All of us who live in Indiana refer to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles as the BMV office. This phrase puts chills in the bravest of men and women. Going to the BMV is something to avoid at all costs, but the way this department runs leaves Indiana residents no choice but to venture into the office at least once a year for car plates.
My physician issued me the necessary paper work to receive a hanidcap parking permit to use while my ankle is on the mend. This is a good news - bad news situation. The good news is that you have a closer parking space when making visits to the doctor, etc. The bad news is that the only place to get the permit is at the dreaded BMV.
In my husband's profession, this time of year is one of the busiest. With the school year ending soon, preparation of tests, turning in grades, and attending conferences and meetings, time is an all important resource not to be wasted. Keeping this in mind, we both entered the BMV and noticed a long line of people waiting to check in with the receptionist. The second thing we noticed was the crowded room of people with unhappy looks on their faces. Many were complaining about the amount of time they had been waiting: anywhere from forty-five minutes to two hours. This was not a good sign, and not wanting to wait that long, I suggested that we head for home and try again on another day. My husband, never one to give up, said to check in and get things done.
I checked in with the receptionist and mentioned that I only needed a handicap permit. Since this was the case, my name was placed on an express list. Much to our surprise, after about five minutes my name was called! I had a quick thought as we approached a smiling clerk that a small riot might begin in the room as we zoomed ahead of everyone. I think that my being in a wheel chair might have prevented that from happening.Pushing our luck after greeting the smiling DMV clerk, we made sure to take care of the business at hand and other things needed so we would not have to come back anytime soon. In addition to getting the permit we were able to purchase a license plate for our Corvette, renew my driver's license, and also renew my husband's driver's license, thus keeping us from having to deal with the DMV until next January! It was a great day for us at the DMV!
I do know that for expats living overseas, especially in Italy, the paper work you all have to go through is so much worse than maybe loosing two hours or so at the DMV. Remember, though, that we Americans are always in a hurry and any time spent waiting in line is something we cannot deal with.
If we are lucky and our state does the necessary work, we should be able to order the license plates for next year by mail. We won't be holding our breath waiting for this to happen. All of you Hoosiers know what I mean. [For those who don't know, "Hoosiers" is the nickname given to natives of Indiana.]
6 comments:
At last, good luck at the DMV! I always HATED going to that place! Now if you were living in Italy, your story would have gone like this....
Wait in line to check in. Get a number and told to go wait in area A. Wait in area A for countless hours when at last your number is called. Tell the clerk what you need, the clerk then tells you that you are in the wrong line. Clerk sends you to area B with a new ticket in hand, only to find that area B is only open from 3:06pm till 4:32pm. Kill several hours and return to area B when it is open. Wait again until number is called, speak with cleark in area B only to be that you are (again)in the wrong line. Get sent to area C with new ticket and wait some more. Clerk in area C calls your number. You tell clerk in area C what you need and (at last) she tells you that you are in the right area. Just when you start the smell the sweet scent of victory, clerk in area C informs you that they only deal with your problems on Friday and to come back on Friday.
You return on Friday, go through the entire process again. At last when you talk to you clerk at area C she informs you that you must have an appointment. She gives you a number to call to make your appointment and you go home wondering why she didn't mention that LAST week!
You see, it isn't always "La Dolce Vita" around here! hehehehehe!
Glad you were able to take care of everything in one visit. If anyone wants to complain about the DMV, I would tell them to come spend a month with me. They will go home thinking the DMV is wonderful! hehehhee!
Cyn
Cyndi- I did forget to mention that at the DMV they do not give out numbers anymore, they do not want you know how long you might have to wait. Still it is an easy day compared to what you have to go through whenever you need things done.
Hi
We still go to the Kendallville DMV and it is super fast. The people are very nice to us too. Does Auburn have one? You don't have to go to the one in your county. We just get Purdue plates, so we don't have to worry about the wrong county number on the plate. Infact we just went on Tuesday. We have a Purdue plate and they put an 02 sticker on it for Allen County.
Hi Amerimom. You are most welcome to stop and visit my blog. It is nice to meet Opus and Roscoe's grandma.
What a waste of time to have to go every year to get something for the metal monster. Our state just mails out a renewal sticker once you pay your money.
Amy-you might be onto something there, we might check it out next year.
Derby-so glad you stopped by. I will be sure and keep in touch with you. In our state we are susposed to be able to get our permits by mail but the last two years it has been impossible. They mail things out too last and the computer system isn't working right. We can only hope that they fix the problems by next year.
We've been renewing our car license plates by mail for years now. We used to even be able to renew our driver's licenses by mail! But the DMV is dreaded in every state I think!
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