The Dreaded DMV

I am lovin' me some Hennepin County DMV right about now. Last week, Ruanita and I arrived home to find a ticket flapping in the wind under the windshield of our minivan parked in front of our house. The roving traffic cops had come a callin' on our street. We received a ticket for $280 for expired tabs on our van. We have two cars. Twice a year, we receive a bill in the mail to renew our tabs. Twice a year, I dutifully write out a check, send it in, and the tabs come in the mail a short time later. It struck us as extremely odd that we could have let the tabs expire on our van. And they expired on August 31st....an entire month ago. I think I said, "Hmm...that's weird." Ruanita, on the other hand, responded with a few more expletives than me. The only conclusion we could come up with was that the DMV neglected to send us a bill this year. It was unthinkable, at least to me, that we simply didn't pay it. I don't exactly ignore bills. So last week, Ruanita piled Sophie and Nicholas into the car after dropping Lucas off at school, and headed to the DMV to pay the tabs. I can only imagine the delights that awaited Ruanita at the DMV with two four-year-olds. I think there was a healthy dose of bribery and probably a smattering of threats involved in that outing. When Ruanita's number was called and she went to pay the tabs, she was informed that they had already been paid...in August when they were due. The DMV claims that they mailed our tabs out to us. But, lo and behold, we received no tabs. They re-issued the tabs to Ruanita and we now have up-to-date tabs on our van.

That is all well and good. However, there is now the matter of the ticket to resolve. Ruanita called to find out what she needed to do about the ticket. She was informed that she would have to go to court to appeal the ticket. She could go to traffic court in Minneapolis. However, their traffic court is first-come, first-serve. So she would have to sit there entertaining the above-mentioned four-year-olds for who-knows-how-long. There is a definitive limit to the power of bribery and threatening. That could get quite ugly. She learned, however, that she could go to the suburbs and get a set court date and time. So, a hold has been placed on the ticket. On a cold, snowy day in mid-January, Ruanita will be loading the twins into the minivan and driving to Edina to appeal our $280 ticket. I anticipate that there will be much cussing and rebel-rousing when that day comes. As if the DMV were not an exciting enough outing, this winter my kids get to go to court! Woo-hoo!

Two weeks ago, I mailed a check for the tabs on our other car. The tabs expired September 30th. Today is October 1st and I have yet to receive new tabs. Did I mention that I am lovin' me some Hennepin County DMV?