A Good Ol' Fashion Beat Down

It all started with a swift kick in the shin. I had only been in DC for 10 hours and already had a parking ticket. The punches kept coming.

I thought I would be an honest citizen and rather than keep my residence in TN, which would be cheaper and less of a hassle, I moved my residence to DC like I was supposed to. I got my DC driver's license but couldn't get tags for my car at that time because I had to 1) get my car inspected 2) get DC car insurance and 3) have my title shipped to the DC DMV.

Left hook, right in the eye. My car is only 3 years old. I had no reason to believe that inspection would be a problem, but I was shocked when I was handed a "Failed" inspection notice. What was the problem? The window tint was too dark. Excuse me? You mean, the tint that it came with? Yes. So now you need to go spend x amt of dollars to get it scraped off. For that one, I picked myself off the ground and countered with my own weapon - Collin. He took the car back, spoke to the manager, and got a "Pass." At least I'm earning points in this fight.

Right hook with partial deflection. I've had the same insurance company for 11 years, and my mom has always handled my insurance stuff. I thought it would be easy to switch because going from TN to AL was no big deal. Not so much. My insurance company doesn't do individual insurance in the big city. Great. Now I have to shop around, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I met with an insurance agent, basically the first one that answered my phone call, and she sent me a few quotes. Twice the yearly amount I was paying. The throbbing pain in my head was getting worse. After some suggestions from a friend, I signed up with a well-known company with a rate that was only slightly higher than my current rate. Phew, close one.

Right in the chest. I requested my title from the finance company at the beginning of May. I checked religiously to see if my title had arrived - nothing. Every time I called, it was being "processed." My TN tags expired May 31, and I kept having to get a new temporary parking pass every 2 weeks, so I could legally park on my own street. On May 30, I finally had to go to the DMV to get something worked out lest they give me more tickets. They still hadn't received my title, but they needed a title to give out a tag. Seriously? They finally decided that they would give me a temporary tag that would last me until July 13.

Punch in the nose. Then began the onslaught of photo enforced tickets with doubled fines for "failure to respond." To update a previous post, I have now received a total of 3 photo tickets: 2 for speeding and 1 for signal pass red lite (not really sure what that means). There has been a hearing requested for all 3, so now I'll get to pay DC some court costs.

Another deflection. My title finally arrived the second week of June. Rather than going ahead and getting my tags, I figured I would get my money's worth out of the temporary tag. Since I have to work the other 2 business days before July 13, I chose to go today (July 9). In preparing the papers required to get tags (Yes, you have to have 2. One in front and one in back. I guess that traffic cameras can see you better that way.), I noticed a statement that said that if you have unpaid fines to the District of Columbia, tags cannot be issued to you. My stomach cringed. Somehow though, I was able to get my tags with no problem.

Below the belt. The DC DMV isn't the only one taking shots. I have eczema. One of the main places it appears is on my hands. It usually breaks out a few times a year either when I'm stressed or if I come in contact with some irritating chemical, but it's been pretty well controlled for the past 10 years. It was really bad when I was in high school. So bad in fact, that my then 4 year old sister asked, "Fawn, why do your hands look like an old lady's?" Thanks, Blair. Well, this move has been a little stressful, and my eczema has been out of control. I ran out of medication, so I had to go to the dermatologist who wrote a prescription for a new type of spray and cream. He also gave me some samples. I only have short term insurance (which doesn't really cover much unless it's catastrophic), so I thought that the samples would clear up my hands until I could fill my prescriptions with my student insurance in the fall. While the meds have helped, the eczema keeps flaring up, so I just had to bite the bullet and fill the prescriptions. When I went to pick them up, I discovered that my short term insurance ended end of June. I was totally prepared to just buy 1 medication; however, I had no idea what the price tag was going to be. Guesses? If you said $700, you're right. I had to look at it twice myself. One 4 oz bottle of lotion was $250, and the more effective 4 oz bottle of spray was $450. As I fought back tears, I had to decline.

I've been bruised and battered by the city thus far; I have dry, cracked, swollen hands to prove it. I'm fighting back though. It's kinder sides have broken through a few times, and as I warm up to the city, maybe it'll warm up to me. Until then, your prayers are appreciated.