much have I traveled in the Boat of Gold
Jan. 14th, 2009 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleThe original plan was so well organized. We would go to the RMV together, with two sets of license plates, title to the car, a checkbook, and a toolbox. I would buy the car and transfer my registration. She would return her old plates, and put my plates on the car. This would leave all of Tuesday for transferring the insurance and buying new tires. Hah!
It turned out the insurance needed to be transferred before I could register the car. (Direct quote from RMV clerk: "Oh, don't listen to insurance people. They don't know anything about this." Perhaps not, but Dan the friendly insurance agent did set up the paperwork and wait until we got there from the RMV, well after their usual office closing time.) The same RMV clerk said we didn't need to re-attach the license plates, but could drive with them displayed on the deck.
So I went back on Tuesday, with my proof of insurance in hand, and tried to do it all myself. Title transfer, check. New registration, check. Return old license plates, check. Thus, my old license plates were legally attached to the vehicle, but not *physically* attached to it. I'm willing to use my hands in ways I know are seriously damaging, but I have to think it's worth it, or it has to be an emergency. This didn't come close. I went to Sears Auto Service to buy tires and ask them to attach the license plates. I had no idea this would exceed their capacity, but they didn't have the right equipment. So, after getting the tires, I went to a nearby Ford dealership. They were able to attach the plates, and do the state inspection required within 7 days of registering a vehicle. It was a near thing, but I managed to acquire my permit for the apartment parking lot, give the RMV receipts for the old plates to the sellers (so they could cancel their insurance, proving they no longer own the car), and get home before dark.
I talked to 4 different people working in the car repair business, asking if anybody there could attach my license plates to the car I'd just bought. They were all shocked that I could have driven there without attaching the plates. The parking lots for the RMV, and Sears, and the Ford dealership, are not completely unfamiliar to me (though I don't drive there much.) I had moments of disorientation in all of them, coming out the door with my keys in my hand, looking around for my little blue car. The little blue car is no more. Now I'm looking for the golden-brown car that turns like a boat. I don't know if it needs a name. I don't really talk to the *car*, exactly ("Can we fit into that parking space? It looks like there might be room. Let's try going backwards and coming around....nope, too small." Speaking of which, that steering wheel is amazingly easy to turn. Still parks like a boat, but wow.)
It turned out the insurance needed to be transferred before I could register the car. (Direct quote from RMV clerk: "Oh, don't listen to insurance people. They don't know anything about this." Perhaps not, but Dan the friendly insurance agent did set up the paperwork and wait until we got there from the RMV, well after their usual office closing time.) The same RMV clerk said we didn't need to re-attach the license plates, but could drive with them displayed on the deck.
So I went back on Tuesday, with my proof of insurance in hand, and tried to do it all myself. Title transfer, check. New registration, check. Return old license plates, check. Thus, my old license plates were legally attached to the vehicle, but not *physically* attached to it. I'm willing to use my hands in ways I know are seriously damaging, but I have to think it's worth it, or it has to be an emergency. This didn't come close. I went to Sears Auto Service to buy tires and ask them to attach the license plates. I had no idea this would exceed their capacity, but they didn't have the right equipment. So, after getting the tires, I went to a nearby Ford dealership. They were able to attach the plates, and do the state inspection required within 7 days of registering a vehicle. It was a near thing, but I managed to acquire my permit for the apartment parking lot, give the RMV receipts for the old plates to the sellers (so they could cancel their insurance, proving they no longer own the car), and get home before dark.
I talked to 4 different people working in the car repair business, asking if anybody there could attach my license plates to the car I'd just bought. They were all shocked that I could have driven there without attaching the plates. The parking lots for the RMV, and Sears, and the Ford dealership, are not completely unfamiliar to me (though I don't drive there much.) I had moments of disorientation in all of them, coming out the door with my keys in my hand, looking around for my little blue car. The little blue car is no more. Now I'm looking for the golden-brown car that turns like a boat. I don't know if it needs a name. I don't really talk to the *car*, exactly ("Can we fit into that parking space? It looks like there might be room. Let's try going backwards and coming around....nope, too small." Speaking of which, that steering wheel is amazingly easy to turn. Still parks like a boat, but wow.)
