Life on the Road

Although I wasn’t able to find anything about the inspections on the Mississippi DMV site, other than the fact that they exist, here’s what the private site “DMV Answers” says about it:

Although your auto does not have to undergo emissions testing or a smog check, it must pass a safety inspection before you operate it on MS roadways.

Many gasoline and auto repair service stations are authorized to perform vehicle safety inspections. Areas service station agents will inspect on your motor vehicle so that you can complete the register car process are:

* Windshield wipers.
* Rear and front lights on the vehicle.
* Turn signals.
* Brakes.
* Shocks and struts.

Regular auto repairs and tune-ups can help you to pass the safety inspection.

A local friend suggested that the inspection also included checking that you had proper mirrors, and no broken windows.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the fee for the annual inspection, including the official window decal, was only $5. Whew!

After a bit of asking around, I decided to just swing by the “service station” up the street from where I was getting my oil changed.

I was surprised to see how small and, well, un-business-like (or at least un-mechanic’s-shop-like) it looked.

A man in mechanic garb came out of the office, and I rolled down my window and explained why I was there.

He went back inside and retrieved a pad or forms. He noted my car’s license plate, VIN, and mileage, then asked for my Driver’s License and copied down that information as well.

Then he took my $5, and placed the decal on my windshield.

Oh.

So… I’ve been inspected?

As silly as the inspection sounded in the first place, the reality was infinitely more humorous.

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We started this blog back in 2007, when we had sold our house and were setting out for adventure, living full-time in our RV.

Times change – and a lot has changed for us over the course of the last three-plus years…

New cats, cats lost, and a BABY added to the family, who is already TWO.

We crossed a major milestone this month, though:

We sold the RV.

Traded it, actually. Our neighbor across the street had this Bronco he wasn’t using, and Wolf was hoping to find a cheap vehicle so he could drive to work when it was hot or rainy…

Win / win.

But it does make the name of the blog sort of silly.

1. We’ve debated for a long time getting a different domain to host this blog, or at least moving it over to the (unused) root of tiffanyblitz.com. What do you think?

2. Name Change!! Please leave a comment with your name suggestions.

How exciting!

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Have you heard of Smile.ly?

It’s a site that will send you stuff for free, just so you can try it out and tell your friends what you think.

Sounds like fun to me… Anyone tried it? Anyone want to join me in checking it out?

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I’m late posting this, as our crazy moving experience this past month hasn’t left much time to search out photos.

Wolf, baby Jewel, and Squeaker

On June 18th, we said Goodbye to our Old Lady Cat, Squeaker.

There is some debate about her exact age, but she’s been Wolf’s kitty for a long, long time.

Here’s Day One at home – 1992? 1994?

She was always Papa’s girl…

Lots of cats will sleep on you, but not many cats will let the baby sleep on them!

And Squeaker remained Jewel’s friend for life.

You can see more photos in her Facebook Album (even if you don’t have a Facebook account).

She passed on peacefully, in Wolf’s arms, with the family gathered around.

We will all miss her…

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National Security is not my friend.

At least, the “new positive identification” requirements effective January 1, 2010, courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security aren’t my friend – nor the friend of anyone living full-time in their RV.

Nick finished his online Driver’s Ed course, and we prepared to head over to the DMV so he could take the test and get his Learner’s Permit.

When I made the appointment online, I filled out the online application, and perused the requirements to determine what documentation I needed to bring.

Birth certificate. Check. (AHEM, of course he has one, and of course I provided it as required by law… Why do you ask??)
Social Security card. Check.
Proof of address.

Uh, oh.

I have most of the documents availble that they suggest as possible proofs of address, and they all have the same address on them. My bank statement, phone bill, and governmental correspondence. It all goes to the Post Office Box.

But the DMV won’t recognize a P.O. Box, and insists that you must have a “physical address.”

I’m happy, of course, to tell them where my RV is currently parked… At the moment, we are hooked up by the grace of God and a local church in the RV parking they have in the field out behind their facilities.

But it’s not like I’m getting mail here, or changing my address with the banks.

I spoke with the DMV Supervisor of Field Services on the phone. After some discussion, she said that it would be acceptable if we had a letter from the church saying that we were currently residing on their property, and then the usual Affidavit from a parent (me) certifying that the minor lives with them.

So, with eveything in hand, we went.

Our appointment was at 3:15 pm.

I freely admit that, after a bit of a false start, we didn’t arrive until 3:25. Despite this, we were the first 3:15 appointment to arrive.

We had to go through a lengthy conversation with the receptionist (also a screener) before being assigned a number and told to wait until were were called.

The time ticked away…

Around 4:40 pm, we were finally called to a window.

The lady at the window, let’s call her Tiana, took our papers, looked everything over several times, and finally said, “Uh, uh, we cain’t take dis.”

When I informed her that I had spoken to the Supervisor of Field Services, who had assured me that it was acceptable, she said (I’ll spare you further transliteration of her dialect), “Well, if you had something on the church’s letterhead, then we could take that. This is just a form from our site.”

First of all, I was confused that “a form from their site” was not, in fact, preferred… After all, it was specifically designed for that purpose. And for the other required Affidavit, and several other uses enumerated on its face, they will only accept that form.

I asked what the difference was between a letter from the church, signed by the pastor and saying that we lived there, and this form, which was signed by the pastor and stated that we lived there.

Tiana then went off in an entirely different direction, and said, “Well, if you had something from the outside, like a bill or something, that would be awright.” (Ooops, sorry. The dialect was the only entertaining part of the entire encounter, and is hard to ignore).

I responded, somewhat exasperated, that the church was not going to randomly give me their mail.

She replied, “Well, you could just go to the office and get them to type you up something on their letterhead.”

So what is the real requirement here?

Is it “outside” verification, or their affirmation? And what is magical about “letterhead”, if all the requirements are met without it (and on the agency’s own standardized form, no less!)?

And most importantly, why had the Supervisor of Field Services given me such erroneous information?

*SIGH*

This went back and forth for several minutes and then she went in the back to talk to her supervisor.

When she came back, she said, “Yeah, we cain’t take dis.”

Upon seeing my exasperated look, she said, “Okay, you just go stand over there, and I’ll get my supavisa to come talk to you.”

So we stood there. And stood there.

Time ticked away…

Eventually, she emerged. No dialect, but she simply restated that “we can’t take this.”

We went back and forth a number of times, re-covering all the ground I had been over with Tiana.

Finally I asked, giving in to the stereotyping that was obviously going on anyway,

Well, what do homeless people do? Can they not get a Driver’s License?

This seemed a great relief to Ms. Supervisor, now on familiar ground.

She explained that they simply filled out one of the Affidavit forms, and listed their address as “General Delivery” with a ZIP code. Then in the “Comments” area, they listed their customary location, “Something like, ‘Under the big tree on the corner of the park on 23rd St.’”

So… I could just do that?

Sure.

And… We can just do that… Right now?

Sure.

*AHEM*

With General Delivery papers in hand, we returned to Tiana’s window. “Oh, yeah, we can take dis. You took de test online, right?”

Um, no. We weren’t even aware that that was an option.

“Oh, dear, you gonna have to come back tommorow, we don’t give tests after 4:30.”

No, seriously.

It was like a bad joke!

I tried, quite reasonably (I checked with Nick later, and he assured me I was calm), to ask what time we would actually need to show up… After all, we had a 3:15 appointment, and that had not been early enough.

Tiana brushed me off, pointing out that the paperwork had not been “in order,” missing entirely the point that even if everything had been perfect, we were not called up to her window until well past the testing deadline.

Yes, we did go back the next day – with a sort of “get out of jail free” pass that reduced our wait time to about ten minutes.

Nick passed the test with flying colors (of course), and is now the proud owner of a Florida Learner’s License.

The address reads only,

General Delivery
Homestead, FL 33032

Which, clearly, is much better for Homeland Security than having my verified and usable Post Office Box address…

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I thought this was a clever pattern, indeed, for my (at the time) four year-old necklace maker, Jewel.

Two alternating bead patterns, with the turtles “framing” the entire thing.

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In case you don’t read over there regularly, I wanted to direct you to some great giveaways we have going on right now over on our other family blog, As For My House.

Just click over to read the reviews, and leave a comment to enter the drawings…

You can win one of TWO copies of the new Homestead Blessings: The Art of Quilting DVD (ends tomorrow, 6/26)!

And you can be one of TWO winners of a Bondi Band of your choice (ends 7/3)!

And you can even earn an extra entry in each drawing, just by entering the other one (make sure to leave a comment to let me know!)… Pretty easy, eh?

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Wow! Rayovac (you know, the batteries) is giving away some GREAT prizes for Summer!!

You can enter their sweepstakes right from the Rayovac Facebook page, daily – 30 Prizes in 30 Days! (Or go directly to http://www.rayovac.com/PowersYourSummer).

But wait, there’s more:

Rayovac Powers Your Summer Twitter Event

The Twitter Event will feature more than 20 fun giveaways from Rayovac ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to $50 Target Gift Cards.

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST
Location: #rayovac
Follow: @Rayovac_Battery, @5minutesformom, @CirclePRMary

Disclosure: The first 99 bloggers to promote the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion and Twitter Event win a prize package from Rayovac.

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You’ll recall I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Klean Kanteens.

The most notable (and unresolved) problem was a design flaw in the larger size bottle.

I had also written a follow-up to my initial review, specifically discussing the “great new” Sport Cap 2.0 which they had sent me (and I found less than stellar).

Well, guess what?

Yesterday I got a nice little package in the mail… It seems the Sport Cap 2.0 is being recalled! (See their website notice)

Now, it doesn’t sound like a serious issue – a proactive, cautious recall, this is. But it does validate somewhat my assertion that that cap was not as well-designed as they seemed to think it was at the time.

So now I have to find all five bottles (I think at least one is in storage?), and send in the Sport Caps.

Return shipping is by UPS. Terrific, now I have to find a UPS location and go drop them off??

This also means, naturally, that we will be without the use of ALL our Klean Kanteens, at one time, for the duration…

*sigh*

Klean Kanteen, you’re really slipping in the ratings.

Let’s see, surely by now there are lots of competitors out there…

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In case you haven’t heard the news, Wolf got a civilian job offer up at Keelser Air Force Base in Mississippi, and we’re going to be moving in just over a month.

As we prepare to go, we’ve already had our share of triumphs, and frustrations. Let me share a few, for entertainment value, if nothing else!

Moving & Storage

After some debate, we decided that having our belongings shipped up in containers was by far the best way to go. We have the RV for travelling, after all.

Everything except our daily necessities is already boxed up and packed into a storage unit, so it should be easy to load and unload (without the “packing” stage that accompanies moving out of a house).

Also, if we tried to get it all in a U-Haul truck (assuming it would fit in one truck, which I doubt), that would mean that Wolf would have to drive said truck, and I would have to drive our truck pulling the RV. That’s stressful for me, for long periods, since I haven’t done it much; it would also mean a much shorter drive-able day, since we couldn’t trade off driving for breaks and kid-distracting parent switches.

So we called and got a quote from PODS, which seemed lke the best option.

At some $3,300 for two 16′ containers (including the pickups and deliveries, moving it to Mississippi, insurance, and up to a month of storage) it sounded like a lot of money… But then again, so did the U-Haul truck, and fuel for it – and it had all those other issues.

Luckily, a friend suggested a competitor of theirs, saying her mom had gotten a great rate from them. I called, and was amazed to get a quote that was ONE THIRD LESS – right around $2,300.

If I’d been excited about that company, I might never have thought of it, but there were a few things about PODS service that I preferred, so I called them back.

The phone rep said there was nothing they had the authorization to do at that level, but that if I would give them half an hour someone from another department would call me back and try to keep my business. Okay.

After a brief wait, the call came. We discussed the other quote, and I was put on hold. When the gentleman returned, I was given a new quote that was essentially a match for the competitor’s – allowing me to stay with the PODS concepts I preferred.

This was such an unusual adjustment, apparently, that he couln’t even send me an automated email with the prices, since it had to be adjusted by the Accounting department. (I did have him send me a manual email to confirm!).

But they did, in fact, come a full $1,000 (a THIRD!) off their price, which had already been discounted and adjusted in our previous negotiations. Thank you, Lord!

A Place to Hang Our Hat

Looking for a place to “land” when we get there is a trickier proposition.

We’ve found some great places to search for rentals, some of which are specific to the Military (and Dept. of Defense) community. There seem to be any number of places listed that fit our basic criteria, which are something like:

• 3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms (even 1.75 in a pinch)
• 1500+ square feet (we’re considering a couple closer to 1300, but space is SUCH a nice feeling, after the RV!)
• Allows cats, with no “pet rent” (an extra deposit is expected, but not throwing money away every month!)
• Convenient distance and location from Wolf’s job
• Parking for the RV
• Garage. Not for the car, for Wolf’s tools and workshop
• Washer/Dryer hookups (typically found in a house, but I made sure it was enumerated!)

Beyond that, being geeks, we’ve made a spreadsheet of the features we’d like to have, weighted by importance. We fill it out to find an overall rating for each candidate.

This has features on it such as…

• Jacuzzi (hey, I can wish!)
• Size (points for 1500 sq. ft. and over, more for 2000+)
• Convenient to shopping / library / etc.
• Appearance
• Spacious / Redone kitchen
• Cost (more points for less money)

But, the problem is timing.

Because we will have to see Nick off to camp, we won’t arrive in Mississippi until probably the 14th or 15th. That leaves us just a few days to look at places before Wolf starts work (and some time that weekend will be spent fetching Nick from camp, or meeting them, or whatever scheme we can work out).

Anything that looks great to me probably looks great to a lot of people. So if it’s available now, it’s not likely to still be available over a month from now.

Unless I’m willing to rent a place sight-unseen… And I’m really not.

Aside from potential issues with the house itself, you just have no way of really knowing what the neighborhood is like. It’s not like we know someone there who can give us the inside scoop!

So when do I start looking? It rubs my temperament the wrong way to be packing and planning a move with no forwarding address, and no idea at all where we will live.

For me, this is a whole new kind of “stepping out in faith”…

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