Last Day
Today is the last day that other people work and I don't. I am celebrating by eating brie, pita, and carrot cake and feeling sad (with Meagan) that I accidently taped Point Pleasant instead of Alias on Wednesday. I also missed West Wing because Matt's mom was visiting and we were still eating dinner at 9:00 and it didn't feel quite right to turn on the TV and take my dinner to the coffee table. Needless to say, I made a huge mistake. Two huge mistakes, it turns out.
As for the job, last week I was getting nervous because I still hadn't gotten any paperwork telling me where to show up on Monday. It turns out that HR misplaced my paperwork, again, but I contacted them in enough time to set things straight, and I'm ready for my first day of orientation. Yes, yes, all you naysayers--I'm sure that before long I'll yearn once again for these days of endless freedom, but for now I am happy to be starting my new job. And it turns out that training is in the same place as my sister's office, so we can start having lunch and coffee breaks together much earlier than we were anticipating.
Off the subject of work, today I renewed our car registration online. Don't you think it's weird that it was already time to renew our registration even though we've lived here for a mere three months? It is because when we went to the DMV last week to register for the first time, the kind man behind the counter only registered us through February because we hadn't gotten an emissions inspection. We had many reasons for not getting an emissions inspection, the most relevant of which was that Matt called the DMV the day before we went to register the car, and they told us that since it was a 2005 model year, they didn't require an emissions inspection. But the kind man behind the counter explained that that rule became null and void the very second that we registered the car in California. "But doesn't Virginia accept California emissions standards?" I asked, quite timidly. "Yes it does," he replied. "Did you get an emissions inspection in California?" "No, idiot." The timidness was gone. "It was a brand-new car. We didn't have to." "Ah-ha!" he practically cackled. "Then you have to get it inspected. But I'll be a kind man behind this counter and give you license plates anyway, but valid only through February." The particularly annoying thing was when we got the safety inspection, we could have gotten the emissions inspection at the same time. And when Matt took the car back to the same place for the emissions inspection, they almost refused to do it because of the absurdity of inspecting a brand-new car. But all these are details and not at all the point of my story. The point is that the Virginia DMV allowed us to renew online, which took all of three seconds. It was so easy that I almost encourage people to move to Virginia just to experience a DMV that works efficiently and with minimal hassle. But that would be cruel, considering that it took us two tries to get our licenses and then another two to get our registration. But I am charmed by their online system. It allows you to register for up to two years, so next year I think we'll only have to get another safety inspection.
OK, writing that long but intriguing story was basically a means of putting off my trip to the gym. I'm done now, so I'm off.
As for the job, last week I was getting nervous because I still hadn't gotten any paperwork telling me where to show up on Monday. It turns out that HR misplaced my paperwork, again, but I contacted them in enough time to set things straight, and I'm ready for my first day of orientation. Yes, yes, all you naysayers--I'm sure that before long I'll yearn once again for these days of endless freedom, but for now I am happy to be starting my new job. And it turns out that training is in the same place as my sister's office, so we can start having lunch and coffee breaks together much earlier than we were anticipating.
Off the subject of work, today I renewed our car registration online. Don't you think it's weird that it was already time to renew our registration even though we've lived here for a mere three months? It is because when we went to the DMV last week to register for the first time, the kind man behind the counter only registered us through February because we hadn't gotten an emissions inspection. We had many reasons for not getting an emissions inspection, the most relevant of which was that Matt called the DMV the day before we went to register the car, and they told us that since it was a 2005 model year, they didn't require an emissions inspection. But the kind man behind the counter explained that that rule became null and void the very second that we registered the car in California. "But doesn't Virginia accept California emissions standards?" I asked, quite timidly. "Yes it does," he replied. "Did you get an emissions inspection in California?" "No, idiot." The timidness was gone. "It was a brand-new car. We didn't have to." "Ah-ha!" he practically cackled. "Then you have to get it inspected. But I'll be a kind man behind this counter and give you license plates anyway, but valid only through February." The particularly annoying thing was when we got the safety inspection, we could have gotten the emissions inspection at the same time. And when Matt took the car back to the same place for the emissions inspection, they almost refused to do it because of the absurdity of inspecting a brand-new car. But all these are details and not at all the point of my story. The point is that the Virginia DMV allowed us to renew online, which took all of three seconds. It was so easy that I almost encourage people to move to Virginia just to experience a DMV that works efficiently and with minimal hassle. But that would be cruel, considering that it took us two tries to get our licenses and then another two to get our registration. But I am charmed by their online system. It allows you to register for up to two years, so next year I think we'll only have to get another safety inspection.
OK, writing that long but intriguing story was basically a means of putting off my trip to the gym. I'm done now, so I'm off.
3 Comments:
Heather, I don't mean to steal your sunshine, but in Florida you can also renew your registration online, and absolutely no inspections are required. Top that! Okay, I guess I did kind of mean to steal your sunshine. Have a good first day of work!!
Kate
By
Anonymous, at 10:09 PM, January 23, 2005
it is imperative, imperative I say, that you tell us about your job.
By
Anonymous, at 5:16 PM, January 28, 2005
It shall be done, after I actually start my job. For now I'm in training, which is not all that much fun, and very tiring. But I'm learning quite a bit about the patent-examination process, which is what I'm getting paid to do, so I guess nobody can complain much about that.
By
Heather, at 5:58 PM, February 01, 2005
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