(no subject)
I have spent the last few months at least emotionally, if not otherwise, completely buried in frustration with the worst bureaucracy I think I have ever had to deal with in my life. This is pretty remarkable, considering I was raised military (i.e. I learned to write by filling out forms.)
It started with a stray student loan that no one in three agencies could seem to track down for months. (And then when it was nearly dispensed with, it was turned over to a collection agency, who were great about contacting me. Ahem.) I finally get all that resolved (JUST in time to get enrolled for law school - it was seriously down to the wire).
Then I discovered another alarming problem. My driving license was expiring and I can't get it renewed. Of course, I could only ascertain this after standing in line for hours at the DMV. To make a long story short, I've spoken with at least a dozen government agencies, stood in line at the DMV for many, many hours (since that's the only definitive way to tell if it's been resolved) and still haven't resolved a thing. The last story I heard was that it could take 4-8 WEEKS for the office in California to process such clearances once they receive them. I sure am glad I live walking distance to school.
Add to the mix not having any income for the month of July. It's not that I wasn't having any money sent my way. As soon as I stopped spending much time at home, important pieces of mail started disappearing. Things that were obviously checks. Loan paperwork also fell in this category. Just when I needed the income the most, it disappeared. I won't even speculate on the attitudes or passive-aggressiveness of various housemates as to my presence or absence. At least I can say that's all in the past. I had the missing checks reissued and sent to my new address. Mere days before the old check turned up. (Postmarked weeks earlier.) Any DMV notice telling me my license has expired still hasn't turned up.
This made moving exceptionally tricky. But I managed to accomplish it with (more than) a little help from a friend. I might have managed it OK on my own, due to some extraordinary luck right at the end, but at least it was slightly less stressful in this regard. There are a few outstanding issues, but I think I have everything important covered.
And now, I'm starting law school. It's the scariest undertaking of my life. I'm spending almost as much for one year's tuition as I did on the entire cost of purchase of my house, and it's a 3 year program.
And I still don't have a proper driving license.
This is going to be interesting.
It started with a stray student loan that no one in three agencies could seem to track down for months. (And then when it was nearly dispensed with, it was turned over to a collection agency, who were great about contacting me. Ahem.) I finally get all that resolved (JUST in time to get enrolled for law school - it was seriously down to the wire).
Then I discovered another alarming problem. My driving license was expiring and I can't get it renewed. Of course, I could only ascertain this after standing in line for hours at the DMV. To make a long story short, I've spoken with at least a dozen government agencies, stood in line at the DMV for many, many hours (since that's the only definitive way to tell if it's been resolved) and still haven't resolved a thing. The last story I heard was that it could take 4-8 WEEKS for the office in California to process such clearances once they receive them. I sure am glad I live walking distance to school.
Add to the mix not having any income for the month of July. It's not that I wasn't having any money sent my way. As soon as I stopped spending much time at home, important pieces of mail started disappearing. Things that were obviously checks. Loan paperwork also fell in this category. Just when I needed the income the most, it disappeared. I won't even speculate on the attitudes or passive-aggressiveness of various housemates as to my presence or absence. At least I can say that's all in the past. I had the missing checks reissued and sent to my new address. Mere days before the old check turned up. (Postmarked weeks earlier.) Any DMV notice telling me my license has expired still hasn't turned up.
This made moving exceptionally tricky. But I managed to accomplish it with (more than) a little help from a friend. I might have managed it OK on my own, due to some extraordinary luck right at the end, but at least it was slightly less stressful in this regard. There are a few outstanding issues, but I think I have everything important covered.
And now, I'm starting law school. It's the scariest undertaking of my life. I'm spending almost as much for one year's tuition as I did on the entire cost of purchase of my house, and it's a 3 year program.
And I still don't have a proper driving license.
This is going to be interesting.