Tuesday, April 06, 2010

{deep breath} {deep breath}

Today started out so nice and ended quite the opposite.

Nathan had the day off and the weather was absolutely perfect so we got up and made our first visit of 2010 to the dog beach.  Besta was beyond excited.



We came home, had lunch and were trying to decide what to do for the afternoon.  I jumped online to check our bank account and noticed a very strange charge.  It was a hefty sum charged by a rental car agency.  We haven't rented a car since my car accident back in November.  We had to pay a little amount (We opted to pay for the $5 extra per day so I could drive the Mercedes :) Can't blame me, right?) and the other insurance company was paying for the balance (their driver was at fault).  Well, after some digging, we found out that the other insurance agency didn't pay the bill (in fact, they haven't paid ANY of the bills...grrrrr) so Enterprise charged us... they had our card on file from the little payment we made.  Ya.  So I got on the phone to get a hold of the adjuster assigned to my claim to get to the bottom of it...we shouldn't have to foot the bill for that rental.

While I was on the phone for that, our adoption case worker called us.  Our background check came back - and it failedSeriously.  It will be an easy fix...well, relatively so.  Remember how I said that Illinois requires all hopeful adoptive couples to be licensed as foster parents with DCFS?  That's where we hit our snag.  In order for us to pass that step we must have IL driver's licenses and license plates.  When we moved last year we chose to keep our Utah plates and licenses for several reasons.  Cost was the big one.  It was cheaper for us to keep them in Utah.  In Chicago, if you have out of state plates you don't need city stickers...which can cost $120...ON TOP of your normal registration fees.   In order for us to move forward with the adoption we HAVE to get approved with DCFS, which means we would need to switch over our stuff.   So we hopped online, found the nearest DMV and got ready to go.  We quickly gathered all the stuff we thought we would need (social security card, military id, current Utah license, a piece of mail proving our Chicago residence, birth certificates, title for the car, registration and proof of insurance) and took off.  We walked in and got in our first line.  We handed over all the stuff for our driver's licenses, a lady checked it and handed it back, with a number....and then we waited.  While we were waiting we learned that they do not accept Visa as payment (seriously?  They take MasterCard, Amex, Discover, CHECK?? but not Visa??) and we would have to take a written test.  Nathan gets called up first, his lady seems to be pretty friendly.  I was not so lucky.  My guy refused to transfer my license without proof of my marriage.  Seriously?!?  My current Utah license has my married name on it, my social security card has my married name on it...I pleaded with him...told him I'd been married 8 years.  He wouldn't budge.  So I have to go back tomorrow.  In the mean time Nathan had finished his first stage of paperwork with the nice lady and had been cleared to go take the test BUT we had to pay our fees first and we don't have a MasterCard and didn't have enough cash on us.  So we left the building, walked a half a block down the street to an ATM,  pulled cash out and walked half a block back to the DMV.  (Again...seriously, NOT Visa?!?)  While Nathan took his exam I went to the other side of the building to get our plates.  I didn't have all I needed...I needed proof of purchase for the vehicle.  I asked if he was sure...all we were doing was transferring our plates to a new state.  Yep...proof of purchase (Seriously??!?)  I went back to wait for Nathan and we finally got out of there about 5:30. 


Waiting at the DMV.  We're smiling because we'd just sat down.  
If we had only known what lay ahead...


Now I'm sitting at home, listening to the thunder (that is scaring Besta) and taking long, deep breaths.  I am tired of jumping through all these hoops.  I had been feeling ok about adoption lately...even a tad bit excited...but today made me {hate} it a little.  Not the miracle of bringing a child into our home, but the crazy hoop jumping...made even crazier by our involvement in the military and our residence in Illinois.  


AAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!   
Ok, I feel better now...at least until tomorrow when I return to the gates of hell...a.k.a. the DMV.  Hopefully our claims adjuster calls back tomorrow about my accident stuff...I don't want to have to get mean.

5 comments:

Grandma Bailey said...

I am so sorry! The inurance will be a nightmare but surely you will be re-imbursed. I think they make the other process harder because they are power hungry (on all levels!). The only efficient DMB's are out West. Love you

Sheila said...

Unbelievable! Gosh, what a deal. I sure hope things go better for you today. Love you guys!

Abby said...

What a pain in the A! Honestly, I think the DMV just does it for fun. And the stupid insurance people?? Who is the insurance that the other guy has anyway?

Becky said...

What a mess! Sounds like a good day for some chocolate ;) hope you have better luck tomorrow.

Janus said...

I'm sooo...sorry that that happened. Too bad I'm not out there, then we could head to Ghiradelli (sp?) for an nice BIG, HUGE chocolate sundae. Chocolate ALWAYS makes me feel better, for the moment, at least.

'Chin up' and here's to hoping your day goes a little bit better.


Janus