Saturday, August 30, 2008

New License Plates

I forgot to tell you guys about this when it happened, so I'll post it now. I had to get new plates for the car this week, so Jeremy's dad took us over to the place we needed to go to get them. It was pouring down rain. Jeremy and his dad came out of the building and told us, oops, we need both our licenses to get the plates. I didn't happen to have mine with me because I didn't think I'd need it. We go home. A little later in the day, I take Jeremy's license along with my own and head up to get the new plates. The lady tells me she needs both Jeremy's and my signature. I take the paper home to have him sign. Jeremy was asleep by then (working midnights will do that to a man), so I didn't go back that day.

The next day, I get Launa and we head back up to the tax collector.

We wait in line for 30 minutes.

I get to the window.

The lady looks over the papers, the signatures, and our licenses. She notices that my name on the title is Mary Gross-Crank. I explain to her that when we bought the car, I hadn't yet changed my name with the Social Security Administration, so to avoid confusion on my credit report, I just hyphenated my name. She tells me that to finish the paperwork and get my shiny new Georgia license plate, I'll need to get a copy of my marriage license and bring it in to prove that I am me.




In a slightly (okay, maybe very) irritated voice I ask her if she will look over the paperwork and let me know what else I need to bring in, because this is my third trip over here for this exact purpose. She tells me she'll check and heads over to another lady for a consultation. She comes back in a few minutes and tells me that since I've been here so many times, they'll just go ahead and do it for me.

Alright guys. I'm serious. Georgia is a beautiful state. But moving here is the biggest pain in the rear! I cannot believe how many hoops there are to jump here! This is crazy! It's amazing there's not a mass exodus from this insane place! And I guess I'm living by the rule of threes when it comes to trying to become a legal citizen of Georgia: 3 times to the DMV, 3 times to the property tax office. 3 more times till I run, screaming and tearing my hair out, over the edge of a cliff!

23 comments:

lizS said...

wow. i'm surprized you didn't punch somebody in the mouth. i think i would have.

Anonymous said...

Georgia is dumb. Odin is angry at you for moving there.

J

Mary said...

Yeah, you know how powerful that Odin guy is. And anyway, I was already upset about some other stuff going on at the time. That may be why I didn't post about it right away. It was actually not the most irritating thing in my life at the moment.

Anonymous said...

You could always play legend of the green dragon to forget about your worries!

It's just like LORD , but red dragons are licensed still apparently. Heh.

http://www.underground-gamer.com/lotgd/referral.php?r=theefxman

Mary said...

Hey, I was looking for that online not very long ago, but I couldn't find a game going anywhere! Yay! I'm so glad you found it! :D

Mary said...

Hey, it wouldn't let me on without a referral. It said the site was already full. Can you send me an invite?

Anonymous said...

found a better site anyway with tons more cool features.

http://www.lotgdaddiction.com

I'm

Theefxman of p-ownt

Mary said...

Awesome! I'll have to go look in a little bit. Thanks.

Bill Crank said...

Sorry you feel that way. There are a lot of great people who live here.

Anonymous said...

I have been living in Georgia for awhile and have had no problems. Perhaps the entire fault is not with the state of Georgia. Since Sept. 11 happened, the rules have gotten stricter, especially in areas that are very heavy in immigration population. From the sound of your story, both parties were a bit at fault, as you should have made sure you called and had everything you needed before you went the first time.

Mary said...

It's not the people, it's the bureaucracy. And excuse me for thinking that when I went in person the first time, they would have told me what all else I needed to bring in the second time around. And certainly by the second time, I would have thought they would let me know what to bring for my third trip up. And I'm not sure why I should have thought "Gee, I'd better bring 8 people to sign the paper, my social security card, my marriage license, proof of my mother's maiden name, and a vial of my eldest child's blood." Also, it irritates me when someone has something to say but isn't brave enough to sign it.

Dana Cheryl said...

Oh girl... What a day! Amen & amen to your feeling about big government.

Yes! They should have told you everything you needed when you had to leave the first time. It's their job! Thay are PAID WITH OUR TAX dollars to serve us. Public servants...

If they worked for my company they would have been severly reprimanded when you had to return the second time. The first rule of Customer Service is... Take ownership of the problem & make sure that this issue does not have to be addressed again.

There is rarely an excuse for poor customer service.

Dana Cheryl said...

You know Mary you can block Anonymous commentors... That really irks me too!

Dana Cheryl said...

Oh and while I'm on this rant... ;)

How is it that our public servants aren't held to the same standard of customer service as a company like at&t? (I work for at&t btw.)

I mean these public servants are being paid by me! Me! Me! Me! That makes me the customer and the boss. So why is it that I'm not treated with the same courtesy & respect & thorough-ness?

And please don't let anyone tell me that our public servants are overworked! Sure they are. We all are. I'd tell them to try and work for a Fortune 500 company if they want to talk about overworked. I don't get any paid cushy government holidays. We work Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas. I can guarantee that I handle twice as many "customers" a day as they do. I'm not uping the numbers either. I guarantee it!

Moreover if anyone thinks that we should rollover and take this ridiculous treatment they've been brainwashed by the mediocrity that's destroying American. We should expect excellence as well as give excellence in our lives!

OK enough from me on my soapbox!

Hear, Hear Mary. Good for you expecting to be treated like the patriotic, hard-working tax payer that you are!

Dana Cheryl said...

America used to be great. What happened to us?

Anonymous said...

I am sorry that you had such a hard time Mary. If it is any consolation,your family is glad you moved here and are willing to help whenever needed. True they should have been more helpful, but what can I say not everyone in our country is as courteous as you are. I hope that you will not hold all of us responsible for the rest of the state, we are not all bad.

PS, I had some of the same issues when I moved to NC a couple of years ago.

Mary said...

Somehow people are getting the idea that I'm having problems with the people who live here. Let me just reiterate. I'm not. I like everyone I've met so far. I'm just having a heck of a difficult time getting through all the red tape in this place.

And I can block anonymous posters? That's great! I'll look into it immediately! :)

Dana Cheryl said...

I didn't get the sense that you were disliking the people. From everything I've read it sounds like you really like the people.

I just got the impression that the mind-numbingly oppresive governmental bureaucracy was getting on your nerves... To which I say I wholeheartedly agree!

I'm from the South. I was born there. I was raised there. My heart will always belong there. Still the hoops I've had to jump through to get anything accomplished DRIVES ME NUTS. I also used to work for the state government so I see it from both sides. Hence a move into the private sector.

I only described what most people feel.

It's nuts & you're utterly justified in your feelings. You should expect better service. Absolutely.

I'm just saddened by the fact that the greatness of our country, this unique Democratic Republic, is being swolled up by appropriations, bureaucracy, and sub-standard work ethic.

I guess that I feel pretty passionately about it because I used to work in the midst of it. :)

lizS said...

um, yeah, in mary's defense, i didn't get the idea AT ALL that she disliked the people, the state itself, or living there. i did however, get the impression that she was, understandably and justifingly irritated to the point of madness at the amount of work that insued from simply trying to change her liscence. and i DO NOT in anyway think it was her fault that she had to return no less than THREE TIMES. that is, in a word, ridiculous. she has not, on this blog or to me personally, intimated to me in ANY WAY that she doesn't like living there, or dislikes anyone she has met there. she's happy. give her a break.
oh, and if you aren't man enough to sign your name to your haranges, then don't comment at all. coward.

Mary said...

Hehe, Anonymous you stuck your hand in a hornet's nest this time! My friends are gonna get you!

Dana Cheryl said...

By the way, I laughed myself silly after reading this post. :) I especially loved the video. Seriously I had to put down my laptop for a few minutes.

You're awesome!

KT Anne said...

Mary,

I never got the idea from your blog that you don't like GA the state, that you dislike any of the people of the state of GA or that you are in anyway sorry you moved your family to GA.
Perhaps there were others who had had a 'bad' day that day!
I hope you know how much we love you and miss you and that we hope things are going better for you since you got your tags!
Love You and Yours!
Aunt K

P.S. How is SUPERMAN?

Mary said...

:) Thanks guys. Aunt Kath- Superman is doing well, he wishes I would let him go outside to play more, but I'm keeping him kennelled another day before I let him outside for the day. (I'm supposed to make him be still for a week. That's not gonna happen.) Anyway, how was your trip? Looks like you made it home ok.