New England Off Topic and Banter as Most Brilliantly Proposed by Cape Cod MINI

[jwardell]

Quote: Originally Posted by blalor (original)

Man, slow news day. The RSS feeds are practically dead and there's been, what, four posts in NYNE since 9am? Geez!

It's called Sunday.

[blalor]

Dammit, people, I need entertainment!!!. Oh, wait, I've got a MINI. Nevermind.

[blalor]

There is a special place in hell for obnoxious people in the dmv.
i am currently in that place. thank God for opera mini.

[jwardell]

It is truly amazing that, given the DMV typically being the worst of the worst of government operations, somehow mass does it right. Perhaps the secret is replacing the D with an R? My bet is that you can do so much so easily right from the web site.
That reminds me, I need to renew my license soon. I read there is an expected delay due to the double amount due to the changeover from 4 to 3 year or whatever.

[rfinprc]

There was a BIG push some years back (10 or so?) to improve matters at the Mass RMV. They really were able to make a difference, both in practical stuff (queueing control) and in staff attitude. It's generally pretty tolerable now.

[holdenontoit]

Quote: Originally Posted by rfinprc (original)

There was a BIG push some years back (10 or so?) to improve matters at the Mass RMV. They really were able to make a difference, both in practical stuff (queueing control) and in staff attitude. It's generally pretty tolerable now.

I'd agree with that statement also. Really much better now than in days of yore. I remember when my oldest son, now 33, returned from the RMV around the time he first got his license .I noticed the rather perplexed look on his face and asked him how it had gone."You know , dad, you hear about all these lunatics going into McDonald's with automatic weapons and open firing on everyone in the place? Why don't they go to the Registry where they can do some good?" I still chuckle ..........................

[blalor]

Ha! That's funny, Jock.

According to one of the rent-a-cops working there, today was way busier than usual because they were closed on Friday. The primary source of my irritation was this young white-trash couple directly behind me. She had absolutely no sense of personal space, and (perhaps due to the freezing process) had difficulty controlling THE VOLUME OF HER VOICE. So the entire time I was in line, I got to hear about buying "butts" at the grocery store, her incarcerated boyfriend (not the one in line), and various other little stories of teen pregnancies and jail sentences. And she was 19, tops.

The NH DMV system is completely ƒüç-- well, you get the idea. First stop, regardless of what kind of plates you're getting, is city hall. I don't know what happens if you live in a town that's not big enough to *have* a city hall. If you're getting "normal" (ie. non-personalized) plates, you just pony up the dough there. But if you're getting personalized ones, you have to then go to Manchester, Milford, or some other place that's nowhere near where I live to actually sign up for the plates. The form you fill out that the counter person copies into the computer can only be filled out in one of a few cities; it must be too complex for the city hall employees. There are more places you can get your driver's license, but city hall ain't one of 'em. To further the confusion, there are two separate lines at the DMV (in Manchester, at least): one for licenses, an one for registrations. God forbid the line you're in takes you past closing time, because the other one will have closed and you'll have to make another trip.

Fortunately, I played my cards right and got my plates *and* my license. My license, for the record, is printed about 30º off kilter on the plastic, however. Mail-in renewals, here I come!

[Actual Size]

Just got this e-mail from the Iron Horse

"The first 200 paid customers to come through the Pearl Street door Tuesday, November 14th for the Teton Gravity Research Ski and Snowboard Movie Premiere of “Anomaly” will receive free 1-Day Lift Passes to Mt. Snow, valid any day between now and December 22nd, 2006!"

Tickets? Pearl Street Show Schedule

[blalor]

Quote: Originally Posted by blalor (original)

My license, for the record, is printed about 30º off kilter on the plastic, however. Mail-in renewals, here I come!

Ah, it's a temporary license. *sigh*

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by blalor (original)

you have to then go to Manchester, Milford, or some other place that's nowhere near where I live

Nashua -> Manchester: 18.5 mi
Nashua -> Milford: 11.0 mi

quiet, you.

[Actual Size]

Just enjoying a first time registration in NH!

BTW - Walpole to Keene DMV....40 mile round trip.

[blalor]

I'm talking DMVs here, not dealerships! Besides, Milford is 11 miles on 101, which is like eleventy hours.

Oh the things you do just to be able to ski, eh?

[jcsinnh]

Wonder if he knows cyclotouriste.............having had driver's licenses in numerous states and three non-US countries, not to mention having been driving since before most of you were born, I must say that as goofy as the NH system is combining local and DMV paperwork and checkwriting, I'll choose it over any other system I know. Want frustration? Try Tunisia.

[Actual Size]

Quote: Originally Posted by blalor (original)

...Milford is 11 miles on 101, which is like eleventy hours....

It's not RT 101...it's "The Road From Hell" to us long-time residents. We're still waiting for I-92.

Interstate 92-New England (unbuilt)

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by Actual Size (original)

It's not RT 101...it's "The Road From Hell" to us long-time residents. We're still waiting for I-92.

Interstate 92-New England (unbuilt)

Interesting... I'm sure an East - West route like that would have had a big impact, probably for the better IMHO. Kind of like the Inner Belt Expressway that would have made commuting into Boston and Cambridge easier from the North and West... I don't know about Rt101, but the problem with the unbuilt I695 is not so much that the proposed beltway isn't there, but more that the other roads are designed as if it was..! Look at the I90 interchange at the DoubleTrees at Storrow Drive, look at the Rt16 / Rt2 mess at Alewife, look at Rt3 that steps to the East when it hits I95 and then goes nowhere inside I95... All these are huge traffic issues today because they're designed to feed into an inner belt that isn't there.

Mind you, having seen how the Big Dig got done, maybe we're better off without any major road projects.