Visiting DMV In Palm Coast, Florida

A while back, I made a list of things I had to do before and after I moved. You know, call the electric company in Connecticut to take the account out of my name, cancel the oil and propane, change addresses for banks and stuff like that. Typical chores one needs to tackle when one moves.

One of the more important tasks I needed to take care of was to change over my license plates (tags in FL) from Connecticut to Florida. I also needed to get my Florida license. I did both of those things today.

First off, I’d like to tell you that car insurance is cheaper here in Florida. I was paying about $800 every six months in CT and now I’m paying only $600. I have the same coverage. I always heard that Florida car insurance is expensive, but that may have been because it wasn’t always required (I believe). Rates may have been more due to the other guy not have anything. But these days, I guess central Connecticut is outdoing the South. Out doing it at about 25%. Mind you, the cost I just disclosed is for full coverage. I’m sure I could get much cheaper rates if I gutted my policy, which I may do in the future, as my car gets older.

DMV down here in Florida is much different than up North. I’ve lived in both New York and Connecticut and in both of those states, I had to walk into a building, wait in line to wait in another line. Well, Connecticut had seats, New York did not. And in both of those states, I always felt like I was at the mercy of whoever was behind the counter. I would walk up, they would peer at me, decide if I was worth their time and if so, we’d get things done. I remember wishing for someone who was nice. “Ooo, I want that lady. She doesn’t look like she’ll give me any problems.”

But I’ve never really had any issues at motor vehicles up there. I usually finished what I needed to finish during the first trip because I planned thoroughly.

The office I visited today in Palm Coast was in a shopping plaza. It was a store front, just like all the store fronts surrounding it and there were desks inside. When I walked in, I took a number and had a seat. After about 15 minutes of talking to the woman next to me, who used to live in New Jersey, I was called to sit at a desk with a very nice girl. For my license, she asked me for all the typical items, passport, social security card, pieces of mail – things like that. After she was through verifying who I was, she asked me to sit in a chair for my license picture. I had the picture taken and sat back down in the chair I had occupied moments earlier.

She handed me my license, I took one look at it and said, “It looks like I just spent a night at a truck stop in Vegas.” That got a smile out of her. Really, you should see this thing. I haven’t had a haircut in months and my bushy red fro really took it’s toll today. I’d show you in this post if I didn’t, well, look like I just spent a night in a truck stop in Vegas. Too funny.

After we finished that, we took care of my car registration. We had a little hiccup during this process because the insurance ID cars still said “Connecticut” on it when it should have said, “Florida.” I changed the address yesterday, but unknowingly didn’t change the state the insurance was issued in. The girl on the other side of the desk suggested that I call GEICO to have them fax over a new ID card, so I did. She sat there, very patiently, waiting for me to finish up and then went to fetch the fax. Weird!

I’m not saying that going to motor vehicles is fun by any means, I’m simply saying that the way Palm Coast handles things is quite foreign to me. I don’t know yet if it’s better or worse, because to be honest with you, I kind of liked the old way of standing in line, acting like you hated being there. This was way too commercial.

In other news, it’s been raining like crazy here. My friend Pete says this is the most rain this town has received in seven years, since he’s been living here. I believe him because from what I’m seeing, it’s deep. All the swales are full and flowing like nuts. Fortunately, it’s supposed to clear up on Sunday, followed by sunshine for the rest of the week. We still have yet to touch our toes on the beach.