Here's a journal entry from a bit over a year ago. Why is it relevant now, you might ask? Good question.
0855: Just sent in my registration renewal at the DMV office before getting on the bus to work. I was wondering if I could just drop off the payment in a box (w/o a stamp) instead of waiting in line but despite being crowded moved fast. The clerk asked if I wanted to stay and pay or drop it off in the box. Being in a rush to catch the bus, I nervously responded, "I put the check inside already". She smiled in a way that almost concealed her frustration and replied once again, "stay and pay or drop it off in the box". As if catching myself from falling over the edge of a cliff, I spat out "in the box". Hands shaking, I put the envelope into the slit of the tinted plastic box. Mission accomplished. To the bus stop. The "gruff" bus driver pulled up through the light drizzle. His boisterous, "GOOD MORNING" seemed more like a greeting at a boot camp or prison. However this morning in a slightly less gruff tone he asked how I was doing. I said I wasn't too bad. I asked the same. Good. It was hardly 5 seconds, but it was real. 1232: And so it goes. Bren called twice: once to tell me off about last nights old cell phone debacle and second, to tell me off about rent. 1700: Time to go.
