614 Whenever Day

614 Whenever Day

First, today, an apology. Sorry about this, but we belatedly discovered that the stuff covered in #610 "Join The Club" also was covered in December of 2005. http://wessays.blogspot.com/2005/12/exclusive-clubs.html . (Posts weren't numbered in those days.) With a limitless supply of subjects at hand, this oversight was inexcusable. Perhaps this apology would do better on TV, with the apologizer standing amid family and saying things like "...but we have to move forward..." Another day, perhaps.

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And now, it's time to renew the handicapped parking tag, the one that hangs on the mirror and lets you park in more convenient spots than anyone else, which is a boon for those of us who have trouble walking.

The temporary permit is good for six months. The current one expires at the end of next month. It was even more exclusive than everyone else's because it lasted for only five months. Why, you may ask? Because the application went in too early and the Department of Transportation responded too quickly. So much for foot-dragging government bureaucracies. You can never find a good gummer-upper of the works when you need one.

Let's see... application on hand? Check. Signed by the orthopedist? Check. Signed by the cripple? Check. Notarized? Check. Driver's license number accurately filled in? Check. Previous hang-tag number filled in? Check.

Now, when do we send this thing off. Late this month? There's a risk here -- another five-monther might come back. How about the first day or so of next month? What if they're slower now than they were in the past. Will they delay action until after the present tag expires?

A wise course of action would be to call them and ask. That, of course, is similar to calling the IRS with a tax question. The trick with THEM is to call three times and ask the same question. If two out of the three answers are the same, chances are it's right. If three of the answers are the same, it's almost certainly right. If none of the answers agree, ask H&R Block instead.

But there's no H&R Block for motor vehicle questions.

Flip a coin? Heads for now, tails for next month? Two out of three flips of the coin? Three out of five?

Or just take a chance and mail it whenever. Every month should have an extra day called "whenever." Would solve all kinds of problems. Including this one.

Shrapnel:

--Another day, another "improvement" from Google Documents. They have added two steps to the already laborious process of inserting the ® and © characters. Can't wait to see what's next!

--Battle of the Bands: The Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science report two different US poverty levels, 13.2 percent from the former and 15.8 percent from the latter. Either way, that's about 45 million of us, give or take, which is about 45 million too many.

--If you look at figures for those over 65, the situation is worse. The figure rises to about 19 percent. But don't worry, we'll all be gone soon's those death panels form up.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009