Simple, right? I’ve screwed up simpler things.





I had a choice of going to two different DVS stations. The first one on Rice Street did not have clear signage for the street number or the location. So I went to the second location, which was easy enough to find, but parking was hideous. Upon finding a parking space in the US Bank building, I walked to the DVS station on Minnesota Street. I waited patiently for an interpreter to show up for the person in front of me. I’m sure there is a logical explanation why people who cannot read English and cannot pass a driving test should be allowed to have a license and to drive, I just don’t know what the logic is. God used that moment to punish me. I heard a conversation between the receptionist and one of the clerks about the Triple Check being down. I did not know what that meant until I stepped up to the desk. It meant the computers that made the tabs was down. Oh, joy. At least she gave me a map to the other DVS. I told her that I went there first and it was not where the map said it would be. Oh, but it was. It was clearly marked Sears Store, and it was on the second floor. In my head, I would make a merchant marine blush.





So off I go, now knowing what I was supposed to be looking for. I dig in the purse (you know that thing the hubby calls a suitcase) but no credit card. I only found $3 in ones. Parking could not cost more than $3, right? WRONG. $5.00. EXPLICTIVE DELETED! No fear, I have the money that the boss gave me. I stick it in the machine and it spits it out. No problem, turn it around. Still spits it out. WTF! Look closer and it’s a $50! Who does that?!? The tabs are $11 tops and the keys he wants remakes of are $5.00 tops. And he gives me a $50 instead of $20 like a normal person. Irritation on the rise, I find my coin box (converted pill box in case you wonder what one of those looks like). One quarter in, spits it out (ate my nickle, the piece of cauliflower)! By the time I have the purse turned inside out and a beautiful man (a/k/a angel from heaven) shouted at me, “I got it!” “Thank you!” I shout back and take off as if the hounds of hell were after me, yet still having the sensibility to praise God for wonderful young men who are not afraid to step in and be knights in shining armor for twits in distress. His wife is so blessed.





Anyway, I finally found the Sears store. Did you ever notice that if one person blows the traffic lights, it sets off a chain reaction five cars back? It really does. At least the parking at the Sears store was free. That’s the only positive that I could find. This particular Sears stores had an odd smell. Almost like new clothes smell come out of basement storage, mix in a bit of baby diaper and day old sweat and it was quite the odiferous sensation for sure. I was lucky in that I pulled a couple numbers from the wait-in-line number dispenser, but the express line was open. I may not look my age, but I can fake being old pretty good in a pinch. She processed my order and I was in and out in less than 15 minutes. Which was good, because I can only hold my breath for so long before I had to risk inhaling another bouquet of those horrific scents.





So then off to get another set of keys made and I’ve done my duty as the office mom. Should have been easy. But no. I had to hunt down someone who was not “busy”. It is a family run business and you can tell. Everyone is incredibly laid back. And it takes 2 people to figure out what would normally only take one to do. But I got the keys and returned to the office. And the boss noticed that it took twice as long to do two simple things, but I think he was more happy that he got his keys and tabs than in how long it took this twitterbug to do what he thought was an easy task.





I guess the boss needed the tags right away because it would cost $140 if he did not fix it within 10 days. I thought one of his tenants probably put them in a safe place for him. He did not think so. It was just easier to send me on a wild goose chase than to ask his tenants the safe place where he probably put them.





So how was your day?