My New California License Plate

My daughter worked 78 hours last week. She’s taking a breather with Helaine this afternoon at the mouse. I am shepherding the two dogs. So far, so good.

IMAG0709-w1200-h1200I left the house for around an hour. Today was appointment day at the DMV. My plates were in.

In Connecticut, I drove 4CAST. It was a great plate. Here I had to dig deeper.

Appointments at the DMV are a very good thing, in spite of the long wait for to actually get one. I was scheduled for 2:20. I walked in at 2:10 and was out by 2:22. It would have been faster, but my rep had to stop and show the woman in the next cubicle how to scan a document.

IMAG0712-w1200-h1200The “no appointment” line stretched out the building. It was a line from which you’d be sent to another line. It was long enough to be used as the funny punchline in a TV commercial.

After Santa Ana, I complained (to you) the appointment system discriminated against those without language skills or computers. Overstated. My error.

The people in line here were upscale and stupid, or maybe the two week wait is too much? I felt sorry for them the first time. My compassion has waned.

For the past few months I’ve been driving around with no plates! The dealer throws on a tag, which makes it reasonably clear you just bought the car. I was told I could have done that for six months.

Not that I would, but no license plate would have been perfect for parking tickets or unpaid tolls. It’s a California quirk.

Comments are encouraged.

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28 thoughts on “My New California License Plate”

  1. Ok first, the Cali Mouse is nothing compared to Florida’s Mouse and secondly, I LOOOOOVE your new vanity plate! Enjoy!!

  2. You can be pretty sure no one in CT has that plate, unless they are in a dreamworld. (We might have forestfireless maybe.) Love u anyhow!

  3. Just keep rubbing it in Geoff! You will miss the snow, eventually..maybe.. I am glad you are enjoying the west coast!

  4. Does the California DMV think so much of itself that it puts its URL on every license plate in the state? Wouldn’t VisitCalifornia.com, the state’s tourism website, be more appropriate?

  5. GROANER… but some day you’ll miss the snow… you will… nothing says good times like a good old fashioned Nor’Easter.

  6. Nice plates. I’d affectionately call you an asshole too except that I can see myself being just as much as one if I were in your shoes. Although, I’d be more likely to be called a bitch, given my gender. As for someday missing snow….I have friends tell me that if I move south, I’ll miss it. Yes, I actually think it’s pretty the first half dozen times and enjoy it, after the next few I start to hate it but still think it’s pretty coming down. This winter, I’ve reached the point where I just want to run screaming at the word. Yes, snow is pretty. It’s just as pretty in pictures. I’ll hang those up in my southern home someday.

  7. Geoff, now I can find out where you live. I have some friends that works for DMV in CA. All they have to do is enter your license plate number. When I was working for DMV, some guys came into our place, shot & killed the security guard, while there were a number of people waiting in line. They drove their own car. They knew the address of the people that were involved in the murder before the police could run his plate.

    BTW, have you gotten your new driver’s license yet?

    Did you hear about the new law they propose in CT? If it passes, in 2016, you have to take a written test to renew your license, if you fail, you have to take a driving test.

    1. Carole – Lots of people knew where I lived in Connecticut, but nearly everyone is nice enough to respect your privacy. It never posed a problem.

      We are fully California legal.

      1. I was just teasing you Geoff.

        A long time friend and my cousin lives in your area. I know I will be driving down the Santa Ana Fwy in a couple of months. I always like checking out Laguna Beach, since I lived there in the past. It is fun to drive down the Coast Hwy. I have a cousin that lives in Huntington Beach. I have relatives and friends all over So CA.

        It is great seeing you post on your blog.

  8. I like it…I must say, even jealous of it. I used to love snow. I’d enjoy hiding in my tiny art studio and drawing/painting for hours watching the woods behind my house fill with that fine, downy cotton. I’m 60 now. I curse, I rave and I nearly broke my neck 6 times this winter. Yep! SOOOO jealous….. 😛

  9. with so many sites on the internet its easy enough to get any ones address and info with a little effort,time and some searching if you really want

  10. Well the firs thing that comes to mind for a comment id FU ! 🙂 Especially after this hellish winter !

    BTW, related to license plates, maybe you know this…..why on TV are they blocked out? Is it a security thing for the owner like one of the other people mentioned here? seems odd, being that they are on public display anyways…… I watch Chasing classic cars, based in Portland CT…….I always laugh when I see a plate blocked out on there, knowing if I really wanted to find out the plate #, I could drive to the place in 10 minutes !

  11. Geoff I hope to get the same plate soon!

    My wife needs to get a in a few more years at Yale to boost the pension, and we are off to the somewhere on the sunshine coast between Myrtle Beach, SC and Key West!

    After that I’ll never go above 34 latitude again for the rest of my life – lol

  12. For the record, we got a memo from the Commissioner of the CT DMV the other day specifically stating that if anyone asked, “the Department IS NOT supporting and DID NOT suggest the idea that we institute a retest of the knowledge test on each renewal”. Call your politicians, CT people, this bill is their idea.

  13. If you are happy to be snowless out there that’s good for you! Where is the closest skiing &/or snow shoeing? Won’t the weather be boring? How long do you plan to stay? What will you be doing so far from NE?
    Bob

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