Stick(er) It To 'Em

Yesterday, our salesman delivered the focus to our house. No, that was not a typo, he delivered the car to our house because J was going to be gone during business hours. What service! I felt as if I were having a new Mercedes dropped by for me.

After installing H's seat, I prepared myself to take our first spin, as J had done all the test-driving alone while I waited with H at the dealership...I already knew what a Focus was like, so I was content to stay behind. I slid behind the wheel, and it took a second to realize what was 'wrong.' Yes, I felt small and close to the ground compared to our other car, but that wasn't it. Hmmm...well, my butt was sweaty, but after I figured out how to turn off the seat heater, I ruled that out...something was still odd.

Then it hit me...the windshield was completely devoid of stickers, pike passes, and apartment 'please don't tow me stickers.'

Good Lord! I had almost forgotten all of the bureaucracy associated with being a resident/vehicle owner in the glorious Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After getting off the phone with our insurance company and the dealer I had a short list of about 100 things I needed to do within 14 days of taking possession of the car...and I thought buying a house would be bad! We naively thought that going through a dealer would be the 'quick' process that it is in Oregon. While they do complete all the RMV paperwork for us, there is still a 'pre-insurance inspection' the Mass Safety Inspection, and then there will be the forthcoming Town Of Shrewsbury Vehicle Excise Tax, about which I've previously written. Luckily the Mass inspection is paid for by the dealer and the pre-insurance by the insurance company, but still...

J had recently commented to someone, in his oh-so-Vulcan dry humor that it has been proposed to have a 35-hour work week in Massachusetts, so that the other five hours can be dedicated to filling out all the paperwork associated with living here. He received a blank look in return. The man said 'What? Is it a lot here?' Uhhhhh, yes, yes it is. It's almost sad that someone would think that the volume of red-tape is 'normal'. Oh well.

The important thing is, we've got our second car, we'll soon have all our little window decorations and I will be driving around like Beyonce singing "All you women, independent, throw your hands up at me!"