RMV hell / I hate Amica / no MFA halloween party
so this morning i get up almost half an hour early to go to the RMV so i can get there right when it opens. i want this trip to be one-stop shopping, so i have packed my bag with all my paperwork the night before: the license form (which i've printed out from the internet and filled out already), my out-of-state license, passport, soc card, copy of my lease, copies of my phone bill and a letter from my student loan people as backups, the NC title and registration for my car, all the other papers about my car that seem remotely applicable, and of course, the RMV-1 form that Amica, my beloved new car insurance company, has sent me.
so to back up a sec, the Amica people have already proved their cluelessness to me by not sending me the RMV-1 form in the first place and then bouncing me around on their phone lines and in general not knowing what to do with me. right after i got my policy with them they sent me a notice about how i needed to have the car inspected by october 7, which happened to be the day i received the notice, and how if the inspection wasn't completed by then they'd cancel my policy. so i call them up, feeling more than a bit miffed, especially since someone from Amica had called me the week before to let me know they were going to start a policy for me and never mentioned this inspection thing. so i got a lot of runaround, because apparently no one in their after-hours call center knows anything about the way things work in massachussetts (dude, people in massachussetts work during the day), but eventually someone does say that she'll change the date by which i need the inspection and send me the RMV-1 form. so i thought, okay, and then the form came in the mail, and i was happy.
so on to this morning. i get to the RMV around 8:45 and go upstairs to the license line first, because that usually takes longer. so, in the words of Chef, i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait, and eventually they call my number and i go up and give the girl my stuff and she looks at it and gives me the eye test thing and takes my picture and it's not awful and she gives me a temporary license and i pay her $90. great, maybe this won't be a nightmare after all. so i go downstairs to the registration area and take a number and wait some more, and they call my number and i go up to the counter and the woman looks at my RMV-1 form which i've proudly handed her and she tells me that someone from the insurance company has to sign it on this line clearly marked signature. i say, but she mailed it to me, she said on the phone this was all i needed, and the woman says, i'm sorry but i can't take it without a signature. so i go outside. i get out my cell phone and call Amica. i am Mad. i let them know it. the girl on the phone tells me they'll send someone out from their office to meet me at the RMV and sign the form. i say, how long will this take, and she tells me 40 minutes to an hour. i say, what else can we do? because by now it's almost 10am and i need to get to work. she tells me she could send someone to my work and then they'd take the stuff to the RMV and process the registration for me. frankly, i wouldn't trust this company to feed my fish, let alone process my car registration, so i ask if i could come there. they're not T-accessible. so i say, okay, send someone out, and i call my boss and leave a message letting her know i'll be even later than i thought. so i go back inside. i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait. then i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait. thankfully i've brought a book. a very nice guy shows up and finds me and signs the form. he doesn't seem like a moron. he even looks over the form to make sure everything else is okay. i apologize for him having to come all the way out there. i want to tell him i'm sorry he works for such a cruddy company, but i figure that's his own fault. so he leaves, and i take another number. i wait some more. they call my number. the form is accepted. i am given my registration and a license plate, and i relinquish $86. then i finally leave and take the T to harvard and go to work.
i am glad i wore sneakers instead of good work shoes.
next ordeal: getting the car inspected and the driver's side mirror fixed. this will probably cost a lot of money. it needs to be done in the next seven days. coincidentally, the rent also needs to be paid in the next seven days. isn't that special? i'm also flying to greensboro this weekend and wishing just a little bit i hadn't made that plane reservation. i found out from jay that the halloween party will be on friday night instead of saturday, so i won't get to go to the party after all. plus i'll have to leave susanna's party on friday night early (well, semi-early) so i can get to bed and get up for my flight in the morning. i will be glad to see rhett and jay and anyone else who actually wants to see me, but i really did want to be at the party. i'm disappointed, and spending a big chunk of money too. nothing goes right anymore. why did we move here again?
so to back up a sec, the Amica people have already proved their cluelessness to me by not sending me the RMV-1 form in the first place and then bouncing me around on their phone lines and in general not knowing what to do with me. right after i got my policy with them they sent me a notice about how i needed to have the car inspected by october 7, which happened to be the day i received the notice, and how if the inspection wasn't completed by then they'd cancel my policy. so i call them up, feeling more than a bit miffed, especially since someone from Amica had called me the week before to let me know they were going to start a policy for me and never mentioned this inspection thing. so i got a lot of runaround, because apparently no one in their after-hours call center knows anything about the way things work in massachussetts (dude, people in massachussetts work during the day), but eventually someone does say that she'll change the date by which i need the inspection and send me the RMV-1 form. so i thought, okay, and then the form came in the mail, and i was happy.
so on to this morning. i get to the RMV around 8:45 and go upstairs to the license line first, because that usually takes longer. so, in the words of Chef, i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait, and eventually they call my number and i go up and give the girl my stuff and she looks at it and gives me the eye test thing and takes my picture and it's not awful and she gives me a temporary license and i pay her $90. great, maybe this won't be a nightmare after all. so i go downstairs to the registration area and take a number and wait some more, and they call my number and i go up to the counter and the woman looks at my RMV-1 form which i've proudly handed her and she tells me that someone from the insurance company has to sign it on this line clearly marked signature. i say, but she mailed it to me, she said on the phone this was all i needed, and the woman says, i'm sorry but i can't take it without a signature. so i go outside. i get out my cell phone and call Amica. i am Mad. i let them know it. the girl on the phone tells me they'll send someone out from their office to meet me at the RMV and sign the form. i say, how long will this take, and she tells me 40 minutes to an hour. i say, what else can we do? because by now it's almost 10am and i need to get to work. she tells me she could send someone to my work and then they'd take the stuff to the RMV and process the registration for me. frankly, i wouldn't trust this company to feed my fish, let alone process my car registration, so i ask if i could come there. they're not T-accessible. so i say, okay, send someone out, and i call my boss and leave a message letting her know i'll be even later than i thought. so i go back inside. i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait. then i wait, and i wait, and i wait and i wait. thankfully i've brought a book. a very nice guy shows up and finds me and signs the form. he doesn't seem like a moron. he even looks over the form to make sure everything else is okay. i apologize for him having to come all the way out there. i want to tell him i'm sorry he works for such a cruddy company, but i figure that's his own fault. so he leaves, and i take another number. i wait some more. they call my number. the form is accepted. i am given my registration and a license plate, and i relinquish $86. then i finally leave and take the T to harvard and go to work.
i am glad i wore sneakers instead of good work shoes.
next ordeal: getting the car inspected and the driver's side mirror fixed. this will probably cost a lot of money. it needs to be done in the next seven days. coincidentally, the rent also needs to be paid in the next seven days. isn't that special? i'm also flying to greensboro this weekend and wishing just a little bit i hadn't made that plane reservation. i found out from jay that the halloween party will be on friday night instead of saturday, so i won't get to go to the party after all. plus i'll have to leave susanna's party on friday night early (well, semi-early) so i can get to bed and get up for my flight in the morning. i will be glad to see rhett and jay and anyone else who actually wants to see me, but i really did want to be at the party. i'm disappointed, and spending a big chunk of money too. nothing goes right anymore. why did we move here again?