Luck o' the Irish

Apparently, St. Patrick's Day is a big deal in KC. Unfortunately, since it occured on a Thursday, I didn't get to go to the big parade. But some year I will and it will be awesome. I was lucky enough to go to the "warm-up" parade in Brookside last Saturday. And it was over an hour long so I can't imagine how long the real parade lasts!

Speaking of being lucky, Bruce was REAL lucky this past week! I stepped out of my apartment building to go to work one morning and this is what I saw! A huge tree across the street had fallen over. You see where the grey suv is parked and is now submerged from the tree. Bruce parks in that same exact spot all the time. Fortunately, he was parked out of harm's way that night. The tree didn't fall over from the weather, (there was no storm) but it was completely rotten inside and with the ground being soft from recent rains, it just toppled over.

Here's the workers chopping down the rest of the tree. The tree was over the entire roadway.

 As I mentioned, I attended the warm-up St. Patty's day parade. Here's a few pics:

Tall Irish characters

Irish cloggers

Guys in kilts

Playing the bagpipes!

KC Wolf!

Sluggerz!

A live band was playing on this float.

Roller derby girls!

 I got to try out a new restaurant last Sunday after church. Fric 'n Frac on 39th st. Besides having an awesome name, they had pretty good burgers. The fries were not my favorite, however. They look good in this picture but I think I got the bottom of the barrel. They were small and crispy.

Not much else to report. The fireworks business is picking up. I'm going to be a delivery driver next week and deliver a bunch of supplies to a fireworks business south of KC. Sometimes, I get to be a warehouse worker too. We're getting in all of our supplies to sell prior to the retail season and I unpack it and organize it in our warehouse. After sitting at a desk a lot, it's nice to have a little variety of stuff to do!

Today also marks the beginning of the MLS season. Normally, I wouldn't notice or care. But since a lot of friends here love it, if I want to hang out I gotta like it too! :) Go Wizards...I mean Go Sporting KC!

(yeah, just doesn't sound right, does it?) Go Wizards!

Til next time...Laura

Meet Me in St. Louie

Last weekend, my girl friends Jessica, Lisa and I made a fun trip across the state to St. Louis. Now, let me start off by saying I do not usually have good thoughts when it comes to STL but I'm always up for fun times so off we went! Our first stop was at a local pizza chain, Imo's, famous for their toasted ravioli and super thin crust pizza. It was pretty good!

Toasted ravioli

The thinnest crust pizza I've ever had!

Aren't they cute with their little logo with the arch? (one of my annoyances with STL- the arch is on everything!)

Our next stop was a tour of the Anheuser-Busch headquarters and brewery. This giant company started with Mr. Anheuser and his son-in-law, Mr. Busch and they now sell almost 50% of all beer in America. That's a lot! The tour was good but it concentrated more on the beer making process and I would have preferred a few more stories! But you did get two free samples at the end which was nice! I tried the Bud Light Wheat which was ok and a blueberry kind which was actually really good! And that's saying something because I don't like beer at all!

The whole facility was like a little town. All the buildings made of brick. 

Hands down, the best part of the tour was seeing the Clydesdales and the dalmatian! I felt like I was meeting celebrities! They keep some horses there at the STL brewery but some of them are at a farm in Boonville! I had no idea they were at my old stompin' grounds! I've never heard of anyone talking about it in Boonville or seen it. I'll have to do some investigating on that sometime.

So pretty!

The horses have their own truck!

This horse's name is Bruce! He's probably the best one!

We "spotted" the dalmatian around the corner!

A view of the brewery. When you think of a huge company like Budweiser, you think of ultra modern facilities but it was actually very historic looking.

Inside the packaging and labeling factory.

After the tour, we checked into our hotel and got ready for the next event. We stayed downtown and here was our view!

County courthouse (I think) and Arch.

Park

So, the next event was going to a book signing for the "Pioneer Woman." I had never heard of this woman, probably because I don't really cook. Anyways, apparently this woman started a blog and now has a cookbook and novel. It's all about how she was a city girl who fell in love with an Oklahoman cowboy and now is raising their family on a cattle ranch. When we got there, we were one of the last people in and after the author spoke a few minutes, we had a number and had to wait for our group to be called to have her sign a book. There were over 700 people there! We ended up waiting for 4 hours!! We managed to entertain ourselves but we just had no idea it was going to take that long. 

JJ with her cookbook!

Afterwards, it was time to eat some dinner! We went back to the hotel and walked across the street to Caleco's. Guess who ended up coming to the exact same restaurant- the Pioneer woman herself! It was crazy.

The next day was our tour at Busch stadium, where the Cardinals play. My favorite part was JJ wearing her Royals cap! Way to represent!

JJ and Lisa outside the stadium

I love tours and finding out about places so even though I cannot stand the Cardinals, I still really enjoyed the tour! We had a great guide! We also had the cutest old man in our group and it was his birthday. We all sang happy birthday to him. He was a big Cardinals fan so he was excited!

The stadium has an awesome view of the skyline!

It really is a gorgeous stadium and would be a great place to watch a game! We got to walk through the owner's suite and we sat in the dugout and we walked on the dirt track so it was pretty neat.

Our last stop was to the City Museum. This place was not at all what I expected- it was nuts! It's not a museum at all. It's a playground/maze/jungle gym. There are crazy rooms with caves and slides and all you do is explore! It's so much fun for kids. But we liked it too! Part of it was outside and we were climbing up in all this weird contraptions with nothing but the ground below us and it was kinda scary! I would love to go back!

I would recommend this to anyone visiting STL, just because it's like nothing I've ever experienced before.  http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp

So before we headed back to KC, we wanted to get some of STL's famous gooey butter cake. We looked up online where Gooey Louie's was because they were supposed to have the good stuff. We drove all through the city only to get there and it was closed! Typical St. Louis I tell you! Then, we wanted to get some frozen yogurt so we looked that up too, drove to the address and it was a Prudential real estate office! By then, we were really ready to get back to the good city in MO.

Overall, it was a fun trip!

Til next time... Laura

The Most Frustrating Experience of My Life: Getting a Missouri License Plate

You would think that broke governments would make it easy on people to get licenses. After all, it is a source of revenue. Here I am, trying to give Missouri money and they are making it the most difficult process I have ever experienced.

My vehicle, Bruce, had Tennessee license plates that are expiring in March. So, I thought I would try and get my new license plates end of Feb/beginning of March. I went online to try and get all the information I needed.

First I found the documents needed for a driver’s license for someone who already has a license from another state. I needed my birth certificate, ss card and proof of residency (I will use my new lease). Then, I needed to find where to go. After looking for a while (wouldn’t this information be prominent on the site as everyone would need to know where the building is?) I found the address. One office for Kansas City, Missouri. One. I don’t even want to think of how long the lines are going to be. (Turned out, not so bad). Of course, the office is only open during the hours that I work. I will have to take an afternoon off. I was expecting this, so no big deal. I thought I would try and get as much done during breaks as I could.

Next, how to get a license plate. I found a list that said I needed to bring the title (got it), the application (downloaded it), insurance card (got it), and now for the tricky items: a statement of non-assessment and a safety inspection. If you live in St. Louis you also have to get emissions tested.

Ok, the safety inspection was inconvenient but not a big deal. There were several auto shops to choose from and I found one close by where I could take it before work with no waiting. It only took the guy 5 minutes and it cost $12. The only problem was, they only accepted cash (which was not told to me over the phone when I called for information, maybe would be a good idea to mention!) so I had to walk two blocks in the snow to some shady market place (although the guys inside were nice) to an atm. The other thing- I got this the last week in February. So I pretty much wasted the entire month because it will expire February 2012. But that is the least of my problems.

What has sent me over the edge was the “statement of non-assessment.” First of all, what is that? Apparently, you have to prove to Missouri that you don’t owe personal property taxes. Now, does this make ANY SENSE at all? If you are a new resident to the state, obviously do you not owe any property taxes from the previous year because YOU ARE A NEW RESIDENT. Do current Missouri residents (who would own property in Missouri) need this documentation? No! But since I knew there was nothing I could do about it, I looked for more information on what I needed to do to receive the statement.

The title application itself says “A statement of non-assessment from the county in which you resided on January 1^st of the previous year.” Ok, in January of 2010 I was living in Davidson County, Tennessee. So I called the Assessor’s office and asked. They had no clue what I was talking about.

I went back to the Missouri page and I searched online all over the Dept of Revenue website and that led me to the County Assessor office for Jackson County website. No information anywhere on what documentation a person needed to receive their statement of non-assessment. So, I call. The number listed was not the right office and I was transferred. I was caller number 33 in line. I was on hold for about 30 minutes.

Now, obviously if there are that many people calling, either the office is short-staffed or that phone line is the only means to getting information. When I spoke with someone, I could just tell that this person must be answering the same questions over and over and over again all day. Why is this happening? Because there’s no information online!

Anyways, I was told that I need my previous registration from the previous state from the past 3 years and if I didn’t have that, I would need alternative documentations. Well, I knew I had my registration but I wasn’t sure if it listed the past three years. After I hang up, I look at my registration. Sure enough, it was only for 2009-2010. I called back to see what the alternative documentation would be. I got the answer (or so I thought): proof of residency in my previous state. Then, I had to ask what that meant. It meant bank statements, utility bills, lease or credit card statements from the past 2 years. There was no mention of exact dates from the previous two years.

I didn’t have bank statements. The account was closed last year, I only got paperless statements and the bank wouldn’t fax or email old statements. They would have to mail it and that would take weeks.

The utility bills from last year were not in name, they were in my roommates’ name so I couldn’t use that.

I didn’t have a copy of the lease from my old house and knew that it would take serious time to get it from the landlord.

I went online to get credit card statements. The statements online don’t go back that far. So, I had to specially request it. I did have a statement from May 2010 with my Tennessee address.

So, with my old credit card statement and my Tennessee title, I thought that was proof enough of my residency in Tennessee.

I decide to drive downtown on my lunch break to the office. It was sleeting outside. I drove 30 minutes, paid to park and went inside. I find the office and tell the receptionist I was a new resident and I needed a statement of non-assessment to get a license. She asked if I had my title. Yes. She put me on the list. Because she asked me that, I assumed that was all I would need.

There were 4 people in front of me. I had to wait 1 hour before I was seen by an assessor. While I was waiting, a guy came to the receptionist desk with the same situation. He had just moved from Kansas to Missouri (good decision minus the license plates part!). Somehow he found out (either he asked or was told by the receptionist) that he needed his vehicle registration from the past 3 years or the alternative documentation from the past 2 years. He started getting really upset because he didn’t have any of that with him. Now I know why he was so frustrated.

My name was called and I sat down at the desk in front of the assessor eating a Jimmy John’s sandwich. I said “I need a statement of non-assessment. I’m a new resident.”

“I need your registration from the past 3 years.”

“I have my title from 2006 which shows it is from Tennessee.”

“That doesn’t count.” (Why it doesn’t count, I was never told.)

“Ok, I have my proof of residency in this credit card statement, dated May 2010 with the Tennessee address.”

“You need a statement from January 2009 and January 2010.”

“Why? This shows that as of May 2010 I was living in Tennessee. I also have a driver’s license, issued in 2006 from Tennessee.”

“Not good enough. I will get my supervisor.” (Ok, if I was living in Tennessee in May of 2010, obviously I wasn’t living in Missouri PRIOR to that if I live here in 2011).

So, the supervisor comes over and says the same thing. My reply, “Is any of this information on the website?”

“No.”

“That would really help out because I even called and was not told that it specifically needed to be from January 2009 and January 2010.”

So, we argue for a few minutes but by then, I was over an hour late getting back to work. I had wasted all of that time because I didn’t have the proper documentation when I felt like I had done everything to make sure I would be ok.

I had looked up what I could online- no help.

I had called the office- incomplete help.

It was so frustrating to feel like I was trying to do everything correct and it still wasn’t right.

So, I left. Now I am waiting for my credit card company to mail me the old statements. I will have to go back to the office and wait again.

All of this is just mind-boggling to me. I am not frustrated with the staff because I understand they have their laws they have to go by. The law is what is absolutely ridiculous. Why is it so difficult for a new resident to have to prove that they’ve never lived there before? Why do new residents have to prove it and current ones don’t? Isn’t it more likely for a current resident to owe property taxes???? If the purpose is to collect on unpaid property taxes, wouldn’t there be a database of outstanding accounts? And if you were a new resident, you wouldn’t be on that list. If you’re not on the list, you should be able to register your vehicle! Why are they making it so difficult??

So, I posted my frustration on facebook and got responses of 3 other people living in Missouri and not registering their vehicles because when they tried, they found it to be too complicated. So, if I know of 3 people, there must be dozens if not hundreds of vehicles that remain in Missouri that don’t get licensed because of this stupid system. Think of all of that revenue that Missouri loses! And it’s all because of red tape!

I cannot express how frustrated I was with this. It’s completely ridiculous and it makes me want to just let my tags expire and drive illegally to spite it! But I won’t do that.

I finally got my credit card statements emailed to me a couple days later. Then, I just decided to take an entire afternoon off of work to get this bullcrap over this. So, I drove back up to the Jackson County Courthouse. I waited another 1 hour and 15 minutes in the Assessor’s office. Once I saw someone, I handed over the title and the credit card statements and FINALLY had my statement of non-assessment!

Then, I walked over to the DMV and after about 20 minutes, had my new license plates and driver’s license! No problems at all!

Then, to top off the whole experience, I go back to Bruce and find I had a parking ticket! My meter had run out. I knew that it was going to but I couldn’t find a paid lot anywhere close. So, I had put in all the change I had with me but it wasn’t enough.  I don’t even care, I’m just glad it’s over! Now, I can look forward to paying personal property taxes on Bruce! Yippee! The bill will be mailed to me in November. At least the plates were for two years so I won’t have to renew until April 2013.

What’s the lesson in all of this? If you have to deal with the Jackson County Assessor’s office, be prepared to WAIT in line! And be prepared to need ridiculous paperwork to satisfy some stupid regulation.

I did email the Assessor’s office and the Missouri Department of Revenue to complain of my experience and simply ask for the list of required documents for new residents to be listed on the website. I’ve gotten responses, but no one saying they will even consider posting the information. No reason is given. When a staff from the Assessor’s office replied, she even gave me the wrong website for the office. I had to reply and let her know what the correct website for her own office was. No response after that.