It has come to my immediate attention that there are some of y’all who wish to inquire if I am dead or not. Sort of odd if you ask me. If so, death is not treating me very well. Anyway, I assure y’all that I am very much alive and kicking, well maybe not kicking, but alive nonetheless. Since my vacation over spring break I have been kind of busy yet I am still very unmotivated to do much more than screw around in my woodshop and keep my yard looking nice. Its like being in a weird funk of sorts since being laid off. Its like being in limbo between where I once was and where I might be someday. Make sense?
I do have a few quick stories to tell y’all because maybe y’all as well might sit back and scratch your head so that I am not the only one doing it. Before I forget, I wanted to let y’all know why I am not working yet, since it has been my choice. I have some affairs with the VA and VA medical board which I am trying to get settled because it takes a fair amount of time to do what I have been doing. I have not had much fun playing with the VA and right now they have me real frustrated so I can’t really collect my thoughts and write anything yet. However, speaking of dealing with government agencies (actually the state of Texas) my 17 y/o daughter and I have a real blast at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) earlier this week. I never liked going into this facility because they are overrun with too many people and are understaffed to say the very least. It makes going there a real chore. However, as it would happen I still had to go. Why? Well, my daughter lost her photo I.d. while in South Dakota so she wanted a new one. Why? She has her drivers license but she likes to have the other one as a second form of I.d. because she has nothing else. We figured I would have to go to help prove her residency since she is a minor with absolutely nothing in her own name. Fair enough, I may not be a great dancer but I know this song and dance all too well it would seem.
We were there when the doors opened. Us and the 78 people we were behind. Yes, we arrived early just to get in the pre-line line to get in line to get a number so we could wait to be seen by a “specialist”. All though I am not a huge fan of the hurry up and wait game I have learned it is a necessary evil in life many times. Luckily I checked in advance to see what paperwork is required and brought them with us. I remind y’all, this is for a state issued picture identification card. The state of Texas requires that a birth certificate, social security card (or shot record), passport (when available) and two separate bills or references from different organizations which have one’s name and address printed on it (we used my vehicle registration and vehicle insurance) all to be presented for identity verification and residency verification. Sadly, no, the state of Texas issued drivers license is not a valid form of verification because the DPS office issued it. Go figure. The time we waited to be called back was 4 hours 23 minutes. Add that ton the time in line and we logged in 6 hours and 7 minutes at the DPS office. The time at the window was under 5 minutes and as we were walking away the lady tells us that this whole process could have been done online because the could have reissued the original I.d. and mailed it to her. I suppose this is my fault because I didn’t ask. Neither here nor there, I paid the $16 fee and then we left.
I have learned allot while waiting at places lately. First of all your phone’s battery will probably die while you wait. Second, you risk not hearing your name/number being called if you need to step out to the restrooms. Third, you are going to wait, period. In the last couple of months my ass has logged many hours in many different chairs and to be quite honest I do not think it has made me a better person for enduring the many, many hours. I have also been thinking quite a bit about this blog. In the past it was a passion to add material here. Seems lately it has been a mere distraction I have to make the time for. So, I want how it was back again. I am not a writer, but I am a person who doesn’t mind the monologue of writing on my blog. So, I have much that went on during our family vacation and much going on with the VA as well, so I have plenty to write. Plus, my daughter graduates in about six weeks so I will have some commentary on that as well. I will get things back on track, don’t worry.
The Sting Of The Scorpion Blog (T.S.O.T.S.B.) 