Another reason I want to move back to Texas...

Dec 11, 2008 16:42

I just had to get my vehicle registered here in Nebraska because my Texas plates expire.  I am not happy about this because I want my truck (named Chupathingy for those of you who don't know me) to remain a Texas truck.  Still, the entire procedure reminded me of why I like Texas and wish to remain in Texas because things there just make a whole shit-ton more sense.

So, I start by going in to the licensing office and asking what I needed to produce in order to get new tags.  Okay, first thing, they actually still use tags here.  In Texas, they have a new system whereby your inspection information and vehicle registration are displayed in the windshield, along with your license plate number and a bar code to prove that indeed the vehicle is registered and this is the proper vehicle for this registration.  Not only that, but it also means that you can't simply steal the tags off the plates (or the plates themselves), but you have to take the entire windshield and have an identical vehicle with an identical vehicle ID number...in short, impossible.

Never mind that though, it is far from the stupidest thing about the entire process here.  So, I have all the documents and then some with me, as well as my check book since they don't take credit/debit cards.  Step one: inspection.  Now this was attached to a building, good idea.

The bad idea is: I have no fucking clue what they were looking at.  I drove in and turned my car off.  They then took down some information, vehicle number, insurance info, etc., and tell me to wait five minutes.  There is no one close to my car, no one looking at it, the car is off so there are no emissions...they come back out of a room and give me the slip telling me I was fine, charge me $10.

Now comes the fun part.  I take that slip and all the necessary documentation in to the place and got up to the counter.  Now, anyone who has known me for any appreciable amount of time know that if you say something stupid, I will call you on it and say something right back.  Unfortunately, I tend to forget when and where the appropriate time and place for this sort of behavior is.

Now, in Texas, they will register an out of state vehicle and let you keep your out of state plates, charging you the out of state fee plus a bit more for processing.  So when the nice (albeit very short) lady behind the counter asked me (without any intonation of sarcasm or humor) "Do you want Nebraska plates?" upon seeing the Texas licensing and registration, I felt my heart leap: even though according to the sign behind her, the licensing fee is only $18 (more on that later), as I said, I want to keep it as a Texas truck since I have every intention of returning there.

Naturally, I said "Actually, I would like to keep my Texas plates and re-register my vehicle there."

"Sorry, hon, but you have to get the Nebraska plates, we can't do that."

"So that was a trick question?"

Mistake, never have a sense of humor at the Omaha DMV as the workers there have absolutely no sense of humor.

The process went rather smooth after that, a little bit of a hassle with out of state insurance and vehicle title caused her to have to check with her supervisor a few times, though I think that was really more about me calling out her obvious oversight.

Then she hands me the bill.  Now what she neglected to tell me is that in Nebraska, the tax on your vehicle is as if it were a property valued at the same as the state property tax.  total on that: $180.  Then there is the Motor Vehicle fee: $20.  Next, the charge for their time at the DMV: $5.50.  Registration fee: $18, as promised.  Plate fee: $6.50.  Titling fee (even though I didn't get a new title and all they had to do was look up on a computer to verify the valiity of mine because the seal of the state of Texas is not valid here): $10.  And finally, the (no I am not making this up) wheel tax: $54.  Add the "inspection" fee and  the grand total for registering a truck in Nebraska: $304.

So why does this make me want to move back to Texas?  Registration renewal: $60, inspection (still a pain in the ass with out of state insurance): $40 (and they actually do inspections on emissions and other things like brakes) for a grand total of just about $100.

So, yet again, it is cheaper to move back to Texas.  Not to mention their entire process makes a bit more sense and is easier to get through since the people there, at least in my experience, have a sense of humor, though I will admit this may have just been a bad day for this woman.  Still, it is cheaper than Colorado where the total cost is closer to $500 in total, but it didn't help my mood any after leaving the place.

And it doesn't help that  I was already in a bad mood after my first final.  The reason why?  The professor repeatedly reassured the class that the most programming we would have to do would be examine  a given program, walk through it and maybe alter it slightly.  Third question: Write a program to determine if a list is a palindrome...

The lesson there, never trust a professor.

vehicle, nebraska, texas

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