didjas and honeydos

[susandennis]

Growing up, we had 'didjas'. Everyone always had a running list... 'Did ya clean up your room? Did ya pick up the dry cleaning? Did ya make reservations?' So our family shortcut was didjas as in 'can't right now, gotta do my didjas'.

Today one of my didjas was getting my car emissions tested. Every two years and this was the year. The only way they could make it less painful would be to send someone here to do the work.

You get a notice in the mail about a month before hand. If you go to the website to try and renew your license plates without the test, it tells you that you need the test and points you to the info.

There's a web page that tells you what the wait time is per testing location (the easiest one for me is South Seattle). Then there's a video camera that updates every 10 minutes so that you can see the line for yourself. $15 and 10 mins and I was done. Passed with a smile and thank you from the tester.

When I got home, I logged back into the website to renew and my info was all updated. Filled in my credit card and my new plate is in the mail. Most years, they only send little tabs to put onto the plates, but now there is a new law now that after so many years, you have to get a new plate. If you want to keep the same number you pay $20. It's my year for new plates. I'm ready for a new number so I saved my $20.

It's a pretty easy system. I do wish they would require proof of insurance, though. It's just nuts that they don't.

That was really my only non-work didja for today so I'm done!

Comments

[lilliane.livejournal.com]

That is nuts they don't require proof of insurance. Where I live now you have to have it, and the insurance companies tie in with the licensing agency so they will know if you do or don't and will not give you new tags if you don't. People not driving with insurance cost us legal folks a lot of money each year and enforcing the law to have insurance seems logical to me.

[lilliane.livejournal.com]

"cost us legal folks" as in the folks who are legally insured, was what I meant to type.

[susandennis]

I think it's pretty much an east coast/west coast thing. At least when I lived in California, they did not require it.

But, best I can recall the 5 or 6 east coast states I've lived in all did.

I'm pretty sure Minnesota did, too, now that I think about it.

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

Kentucky, where I used to live, requires proof of insurance, in the form of a printed card from the insurance company, when one registers or renews a vehicle. Indiana, where I currently live, on the other hand, requires simply that you tell them the name of the company and your account number. I could pull a number out of my butt on the spot and they wouldn't know the difference.

As for 'didjas', when I was growing up in Kentucky our equivelent was "honeydews"..."Honey, do [this]. Honey, do [that]".

[susandennis]

Ok...

1. You have numbers in your butt??!! kewel!

2. I misspelled honeydo in the title of the entry. I like your spelling better.

That one would have never flown in our house. About the time Daddy would have tried it... 'Honey, do...' after he picked himself up off the floor where she had tossed him, he would have probably replied to Mom 'ok, ok, ok... Honey, I will do it my own freakin' self. Geesh.'

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

I wish we had that here.
Course...now that I'm in a different county, I'm not even sure if we need to do the testing anymore. I guess I should go look that up.

[lordjim.livejournal.com]

In Texas, you can't renew your driver's license or your license plates, nor even get your car inspected without proof of insurance.

Here in Ohio, you have to tell them you have insurance. They do occasionally send out random request for proof. You have to send them proof that on the day of the notice, before you got it, you had insurance or you can just send them gobs of money for not having it. But you can do anything as far as renewals and stuff with just a promise.

[pheon.livejournal.com]

Here in Oregon, you have to provide the insurance company name and the account number on the form renewing your plates. I think the state verifies those with the company, but I'm not positive.

However, they do require proof if you're stopped by a cop. I know, because I was stopped for a traffic infraction. When he requested my proof of insurance, I discovered that I had the previous one, but had forgotten to put the latest (current) one in the glove box. Luckily, he let me off the hook because on failure to provide proof of insurance, they can immiedately impound your vehicle and fine you $180.