Why Can’t I Do This?
There are things that seem to be really easy for other people, but I find them incredibly difficult. I think I’m a pretty competent guy. Generally smart. Not a disaster by any stretch. And yet, I cannot seem to do anything related to the DMV.
As I write this, our Saturn Vue’s registration is 7 days expired. Our Saturn Vue’s Maryland Registration, that is. Yes, we moved to California almost 2 years ago and I started this long strange journey to change the registration when we had been here for 2 weeks.
It’s a long boring story including bewildering things called smog checks, and physical verifications, and VIN numbers. But lately, the biggest problem would be my utter lack of an actual title. Yes, I seem to lose these important things called documents.
Knowing that my registration would actually, illegally expire as of May 1st if I didn’t get this all settled, I focused all of my mental strength on solving the problem. I did my research and learned that Maryland could send me a replacement title. On April 7th, I sent a request for them to mail me a replacement title. Now, back then, we didn’t know where we would be living as of April 15th, so I gave them our Palisades address, thinking the mail would just be forwarded to me.
As of today, I found out from Maryland that the Post Office returned it to them. Thanks, Post Office. So now they are sending me another copy to our Topanga address.
Hopefully, this will work out.
What stuff do you find difficult, even though it seems like “normal” people do it without too much trouble?
I find basically getting anywhere that I haven’t been before pretty difficult and actually intimidating. I have almost zero sense of direction and in fact sometimes I test how wrong my inner GPS is by guessing which way I should turn and I am almost always wrong.
Just last night I got lost walking from the theater to our hotel, and it is literally ONE STREET away.
That might be one of the most stressful parts of touring for me–I always have to find a new stage door to get to and try to learn the lay of the land every few weeks, sometimes even every week!
It’s enough to keep me inside, sometimes.
Wearing underwear. No matter how hard I try, I often find myself unexpectedly Commando.
But, seriously–most daily, weekly, or monthly recurring tasks. Paying bills, mowing the lawn, changing the kitty litter . . . even getting a haircut! I just find it really hard to keep up with any repeated responsibility.
On a side not, Unexpectedly Commando would be a great band or album name . . .
Sending thank you notes…..I do write them but then I don’t mail them! I still have some written thank you notes from 2 Christmases ago….and then, of course, those same people who have given me presents don’t anymore. Why should they? I don’t seem grateful at all. And yet, this is a practice I continue. Really weird!
Receiving forgiveness. Giving myself a break. Sometimes talking to people.
In Dick’s defense, I will say that he has come a very long way indeed in terms of completing all of the above tasks that he has mentioned.
I love the album idea. Maybe with Dick making a face like this.
I feel your pain Jase. We have 2 cars and a motorcycle. I don’t thing I have EVER gotten ANY of them inspected before the tags expire. I have been given 5 tickets for driving unregistered / uninspected vehicles in my life. You would think that would teach me.
I think it is because there is no way to automate it. Many other recurring responsibilities can be programmed to be completed automatically. My insurance payments, cable bill, phone bill, mortgages, trash bill, credit card bills and many others are all set to auto pay, so I never have to think about them. Stuff that can’t be programmed sometimes gets ignored or forgotten.
Going to bed at a decent hour and being on time. No matter how much time I give myself, I use every last second (and more), and for what? Not everything I do before I go somewhere has to be done then, but all the same, I just have to do it. Like fold laundry…why can’t that wait? Apparently, it can’t.