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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Shutting down the house



Thursday, take care of the last minute business: Load the van. Hook up the trailer. Shut down the house. Hit the road. It's a plan. Too freaking cold and almost out of fuel. The plumbing better get drained before everything freezes. Brrrrrrrrrr!

The tires on the boat trailer were a little low on air. I've a little 12 volt compressor that works pretty well so I thought it would be straight forward. Nope. The tire filled up just fine, but then the nozzle froze to the value stem. All the air came out while trying to get it off. The second time worked better.

At the 11th hour we decided to get the little boat registered. It's small enough that it doesn't need any paperwork if rowed or under sail. However, put even a tiny electric motor on and it has to be registered. That's all well and good, but unlike a manufactured boat, mine doesn't have a serial number. To get one a police office had to come to the house and fill out some paperwork. That went off in the mail, but we'll see how it goes.

The town clerk wasn't too sure what to do. The ladies at the DMV were thumbing through their manuals trying to figure it out. The cop didn't look too sure he knew what he was doing. How much you want to bet it'll go through the first time?

There's a funny thing with bureaucracies. Governments set up a whole series of rules and regulations. At some point someone way down the pecking order has to put these policies in effect. The best people know how to phony up the paperwork and get things down. The worse thing that can happen is to have someone who's unsure of themselves and require every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed. I'm guessing that worse come to worse I'll have to send off more paperwork or talk to someone on the phone.

Once I get the number I'm tempted to register the boat in Florida, just for grins and giggles. I haven't played with their bureaucrats yet.

-Sixbears

11 comments:

  1. On homemade trailer and boats around here its comman to use DL# initials and address# for registration.

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    1. No such luck around here. Wish is was simple

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  2. I hope you do register it in Florida, too. They deserve some fun, and you'll have plenty of time in the sunshine to push their buttons. Hope to see you on the road soon, even though it's 32 degrees at 8:00 am in Houston. Come on down to the warmth, and head to the Sundhine State. Say hello on your way. I'm sure Hermit Jim and Dizzy Dick would love to hook up and meet your face.

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    Replies
    1. TX is being postponed. Doing FL first. (it's warmer)

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  3. numbers, rules, regulations, and government

    all "shit and giggles"

    what be the next chapter of "on the road to florida"?

    all you need now is crosby and hope for your driving pleasure

    ho ho ho....

    Wildflower

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    Replies
    1. A Crosby and Hope road trip? Sounds like fun. Too bad I'm not a song and dance man.

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  4. I read a book one time about an Egyptian that was caught up in the bureaucracy. He was constantly called to court and by the time it was all said and done, he had to sell all of his furniture and he had nothing to sit on but stacks of court documents. The original was written in 200 B.C. Some things never change.

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  5. I hate bureaucracy!! The government can't do anything the simple way.

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  6. Hope to hear you are on your way soon. If you want arm you'd best just keep driving to FL 'cause it sure isn't warm here in GA. Went down to 13 last night.

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