I could put it off no longer. It was time to make the trek to the Pennsylvania DMV for the great transfer of car crap. I think a small part of me, scratch that, a LARGE part of me was holding out hope I'd land a ticket out of here before my Illinois registration ran out in July, but it doesn't look like that's happening...so to the DMV I went.
I'm pretty sure the DMV is where patience goes to die. Every time I go, I research, prepare and arm myself with anything and everything I should need, only to find out I f-ed up somewhere along the way. Things started out well, when I was taken instantly upon my arrival. I mean, no wait at the DMV?? Unheard of. Annnnd...apparently counting my chickens before they hatch. After filling out all my license stuff, I got sent to the picture booth, where I had the privilege of sitting around for about an hour, after which I had to take 3 pictures so that I might have a license with a non-deformed face. Give me a break, I'd been up since 8:30 the night before, had worked a full shift and could barely keep my eyes open. Anyway, I finally get a license made that's apparently temporary (why go through the trouble of making one if you're going to send me a different one?), only to find out I can't get my license plates or registration there! So, I'm directed to a license/notary/insurance store (?), where I fork over all necessary documents...including New York State insurance with a PA address, which you guessed it, can't be accepted. That prompted a 50 minute phone call to Progressive to sign up for a whole new policy, which meant an instant first payment. Did I mention I had just made a payment on my current policy? And, that it couldn't be applied to the new payment, but that I'd have to wait 2 weeks for it to be refunded? Needless to say, after shelling out the second policy payment and the $100 for the license plate and registration, I've got about $12 to last me the next few weeks. Can we say hello Ramen?
The lesson in all this? I can't dwell on the unchangeable. I could get upset at the length of time this all took, or the money I had to fork over that I don't usually have to budget for, or the job I moved here for that I'm growing more miserable at by the day and forced me to transfer all this crap in the first place...but instead, I'm taking a deep breath. I made my decision, I WILL make the most of it. And, at the end of the day, I have to be a legal driver in the state of Pennsylvania. So, I'm sucking it up, planning to channel my hunger into exercise, and perusing the classifieds for a part-time second job. I'm a strong, capable, independent woman and I can get through this. Period.
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