Red Tape and License Tags, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.) 

***********************************

It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

Now about the truck that we do not own that someone drove on a toll road in Texas.

The back story starts over 40 years ago when Louisiana decided to start allowing personalized license plates.  Grandpa got one that is the name of a local university.  We've kept it in the family as we are allowed to transfer it from car to car, it is on Bigger Girl's car Cicero (which is in my name to keep the insurance rates down). 

Louisiana only puts tags on the backs of cars, not the back and front like many states, including Texas.

People in Louisiana can put a plastic "tag" on the front of the car that says anything they want, and such plastic tags that read the name of the local university are popular.  They are very fake looking, have no stickers to show date of expiration, and can be bought in many stores.

A truck went on a toll road in Texas over a year ago.  There they let you get on the road, take a picture of the front and back of your vehicle, track your tag, and send you the bill (it's a few dollars).

The truck from Louisiana that drove on that road had an official Louisiana tag on the back, and one of those plastic decorative ones on the front.  Guess what the plastic one was?

Someone in the TexTag department decided that the fake tag on the front of the truck was the actual tag.  They sent the bill to us.

For over a year now i've been fighting with them trying to get them to send the bill to the owner of the truck.  Every time i call, they say, file online, and every time i file online, they send me an automated email that says, "If we need more information, we will contact you" and they never contact me, except to send another bill with another late fee tacked on.

Finally, this past Friday, i spent a good bit of time on hold but finally got someone in the TexTag system to tell me that i need to get a vehicle history of my car that proves our car and that truck are not the same, and supposedly then they will reread the pictures, realize the front tag is decorative and the back tag is the correct one, and send the bill to the truck owner.

Ever try to get your official vehicle history report from the state of Louisiana?

We went to the place of waiting for hours, the DMV.  They don't do that (they told us the moment we walked in, thank heaven).  They gave us a number to call, the Public Assistance number.

After 25 minutes on hold with Public Assistance, someone asked me what i needed, and said, "I will transfer you to that department."

After 50 minutes on hold, someone asked me again what i needed, and said, "Just a moment, please."

After one hour and five minutes on hold, someone asked me what i needed, and told me, "Okay, you have to write in to request that, let me give you the address."

Yes, an hour and five minutes on hold, and they can't take your request over the phone, all they can do is tell you where to write to in order to get what you need.

The next step is a ten dollar money order, mailed in requesting the vehicle history.  Then i can fax that to the TexTag people, and supposedly they will review it and see that our car and the truck are not the same vehicle.

The story is not over yet, but i am going to hold on to that vehicle history and if i keep getting bills from TexTag, send it to them over and over.  The people who work there went to Texas schools, which are supposed to be pretty good, so i hope someday one of them figures it out.

Hope you all have a fabulous Tuesday!

***********************************

Today is:

Ayyám-i-Há -- Baha'i (intercalary days, devoted to service and gift giving; through Mar. 1)

Dance of the Known Places -- Fairy Calendar

For Pete's Sake Day -- Wellcat Holidays asks us, who is Pete, and why do things for his sake?  think about that as you celebrate this today

Intercalary Days -- Baha'i (through Mar. 1)

Levi Strauss Day -- his birth anniversary

Liberation Day -- Kuwait

National Personal Chef Day -- heaven knows we all have one of those; some websites list it today, some on July 16

National Pistachio Day

Rooks Nesting Day -- Olde England (12 days after Candlemas on the Julian Calendar)

Single-Tasking Day -- encouraging you to do one thing at a time, and not feel guilty; begun by Theresa Gabriel, who claims multitasking is inefficient and hurts your brain! she suggests it be on the 4th Tuesday of the month, although other sites list other dates

Spay Day USA -- sponsored by the HSUS; Sit! Stay! Spay! Good Owner! 

St. Alexander's Day (Patriarch of Alexandria)

St. Isabella of France's Day (Patron of the sick)

Tell a Fairy Tale Day -- shouldn't this have been two days ago, on Wilhelm Grimm's birth anniversary?

The Man In Black Day -- Johnny Cash's birth anniversary

Thriller Day -- Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" hit #1 today, and stayed there for 37 weeks

World Spay Day -- don't let your pets litter!   

Anniversaries Today:

Grand Teton National Park is established, 1929

Grand Canyon National Park is established, 1919

Birthdays Today:

Marshall Faulk, 1973

Erykah Badu, 1972

Mark Dacascos, 1964

Michael Bolton, 1953

Johnny Cash, 1932

Fats Domino, 1928

Betty Hutton, 1921

Tony Randall, 1920

Jackie Gleason, 1916

Margaret Leighton, 1922

Tex Avery, 1908

Madeleine Carroll, 1906

Jean Vercors, 1902

William Frawley, 1887

Herbert Henry Dow, 1866

John Harvey Kellog, 1852

William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, 1846

Levi Strauss, 1829

Honore Daumier, 1808

Victor Hugo, 1802

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jerome Robbins' Broadway"(Musical), 1989

"Deathtrap"(Play), 1978

Today in History:

Origin of the Epoch of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era, BC747

An earthquake in Lisbon leaves 20,000-30,000 dead, 1531

Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down, 1794

The Bank of England issues its first banknotes, 1797

Vice-admiral William Bligh ends the siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad, 1804

Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba, 1815

In New York City a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public, 1870

HMS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, 1914

The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York, 1917

Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom, 1935

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb, 1952

Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada, 1952

National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, 1970

Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations, 1980

The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections, 1990

On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, 1991

In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, 1993

The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses, 1995

Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts, 2000

Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2004

After winning a Liberal Party of British Columbia ballot, Canadian politician Christy Clark becomes the second woman to be Premier of British Columbia, 2011

Scientists in Illinois, announce they've developed stretchable batteries that can power a new generation of flexible electronics, 2013

The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, receives its 1 millionth seed on 10 year anniversary, 2018