…an Experiment in Low-Tech Commuting
Winnie and I purchased a new set of wheels yesterday. After several months of discussion we finally decided to try something different than the two-car family routine. We bought ourselves a 50cc Moped.
Charest Family on the Web Posts
The Friday before going on vacation, June 29, I read a column in our local “Potomac News” that irked me more than normal. I read the Potomac News every day on my morning bus commute, and I can only state how shocked I am at the tone of local editorials and Letters to The Editor (LTE). “Hateful” and “bigoted” are two words that come to mind in my daily readings. “Willful ignorance” is a term I frequently think of. But columnist Ken Concannon, who pretends he is a “fair and balanced writer”, really annoys me.
Even against the background of ignorance, hatefulness, and bigotry, Mr. Concannon’s column of June 29 “Some commentary on Nazis and socialism” got me angry.
Our vacation trip continues with visiting family in New England.
Aunt Terry was vacationing in Cape Cod until noon Thursday. It was only a planned 3 and a half hour trip from Mom’s house, so we weren’t in a rush to get there. We made good time driving until we got off the freeway in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 15 miles from Aunt Terry. After that, we still made good time driving except we were driving around in circles.
Winnie and I successfully completed a week’s worth of traveling, visiting family, and sight seeing. We returned home late Saturday evening, July 7, after a 13 hour trip from Massachusetts. It was a really nice week, but also more tiring than I expected. It’s taken until now for me to feel rested again, ready to get back into the old routine.
Or perhaps, it’s really that I haven’t wanted to get back into the old routine again…
Ron Charest announces a vacation trip to the Northeastern US to visit with family. It would be the first time his wife Weifang would be meeting the family.
As many of our frequent visitors (visitors => More Than Two) may remember, back in December and January I posted about a problem with our local DMV. It seemed that the various DMV officials were making stuff up in increasingly new and original ways, to prevent Winnie from obtaining her driver’s license (and by default, proof of Virginia residency). My breaking point was when, on our fifth trip over a period of 7 weeks, they denied her license on basis that she could not prove how she made the jump from her maiden name “Wei Fang Li” to married name “Wei Fang Li Charest.”
Once again, our own Jonah Goldberg, the greatest living writer of all time, has presented us with a column of striking insight concerning the urgent need for privatizing our public schools.
…And A Resolution on My Anti-Immigration Complaint
Yesterday morning I did contact my financial adviser and discussed Sunday morning’s incident with the home nurse. Our agent became noticeably upset over my description of the event, and promised to pass the information to the medical agency. She asked some questions, and apologized several times for what happened. She promised the incident would be taken care of.
…and another Ugly Example of Anti-Immigration Hysteria
Winnie and I are currently in the process of buying some additional life insurance. Not a big deal or at least it shouldn’t be. Part of the process now-a-days to buy life insurance is take a medical exam, and the insurance companies actually make this part easy by sending a nurse-practitioner to the prospective client’s home for administering the forms and lab work.
Yesterday, we had our home visit. As part of the nurse’s visit, she subjected me to some of the ugliest anti-immigration crap I’ve been personally subjected to. As a side bonus, she performed what at best would be the sloppiest blood sample draw, on Winnie, I’ve ever experienced or witnessed. Ever.
The DMV Wars are Over!
Well, it’s over. After seven trips to the local DMV office, two letters to the Governor of Virginia, one letter to the DMV Commissioner, and three phone calls to the DMV office of Identification Review Service, Winnie has a driver’s license good for five years, in her married name, and with our current address.
Once again I’m left wondering: Why was that so difficult?
Opinions & Commentary
Dale City DMV immigration Politics