Mail Call

Another ten hour work day ended at 5 pm in sweltering heat that is quite literally hotter than hell, not that I know for certain...but I can only imagine. I expended every measurable ounce of energy in yet again another mind bending exhaustive learning process in my new job. The drive home from work was spent in grandiose thoughts of air conditioning, my couch, and vegging out in front of the TV. My intentions of rest and relaxation were soon dashed when I retrieved my mail.

The envelope told me that Duncanville Photo Enforcement Program had important news for me. Photo enforcement? What?? Is this a traffic ticket??? There are two photo enforcement lights in my city and I hadn't had any problems at either of these locations, as best I can recall. Had I driven to the capital recently? I'm sure it is littered with photo traffic signals. No, haven't been there in a long time. And where the heck is Duncanville, anyway???

I open the envelope and more information is provided...I apparently violated traffic code by running a red light in Duncanville, TX...in April, and now had a traffic ticket to pay in less than one month. What??????

My mind raced like mad! Texas? I've haven't been to Texas in a bazillion years and I've never been to Duncanville, to the best of my knowledge. The picture of the vehicle registered to me isn't a vehicle I've ever owned, and how could this have happened? By now I'm running around like a complete lunatic! Frantic thoughts of identity theft are affecting my ability to think clearly!! Who am I kidding? I can't even think...I'm FREAKED OUT!! After numerous phone calls with family members to trigger lost memories of vehicles owned during my marriage that ended ten years ago , we all reach the conclusion that no...it's not my ex driving around with my license plate. Hey, I said I was freaked out, okay?

Wait one minute! The picture on the ticket is of plate number A123BC, but the written citation is for plate number A412BC, of which I am the named owner, that is according to the citation. By the way, the plate numbers have been changed to protect the INNOCENT!!!!!

Obviously I don't own the vehicle in the picture - or the license plate on the vehicle. But what about the plate number listed on the ticket...could it be the van that I traded in in 2002? Is it the Kia that was totalled in my car accident in 2004? Nope - neither of those. Is it Mr. MP's car that used to be Duce's first car - that we turned it into a junk yard when Mr. MP went into the Army? Nope - not that one either. As I breathe a sigh of relief that no one is rolling through Texas with a former license plate of mine...

It hits me like a brick!!!

What about Mr. MP's first vehicle? That money sucking hunk of junk was disposed of by Mr. MP himself via a towing company and auto shop. As he was a minor during the "first car" time frame, my name was on the title as well. Do I still have the records on this vehicle that was disposed of two and a half years ago? After relentless searching, and quite honestly destroying my neatly organized files, I found it! I found the file that was the vehicle in question! OMG - it's the license plate on the ticket! How the heck did this happen!!!!! What the heck is going on here? Can I in any way prove I don't own this vehicle? My mind has run amok again!!

Why on earth did I decide that January 2008 would bring new habits that didn't involve keeping every single document - FOREVER???? OMG - what have I done??? Why did I go on a shredding spree that probably matched that of Watergate??? Why????

Okay - it's all good. I do have a record of the disposal, in so far as correspondence with the Dept of Motor Vehicles is concerned. I have a copy of the part of the title that you send to DMV to release liability, and a second letter and copy of said liability release after a threatening "suspension of registration" was received. Again, this is two and half years ago.

So now the task at hand is to figure out why DMV thinks I own a vehicle I don't own, at least per Duncanville TX's records. With my summer work schedule of four 10 hour days - looks like I'm spending Friday morning at DMV. Wait...no I'm not. DMV is closed for the next three Fridays as part of the State's furlough program to cut expenses. Oh this just great! Ummm...can I have a few hours off work on Monday to handle this? I realize I've only been in my new job 3 weeks and was out last week due to illness. But time is of the essence!!

I should be grateful this "ticket" has come in the mail so as to alert me to the fact that DMV's records are not correct. But right now I'm more irritated than anything that I have to arrange time away from my job so I can make sure someone else gets their job done correctly. Sigh.