Yesterday I went to the MVC (aka the DMV) to upgrade my drivers license to a Real ID. New Jersey was one of the last states to get their program up and running. I brought a giant packet with me of more ID than I needed because you never know. They ended up using my current driver’s license, social security card, a credit card statement printout (because I opted out of mailed bills years ago), and my passport. Additional ID I had on hand: my bank statement printout, this year’s W2, the township tax assessment postcard, and a letter from the water company. The entire procedure took an hour and five minutes. It would have been 10 minutes less had I not scribbled out an answer on the application. They do not tell you this, but there is no scribbling allowed on MVC forms. I had to fill it out again and head back to the window.
My second Shingles vaccine went very well. My appointment was 12:45 pm on Friday the 17th. On Saturday I just felt tired all day, like an 11pm kind of tired. Even though I took an afternoon nap, I still felt 11pm tired when I woke up. But by Sunday I was fine. I never had a fever and didn’t have the aches and shaking I had with the first jab. I’m glad this vaccine is behind me.
You wanna change the name of the Gulf of Mexico? OK hoss. Whatever. Take your entire first year to get that done. You’ll be stimulating the map-printing economy for sure. Big Globe will have an absolutely banner year. But also? There’s a street in Philadelphia that was renamed in 1992 and I still call it Delaware Avenue. So good luck with getting that to stick.
And yesterday was Murphy’s 8th birthday. None of us can believe it because we’ve been ignoring the extra white around the snoot. While he still does his perimeter runs, he slowed down a little bit this year and suddenly he’s zoomed over the hill. Our hope is that all of his medical problems during the front half of his life – remember the torn ACL? Or the anemia that had a really good chance of killing him? — means that the back half will be easier.
Happy birthday, little shrimp scampy. Thank you for the love and chaos.
