Week in Review: August 7-13, 2023

MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2023

The day started with us successfully getting to the beach just before sunrise…

And went downhill from there..

There have been several things I’ve been putting off while down here as I needed to print forms/paperwork and I didn’t have a printer. I was buying a printer/scanner for Katie anyway as I need to get through all the %*&! pictures and slides from the past, oh, 70 years (what have I been doing with my life) and scan what I/we want, and distribute the rest to family members, and some (the 1950s one from Japan and Italy during the war) will probably sell on ebay.

The printer came over the weekend and I fought with that for about two hours to get it set-up and working (ink cartridges were not at juuuust the right angle, learn from my mistake) and proceeded to print out the forms. One of the things I (THOUGHT) I was going to be doing today was visiting the AAA office with my International Driving Permit application so if I rented a car in Korea, blah blah blah. You need to do that before you leave your home country. I also printed out the driver’s license change of address form so I could submit that and then….

BECAUSE I’M AN IDIOT….

I realized OH. I’m not CHANGING MY ADDRESS. I can’t change my NEW YORK DRIVER’S LICENSE to a FLORIDA ADDRESS. I need a FLORIDA DRIVER’S LICENSE.

Who let me out alone??

Well, THAT turned into just a cluster of YOU CAN’T DO THAT. Sigh. I need, among other things, two forms of proof of my new address here in Florida. Utility bills, mortgage payment, lease, bank statement, etc. Obviously I do not, and will not, have any of those things. I had a little meltdown as I tried to find the workaround for THIS problem (as I am the Queen of the Workaround). I could go right now and open a bank account here in Florida using this address. Oh, you need proof of residency for that, too. Well, maybe I can open a joint account with Katie…no, you just need both parties’ documents – and proof of residency – for that. This went on for awhile.

Then I thought…what if I just DIDN’T  change my license. I mean, when does anyone ever check that the address on your license matches…well, whatever it’s supposed to match?? Katie’s concern was what if I died while I was in Korea (you’d be surprised how many people have that concern), the police would go to my New York address on my driver’s license. I was like, and?? Arrest me for having false documents?? I’d be dead! I mean, I’ll be updating all my Korean documents (school, visa, etc) once I have a permanent address there. So the police won’t be going to NY when I die.

And then *I* thought, I JUST got the enhanced ID license. When I go to domestic airports (and I have three domestic flights in the next two weeks) and they ask for your license, do they SCAN that or just LOOK at it and match the picture to the face standing in front of them?? I don’t know that for sure, but what if they DO scan it and I get held up at the airport for my permanent information not all matching up? I don’t like messing around with airports, immigration, etc. So I was back to: I need to get a Florida driver’s license.

We finally found that if I live with a Florida resident and she can show proof of residency, we can get a Certificate of Address filled out by her and notarized, then I can take that to DMV (oh yay) and get a Florida license. Of course, she is leaving in less than two days for a week in California, and I’m leaving for South Carolina before she gets back and then there’s only two days before I leave for Korea when we get back from South Carolina. So this has to happen NOW. When she’s busy doing last minute trip things and getting ahead in her work and having almost back-to-back zoom meetings all day. So when are we doing all this??

In the midst of all this (and it took several hours to get through all the levels of Do I Really Need To and How Can I and What If I Just), The Retirement Money Lady called and said “we’re in the process of doing The Thing to your money but we have to vet everything out and your new Florida address is being flagged as not matching The Information in The Big Database so no money for you.” Which was another deciding factor in yes, I do need a Florida driver’s license.

Oh, I also needed proof of any name changes during my lifetime…and I’ve been married twice and am back to my maiden name, so yeah. And I don’t believe I EVER saw the marriage certificate. I am obsessive about holding onto things like that and I have zero recollection of ever having seen that, so…how quickly can I get a copy of my marriage certificate(s)?

I feel there’s a pretty good drinking game here. Everyone takes a shot every time I say “Florida driver’s license.” We’d all be sloshed by now.

That was my day…how about you??

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2023

The driver’s license saga continues…the day started a little later than planned, so by the time we got back from the notary for Katie’s Certificate of Address which I could use as Proof of Residency, it was almost noon…and soul-crushing anxiety had taken me over. Shaky, heart palpitaty, shortness of breath, trembly hands, crying at everything, anxiety. And the thought of going to DMV with almost everything I needed just seemed…too overwhelming.

If you’re thinking, she can’t make it to DMV?? How’s she going to manage in KOREA? You’re not alone. But I decided it was just too much for me that day, that I would do two other small errands: post office to finally mail back my license plates and bank to finally deposit all the cash I’ve been carrying around for 2.5 weeks. I HATE carrying cash and this was a lot.

So…now I’m driving The Monster Truck (aka Katie’s Jeep – but like a Hummer Jeep not a cute lil beachy Jeep) for the first time…unfamiliar vehicle, unfamiliar area, my phone gps keeps disconnecting from her carplay…The Anxiety Goblins are LOVING THIS. I made it to the PO successfully, climbed BACK up into the giant vehicle (children should get vehicles their elderly parents can get into easily, just sayin’) and proceeded to drive around in circles looking for the bank. Circles and circles and circles. GPS kept telling me You Have Arrived (to Citibank), and yet…

…unless I was supposed to leave my money in the trash can (and Katie was just barely able to convince me that I could make cash deposits at an atm), I was just not getting it.

Until I realized the “citibank” was a Citibank ATM inside the 711 across the street from trashcan alley.

In the end, I was NOT able to make a cash deposit. Has anyone ever done this, I mean recently, made a cash deposit into an ATM? I saw options for Account Balance, Fast Withdrawal, Withdrawal, and Transfer. Is there a secret code I’m just not privy to, to allow me to deposit cash at the ATM?

Today’s Word of the Day: ATM.

Each week on PeeWee’s Playhouse, they would have a word of the day…and when someone (unknowingly) said it, all the characters (and all our friends at home) would scream AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Oh, PeeWee.

ANYWAY. I did get some Skittles at the 7-11 so the trip was not a complete bust.

And then I came home and did nothing all afternoon while Katie bustled around finishing up work and getting ready for her trip. And I mean, I did NOTHING. I didn’t read, I didn’t nap, I didn’t even open the laptop. I just like SAT. I sat HERE, I sat THERE. But that was like all I could manage.

I did go out with her in the early evening to run errands. MY MOST FAVORITE THING EVER. Ahem. I swear I have been in more stores in the past two weeks than I have in the past year…maybe more. I’ve been to the MALL.

TWICE!!!

And then I proceeded to not sleep all night because I was anxious about going to DMV the next morning (OH – overnight I read that you can’t get a license til you’ve lived in the state for six months! So…yeah), I was anxious about not yet getting a temporary studio (in Korea) booked, I was anxious about not waking up in time to wake Katie up in time to not miss her ride to the airport at 5am. So I perused the internet. All of it. I have seen All the Things. But I did not sleep.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2023

Katie got off on time, I slept about 30 minutes between the time she left and when I had to get up to get ready to get to DMV when it opened.

Good Thing: For about 6 weeks I’ve been using up all the mini and hotel bottles of shampoo that one always accumulates, rather than just throwing them out…and my hair has been AWFUL. It’s not good these days anyway, but these bad shampoos and conditioners were making it worse. And last night while erranding I finally broke down and bought my shampoo and conditioner (Pantene Smooth & Sleek) and ohmygosh what a difference this morning when I dried my hair! It was actually soft again.

So, my soft hair and I grabbed my folder full of All My Important Documents, climbed up into the Jeep and….couldn’t get it into reverse to back out of the driveway. !!! I’d driven it yesterday with no problem…we drove it last night with no problem. Why was there now a problem?!? Plus, Katie’s landlord was sitting outside in her car waiting to meet the window guy…so she saw me come out, heave myself up into the vehicle, then…not move for at least ten minutes. Ugh. After googling why does the world hate me I finally discovered that turning the car off and back on again released the gears, and into reverse we went, waved to the landlord and headed off to dmv. Trembling and sweating.

Anxiety is a terrible thing. And what I’ve realized over the past few days, is that you can’t really explain/describe it. People ask, “what’s the matter? why are you so upset? let’s figure this out together” and when you list the things that are currently triggering the anxiety, it all sounds ridiculous, even to yourself. Really? A grown woman can’t get herself to DMV/the post office/the bank/Korea?? But it’s not really about those things…it’s about “inside you.” I don’t even know how to explain it here – but…it’s not about The THINGS. The Things are all solvable…or they’re not…and then you figure out a workaround. Rationally, I can understand all that. But it’s like certain things (the fear of failure/looking stupid/confrontation) push buttons inside me that release all the physical characteristics of the anxiety…the shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembly hands, trembly voice, etc. And they don’t stop just cuz there’s a reasonable way out.

Anyway. It’s been an emotionally exhausting couple of days.

DMV went fine. I don’t need to live here six months before I can get a license, I didn’t need proof of name changes, Channing was calm and patient and guided me gently through everything, they had comfy chairs to sit in, and in under an hour I was out, new Florida driver’s license in hand (not even a temporary, but the actual one!), and I am now officially a registered voter in the state of Florida and I will use that right well.

The rest of the day I dozed on and off on the sofa, recovering from my harrowing experience, ha ha. And my body somewhat returned to normal.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023

This day started out as probably the most “normal” day since I left home (I sound like a teen runaway). I set the alarm for 8, got up, fed the dogs, straightened and washed up, took blog pictures, and headed out for the day’s errands.

I got the jeep out of the driveway on the first try. We (the jeep and I are a team now) didn’t get lost. I successfully completed all my “outside the building errands,” including getting my International Driving Permit at AAA (which was the start of all the driver’s license mayhem on Monday).

When I got home I did my “indoor” errands and worked on a blog post…then rewarded myself with some time in the pool with a book. It’s pretty hot out there (have I mentioned Florida is hot??), so I tried to stay in the shade, which is at the deep end, which is fine, but a little awkward when you’re trying to read.

Leftovers for dinner. Three episodes of my current kdrama: Lost. It’s quiet, slow, a little depressing. Just the way I like them 🙂 Then bed.

Pretty normal, eh??

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY, AUGUST 11-14, 2023

Sorry for the lumping together of the last three days, but truly, they just all ran together into one. I haven’t been out of my nightgown since Thursday (TMI), and I’ve just been sorting through all my stuff I have here. Trying to see what will actually fit into my suitcases, what will fit into the two large tubs that Katie said she’ll hold onto for me while I’m away…and the three mid-size tubs that are filled with things I need her to send me while I’m there (cuz it won’t fit into luggage and I don’t need it right away)…and the 12x12x12 box of slides that still needs to be scanned and the 12x12x12 box + 2 plastic shoebox-size boxes of old photographs that still need to be gone through. And there’s a box of stuff for HER (baby album, etc)…and three winter coats hanging in the closet.

She’s still away so she hasn’t seen it all yet. I DID send her pictures of all the boxes that arrived from NY so maybe if she’s expecting to see all THAT when she returns and it’s actually much more managed than that, maybe it won’t be so bad.

??

I keep thinking, most people end up having to empty out their parents’ entire homes when they die…and I’ve already done that for her, and she’ll just have to go through a couple plastic tubs that are already in her house.

I’m really doing her a favor by keeping all this stuff here. 

But now I am WORN OUT. And am about to stop for the night. Tomorrow I need to go to Verizon to talk to them about unlocking my phone for when I need to put the Korean sim card into my phone. And pack/prepare for my trip Tuesday to South Carolina. So I’m just going to share the couple of pictures I’ve taken over the last couple days…and call it a day…well, a week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright. That week’s over. Only one more full week for me. Gah.