The DMV Experience

Nothing - and I mean nothing - will test your patience more than spending time at the DMV. And how did I end up at the DMV this morning? Because I just acted on an email yesterday about getting a REalID, the new federal standard. It's supposed to be mandatory for use if you're going on domestic flights starting the end of the year and wouldn't you know I'd be flying to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks? And so I got all the documents together and believe me it was not an intuitive thing to do. And by the time I got everything completed and got my documentation in order I figured might as well get an appointment as soon as possible and that appointment ended up being this morning after my first Team Meeting. And so I dropped Johnnie off at school, went home and did my IS Team Meeting, eventful only because we hadn't been together as a group in more than a week, and then headed off to the Culver City DMV. I had an appointment and everything obviously and still I had to stand in line (see pic). I got there by 10 AM and I thought I could hopefully get it all done and be home by 11 AM for my next team meeting with the EHR Team. It seemed like that line NEVER moved. That's because you couldn't actually tell what the priority system was. Some people got to cut the line, and I hate that when I don't know the reason why. Still, I managed to actually get inside and get a number by 10:30. And then I got to wait some more. Fortunately once I actually did get someone to see me, everything went by quickly and everything was done inside of 10 minutes, including getting my new picture taken for my RealID. By the time I got home it was 11:10, and still I made it in time for my last meeting because I told the team I'd be late. And by noon, all meetings were done.

So I picked up Johnnie at 5 PM like I always do and i see him playing in the yard with a bunch of other kids. But when he came to me, he started limping around complaining that he had fallen earlier after knocking heads with another kid. That's my Johnnie. Not that that bandaid he was wearing on his knee was fake, nor was the dirt he was covered almost from head to toe, which basically did verify for me that he had taken a pretty big spill earlier. But I was also pretty sure he wasn't that hurt. And anyway a trip for dinner and he was as good as new. It was Panda Express tonight, per his choice. I thought I could talk him into udon at Mitsuwa for the third week in a row. I guess I don't get katsu tonight is all. Instead I made my beef and veggies dinner on top of fried rice and Johnnie got to look over all his loot from the last 2 days again. Look at him still with his birthday hat on from yesterday. Tonight is hand-off night of course and I have virtually given up trying to predict how when and in what mood Lisa would be when that happened. And so you could imagine our surprise when she actually called at 7 PM letting me know she was already done and coming to pick up Johnnie. And she even sounded mellow. That was a surprise. I remind myself that I could simply focus on her being in this positive mood all the time when we interact. Of course you never know how long it;s going to last either. You never know what could set it off. And so like last week we waited for her at the entrance of the leasing office where I told her she could park. And we waited. And we waited. And 40 minutes later she finally came and she was on the phone presumably with either family, or a patient, or maybe Oscar her gardener. Anyway I put Johnnie and Claire in her truck and off i went without a conversation. Sometimes it's the best we both can do. I went on home and after just crashing on the couch and trying to get used to the house to myself again, I remind myself that it's almost the end of the week again. The best part of the work week.