2025, Automotive, Government, Mysteries

Bureacracy!

41 Comments

Well, things didn’t out like I expected.  I was completely figuring that today’s post would be a full-on rant about bureaucracy.  Didn’t turn out that way.

I got the dreaded yellow card in the mail about a month ago reminding me that my Class D driver’s license needed to be renewed.  It also went on, at length, about the Real I.D. 

Pretty sure I chronicled the last time I had to renew; it was during Covid and I ended up arriving at the AAA location at 6 a.m. for their 8 a.m. opening since I had waited too late to get a coveted actual appointment (who knew you needed an appointment).  Being one of the first 25 in line meant you could get service that day.  I had heard several stories about the trouble in getting the Real I.D. so I had a file folder, papers, copies of papers.  Turned out to be fine.

That’s why I was a bit surprised to see all the verbiage dedicated to Real I.D.  You’d think in this day and age, it would be easy enough to sort a mailing list by whether or not somebody has already jumped through those hoops. 

Checking on line I found that you can’t to appointments any longer, which seemed weird so I picked up the phone and called.  (Now I do have to say, even if I were ranting, that one of the reasons I like the AAA is because they do answer the phones.)  The gal on the phone confirmed that they don’t do appointment anymore but that weekdays are relatively slow.  She also confirmed that I had to re-present all my Real I.D. paperwork again.  Sigh.

I gathered the same stuff as four years ago and headed out yesterday morning.  I was expecting this process to take at least an hour and I was fully prepared to whine about the insanity of having to basically re-apply for Real I.D. when I was clearly Real already.  Full transparency – I was crabby.

Well, I got there at 9:05.  I was called 5 minutes later.  The little gal behind the counter laughed when I told her that I had been instructed to bring all my Real I.D. stuff; she said “not needed” and didn’t even look at it.  I didn’t have to fill anything out except to sign and date the application that she printed off.  Picture and eye exam was fast although I’m sure in the history of bad DMV photos, I’m now in the top ten.  Final paper and current license snipped and I was out the door at 9:19. 

So what do I complain about now?

41 thoughts on “Bureacracy!”

    1. Yes, they do. And I have discovered over the years that going to AAA instead of one of the other DMV offices is usually a faster more pleasant experience. I also think of it as a way to get some of my AAA money back.

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    1. That’s pretty much a given. Although it’s getting harder and harder to know what’s true even in the news. So then what’s the point?

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  4. Thank you for this morning’s chuckle. We’ve all been there with bureaucracy-frustration as well as pleasant surprises. I agree that helpful people at AAA improve the situation.

    I choose to complain about hot muggy weather. I wilt faster than my flowers. But I and my garden are grateful for the rain since our drip lines in one of 3 gardens are not working.

    I am still waiting for my initial Real ID applied for in May-they are working on April submissions now. My temporary renewed drivers license will expire 9/9 so they should have the Real ID to me by then.

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  5. Rise and Make Your Complaint List, Baboons,

    1. Word Press
    2. Weather
    3. The GOP
    4. Taxes
    5. My mother (gone 2 years now, but given her parenting practices and the long term health consequences of them, always a topic in my life)
    6. Packing books (for Renee) then carrying those heavy boxes
    7. How mechanics or other car guys treat women
    8. The Vikings inability to win a Super Bowl
    9. The lack of competent editing in books and other written material
    10. Golden Toilets

    If this doesn’t get you started, then you are not that unhappy.

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    1. Although sometimes when I’m going down slippery slopes, I do write down the name of the person I talk to, but this gal seemed pretty straightforward and she was the first person so I didn’t write down her name.

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  7. Having to cook three meals a day. Because Husband was down 5 #s at last dr. check-up (and told to not lose any more, I feel compelled to make 3 squares. This is so different from how we ate before (the stroke).

    Today is fine, because I have a frozen Breakfast Bowl that we’ll have for lunch. Mediterranean breakfast of fruit, cheese, and toast. Leftovers for dinner.

    I go through various phases about this, from “fine” to something I’ve shared on FB:
    https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1594847548098393&set=a.634776437438847

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  8. You make me unnerved about getting a MN driver’s license after we move. My ND license expires this February, so I won’t have much time to do it.

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      1. Yes it does.I just wonder how much hassle it will be to get a MN drivers license. Will I have to take the written test and the behind the wheel yest?

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        1. You just need to demonstrate you can drive and text at the same time. Extra points for speeding through a blatantly red light.

          Liked by 7 people

  10. There are times when getting something accomplished through private sector businesses is just as bureaucratic and complicated as working through the government – just sayin’… Take for example trying to get Chase Bank to understand that someone is pretending to be me, and that i am NOT applying for a credit card from them. I have had to freeze my credit through the three credit reporting agencies in order to stop them from issuing me a credit card I didn’t apply for. This has been a problem for me since I flew Sun Country at the end of January. Chase Bank doesn’t seem to understand and keeps sending me letters about how I must contact Equifax to unfreeze my credit so that they can issue me a credit card that I didn’t apply for. I call; they mark the application fraudulent; a month later it happens again. Ugh. My rant for the day.

    Defunding education so that nobody understands they’ve been completely defrauded by the current government. (Rant #2).

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      1. Here’s what the MN DVS says:

        If you have a REAL ID and move to a new Minnesota residence address, you will need to apply for a duplicate or renewal REAL ID. You must:

        Bring two different documents proving your new Minnesota residence address.
        Pay the application fees.
        You have 60 days to change your residence address for a noncommercial driver’s license or ID. You have 30 days to change your residence address for a commercial driver’s license.

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  12. my dealings with govt stuff is horrible. new reduced staff doesnt provide cream of the crop. its full of people who qualify because they didnt quit. some good mostly terrible.
    i dont bitch unless prompted . thanks for the oppertunity

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    1. I have no desire to venture any further into politics and government than our 6 square mile township. Makes me more than happy to help out here.
      This morning met a contractor about fixing some washouts at the end of culverts. yesterday another contractor started repaving a short section of road.
      Tonight is a townboard meeting. I know we got a architect coming to talk about a possible new development in the township.

      A few years ago, I stopped to talk to a farmer to see if he wanted the township to put rock on a field drive. I arrived in my black SUV, said I was with the township, and boy, did he go off on me. Took me 5 minutes to get him to calm down enough I could explain who I was and what I meant. Then he was fine. He knew my folks, kinda knew who I was. He just saw the black SUV and heard “township” and jumped a few conclusions.

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  14. I haven’t yet scraped together the documentation to get a Real ID. My fear and irrational suspicion is that soon I’ll need one to vote. And that a not insignificant number of people will think “This is too much bureaucracy to deal with and my vote doesn’t matter anyway, so why bother”.

    The editor with the red pen that lives inside me wants to point out the missing “u” in the title of today’s post.

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