you’ve got to be kidding me

Replacement vehicle status, and just made it

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I made it to the city for a Costco trip, which will be covered in another post, but I before I left, I wanted to confirm things with the replacement vehicle financing.

Yesterday, I’d messaged our mechanic, asking if he’d heard back after I’d sent in our 90 day income confirmation information. He told me that yes, it had been approved. They just needed something from him, which he’d sent in, and he was waiting for final word.

Approved???

Yay?

That was in the morning, and there was still no word by the time he closed. Since I was planning a trip to the city for a Costco stock up trip today, I messaged him this morning telling him this and asking if I should hold off on it. He said he would contact them and find out for me.

After about an hour or two, I got a phone call.

There was good news, and bad news.

The good news was, we were approved for financing.

The bad news was, not for that vehicle.

???

Apparently, it was hard to get financing for us (not surprised there, considering we’ve had no debt payments to improve our credit rating), but that did eventually come through. However, they would only finance us for a vehicle that was 2014 and older, with a maximum of 180,000 km on it.

The Caravan we were applying for was a 2016 (not the 2015 I thought he’d told me at first), and has 181,000 km.

They wouldn’t budge on that 1000 km.

But, we do have financing approved!

Now, he knows how badly we need to replace our van, and he was determined to find something for us that met our needs and was affordable to our budget. He asked me a number of questions about what we were looking for, and it basically comes down to accessibility for my husband. A vehicle like the Caravan and our current Uplander has been ideal. Yes, we’d be willing to go with an SUV type vehicle, as long as we can fit the walker (yes, it folds, but it’s a bariatric walker, so it’s larger than typical), and with his injury and pain levels, we need something my husband can climb up into, rather than scrunch down into.

There’s a major car auction this weekend. He’s going to try and find something for us! He said he will try to get back to me on Monday about how that went, though I forgot completely that I won’t be home on Monday. I’ll be driving my mother to her scope at the day surgery, then spending the night at her place to keep an eye on her.

With that settled as much as can be right now, I headed into the city with the van, did my Costco shopping, ran into my SIL as I was loading the van!, then headed home.

My younger daughter was waiting for me at the garage with the wagon when I pulled in, and was kind enough to plug the van in for me before I forgot again.

Which is when she heard the hissing.

From the driver’s side tire.

It’s hard to tell in the photo, but this tire is half flat. When I got out of the van and she told me about the noise, I took a look and actually found a split or crack of some kind, near the bottom of the tire.

I made it home just in time!

Or maybe I drove over something sharp when I drove into the garage?

Well, whatever it is, we’re going to wait before getting it fixed. We’ll just have to use my mother’s car for the next while. What bothers me about the timing of this is that, while I’m at my mother’s, it means there will be no vehicle available here at the farm. It would be just for emergency use, really, but that’s kinda the whole point.

*sigh*

The important thing is, this happened *after* the Costco trip, so we’re pretty well stocked up again. Our next trips shouldn’t have that much weight or bulk in them, so we can get away with using my mother’s car. That won’t be until after I’ve spend the night with my mother. Who knows. Our mechanic might actually find us a replacement vehicle this weekend! I’d still want to get it fixed, but I don’t even want to think about it until after all this other stuff is done.

What a day!

The Re-Farmer

Good thing we have two driveways

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We have ourselves another scorcher today.  I had hoped to mow the inner yard today, but I don’t want to risk the riding mower’s motor overheating in these temperatures.  So it will wait.  I was also thinking of doing the last bit of the clean up I had started doing around the storage house yesterday, stopping when it got just too hot to be working outside, but nope.  Not gonna happen in this heat!

Despite the heat, both cats are very cuddly.  DaBoy spends his nights upstairs, taking over the bottom of one of the girls’ beds.  You’d think, with his fur coat, the last thing he’d want to do is be in the hottest part of the house, snuggling up to warm feet, but he does.

At least his mom is doing it in the coolest room in the house; the master bedroom.

20180626.cat.pillow

She was using my ankle and foot as a pillow.

Being the suck that I am, I was “trapped” for some time by the adorable fur ball.

My husband has been having a very bad pain day today, so he asked me to go into town to pick up something to help.

It’s a good thing he did.  Otherwise, we would not have known until we were heading out for his medical appointment tomorrow, that we were locked in.

My younger daughter came along with me, and when the girls are along for the ride, they typically go ahead to the gate to unlock and open it while I get the van and drive through, then they lock it up again.  This time, I drive up to the gate, and she’s still struggling with the gate.

The lock is a combination lock; the only thing we had handy at the time my mother asked us to start locking the gate.  Of the 4 tumblers, three weren’t turning.

We tried using tools.  We tried oiling it.  Nothing.  Those tumblers would not move.

Thankfully, we have another driveway, and that gate has a key lock on it.

This other driveway is not normally used.  I’ve mowed a path to it, because we still need to rebuild the barbed wire gate and just haven’t gotten around to it.  Right now, the lock and chain are the only thing keeping it upright and closed.  It’s a rough drive to the gate, the the driveway itself is overgrown.  I knew the path to the gate was clear, because I’d just mowed it, but we double checked the driveway itself to make sure there was nothing that would blow a tire on us or something.  It was good.

So when we got to town, our first stop was at a hardware store.  I picked up a new key lock, plus heavier duty bolt cutters.  It was funny as we went to pay for them.  The cashier joked about using the bolt cutters to cut a lock, then replacing it with a new one.  We told her that yes, that’s exactly what we were doing!  Then we explained that our lock was a combination lock, and the tumblers weren’t turning.  I added in, “Either the weather got to it, or someone tampered with it.”

Her response was, someone probably tampered with it.  When I commented that we live in the middle of nowhere, she just nodded and said, yeah; that’s where it’s most likely.  Then she told us about her brother, who has a trailer out in the sticks, and someone had broken into his locked gate and stole a quad.

An unfortunately reality of living in the sticks.  You’d think it would be safer, but people know that chances of getting caught are much lower, and the police are at least half and hour away.

I couldn’t see any sign of tampering on our lock, but unfortunately, I can’t rule it out.  For it to suddenly stop working like this, it actually seems more likely to be the cause than weather.

After getting the new lock and bolt cutters, we finished our errands, then did a bit of quick Pokemon Go.  We paused to battle a gym at the beach, sitting outside at a picnic table as we played.  Oh, what a lovely breeze off the water!

20180626.beach

The temperatures were 28C, with the humidex putting it at 32C, but the lake it still quite cool, and it made for such a pleasant time outside.

We didn’t stay for long, though.  Once at home, we cut the broken lock off and put on the new one.  I’m going to have to cut copies of the key, so we all have one, plus an extra in the house.  I’ve kept the old lock and will see if I can find a way to open it up and see why it stopped working.

We did stop at the post office on the way home, and found a nice little surprise.  We got our reimbursement for our vehicle registration in our previous province.  It was enough to cover the cost of the bolt cutters, at least. :-)

For now, we keep cool inside.  Looking around in the basement, I found an oscillating fan that actually works, though it needs a major cleaning.  That’s what I’ll be working on, next.

While having lunch with my brother and his wife on the weekend, I found out about something I had been wondering.  In the old part basement, at the window that we used to throw wood through, is a platform.  I had no idea why it was there.  It turns out my brother built it to hold a fan.  There is a screen to replace the window that’s there now, and the fan was used for air circulation to help keep the house cool.  The basement doors would be left open to help cool the house down, but we can’t do that until we’ve cleaned up the new part basement so it’s safe if the cats get down there.  We talked about getting a cheap screen door in the short term, to keep the cats out until we can do that.  The door is a standard size, so we could actually do that.  Something to keep in mind!

My brother described the fan he had on the platform, and none of us could remember seeing it, so I went looking around today.  Which is why I found the oscillating fan.

No sign of the fan he’d built the platform for.  Like so many other things, it has gone missing.  Another thing that came up in conversation, since I’d mentioned my search for a pitchfork in the past, is that there had been about 6 or 8 pitchforks stored in the barn.  There is no sign of them, now.

It’s a good thing we are living here now.  Too many things disappeared while this place was empty. :-(

The Re-Farmer

Un. Be. Lievable. Part 4

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Oh, what a day!

This morning, my husband and I went into town so that he could transfer his driver’s license, which was required in order to transfer our vehicle’s insurance and registration, to this province.

To recap some of the issues we’ve had so far;

I could not transfer my driver’s license because my married name did not match my birth certificate.  I also had to prove I actually lived where I lived with a street address, instead of just a box number or the service location that is on our utility bills, when we live in an area that has no streets.  Everyone now has drive way markers so the police, fire or ambulance can find people who live in the sticks like we do, but isn’t on any of our utility bills, because we don’t get mail delivery.   I got the physical location address by basically going to the bank and saying “hey, this is where we live, can you give me something with that on it?”  And the bank did, which was accepted.  For my name, I had to pay to get my marriage certificate.  I had to get it to get my health care card, too.

So I finally got my temporary paper license, with my new license soon to come.  However, in order to transfer our vehicle, I needed to get it safetied, which I couldn’t do until the end of April, which then required some costly work done (which is why I waited until pay came in).  Safety in hand, I went to transfer the vehicle, but my husband is co-owner with me, so he had to be there.  So that had to wait until after Easter.

My husband hasn’t transferred his driver’s license yet, simply because he’s been in too much pain to make the trip into town for something he doesn’t really use.

He was still in a lot of pain, but this morning, we went into town, anyways, making sure he had his birth certificate, his new health care card (with our box number on it) and a utility bill with our physical address on it (our internet bill, which we could put the physical address on, ourselves, then print out).

He couldn’t get his license.

His ID doesn’t match his birth certificate.

His birth certificate has his full name – his given name, two middle names, and his surname.  In Acadian tradition, he has gone by his second name all his life.  This became a slight issue when he was in the military, where they ended up simply reversing his first and second names on their documentation.

Everything has been with this second name.

Except, it turns out, the license he used to have in this province, when we lived here up until 2004.  That one had only his first name; no initials.

Meanwhile, his current driver’s license has his second name, with the initial of his first name, like it was when he was in the military.

But his health care card?

After they required he resend a copy of his birth certificate in a more legible form, they chose to simply drop his first name.  It has his second name and the middle initial.  So even the ID he does have, doesn’t match his current driver’s license.

The woman at the counter phoned the public insurance company about it.

According to them, he can’t get a license with his first name, as was on his old license, because none of his documentation has that name.  But he can’t use the name he actually uses, even though that name is also on his birth certificate, because it’s his second name, not his first name.

They say he has to get a legal name change.

Un. Be. Lievable!

Just to get his driver’s license.  Which would also be the only photo ID he would have.  Even if he let his driver’s license lapse and just wanted a photo ID, it has the same requirements.  He wouldn’t be able to get that, either, because they won’t accept the name he has been using HIS ENTIRE LIFE.

This is even worse than my having to prove I’m married to get my driver’s license transferred!!

Unbelievable!

In the end, he had to sign a gifting form (using the name he always uses), which allowed them to use only my name in transferring the vehicle insurance and registration (the insurance just has the name he uses and his surname, no initials, while the registration has his name with the initial of his first name, as it is on his license).

So I was able to get that done, at least, and the new license plates.

But my husband can’t even prove he is who he is, to the satisfaction of the public insurance company.

It took so long to the the van transferred that my husband had to leave and sit at a coffee shop, because the chairs were too uncomfortable for his back.

This is getting beyond ridiculous.

Oh, and we couldn’t even get a new disabled parking permit.  In our previous province, he only needed a prescription from the doctor, and it was done at the same place we registered our vehicle at.  Not here.  The woman who helped us went online, found and printed off an application form for us, which we’ll have to mail in to a completely different organization.

The woman behind the counter was so apologetic, but there is nothing she could do.

In conversation, she had mentioned that it’s been like this since 9/11, but also there is the problem of identity theft.  Which I can understand, but in trying to improve security and combat identify theft, there is no room for common sense.  And it’s the front line staff like her that has to deal with frustrated customers like us.

But… when it comes to the van, it was finally done!  At least at their end.

Once at home, I called our insurance company to cancel our vehicle insurance tomorrow, giving us a bit of time to get the new plates on.  I could have had it cancelled beginning today, but I couldn’t put the plates on yet.  Because our previous province only required one plate in the back, there were no screws to attach the front plate – or even holes to screw into.  So I would need to go back into town and try and find the right kind of screws for this.  Odd that, with all the stuff around this place, including a wide range of screws, I’d have to do that.  I suppose I could have gone to one of the cars lying around and see if any of them had screws, but I really didn’t feel up to tromping through the snow to do it, or hunting through sheds.

Interestingly, since ending this insurance meant I no longer have the car/home insurance bundle, my monthly content insurance payments will be going down, instead of up, as I expected it to – as did the agent I spoke to.  Also, there was no cancellation fee.

Not that I’m complaining!

The next call was to the company we registered the van with.

Turns out, that one requires a letter that explains why we were cancelling it, among other details, including what we planned to do with our plate.  It’s a veteran’s plate, so we’ll be keeping that for posterity.

That done, it was time to go back into town.  Aside from hoping the hardware store would have the right screws, I needed to stop at the pharmacy.  My younger daughter came along, so we could play some Pokemon Go.

Did I mention it was a chilly day today?

As we were driving in, I noticed the van wasn’t heating up.  I’d sort of noticed that earlier, but hadn’t actually needed to turn up the heat, so I didn’t think much of it.

Odd.

We parked at the pharmacy and took advantage of the location to walk a block and do a raid and get some achievements in the game.  This close to the lake, the breeze was freezing, so we were glad it was an easy fight, and we could rush back to the pharmacy and take care of things there.

Then it was back to the van, and we were going to do a bit more game playing before hitting the hardware store.

As we drove to our usual park, I tried to turn the heat on.

It was blowing cold air.

What’s going on?

We parked the van, and I decided to leave it running as we played the game.

I also fiddled with the heat settings.  It was still blowing cold, so I shut the fan off completely.

Then I watched as the temperature gauge began surging up.  And up.  And… the engine is overheating?  How?  It hasn’t been on long enough to overheat!

I shut it off.

We caught a few Pokemon, then I started the engine to move to the other end of the parking lot, where more Pokemon would be.

Before I even got to the other end, the temperature gauge screamed up to overheat, warning lights started turning on, and my onboard computer started telling me the engine was overheating, and it was shutting off the A/C to protect the engine.

The A/C wasn’t on.

I shut off the engine and popped the hood.

The engine was cold.  There was no sign of anything untoward.

Crud.

I started the engine.

It did it again.

I shut it off and called the garage, describing what happened.

Sounds like the thermostat.  They could look at it for me, but they did have two appointments coming in.  I told him I could be there within 10 minutes.

I started the engine.

The gauge was fine.  In the middle, where it should be.

I start driving.

It goes up to about 3/4s, then drops down to below half.  Then it settled.

Also, we had heat again.

What the heck?

I get to the garage and discuss it for a bit.  Sounds like the thermostat got stuck, then unstuck.  It might not happen again.  They wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until tomorrow, anyhow.  We’re driving to the city tomorrow.  Should I be worried?  Keep and eye on it; if it starts to go up, pull over and give it time to cool again.  We talk some more, then my daughter and I start to head out.  Before we do, I remember to ask about screws for the license plate.  Would they have any?

Yes, they did.  And the mechanic was even willing to put them on for me, but I didn’t have them with me.  So they just have me the screws.  :-)  I asked, and it turns out a hardware store likely would not have had them.  So there’s one positive, at least!

As we are leaving their parking lot, the temperature gauge starts going up.  We have no heat again.

By the time I drove the quarter mile to the highway, it was high enough for a warning light, so I pulled over and shut off the engine.

I called the garage again and told him what was happening.  We talked for a bit, but he was with a customer, so he asked if he could call back.

So my daughter and I wait.  I start the engine.  Still doing it.  I shut it off.

I then figure, since I’m already so close, I’ll just drive over and talk to the guy in person.

Of course, once I was driving, the phone rang.  My daughter answered.  He told her that they could fit me in after an oil change they were doing.  She told him we were already pulling into their parking lot!

So we go in and I talked to him again.  They have a thermostat in stock and they’ll fit me in.  We talk about what it might be if changing the thermostat isn’t enough.  Then my daughter and I wait.  And wait.

At one point, a mechanic comes by on his break and he comments on our need for a thermostat.  We talk for a bit, and I tell him what the vehicle was doing.  After his break, he comes for the keys and takes the van in.

It ends up taking an hour to replace the thermostat – a job I later learn is listed as a 2.4 hour task.  After it’s changed, they start it up and rev the engine for a few minutes to test it out.

While this was happening, I started chatting with one of the mechanics behind the counter.  He started asking how things were doing for us, and so on.  I suddenly realize.

I recognize him.  He grew up on the farm bordering ours.  In fact, we’re distantly related.  The other mechanic I’d seen before the weekend that recognized me is also a distant cousin.  That’s two relatives, in one garage!

After that, the mechanic that worked on the van comes to me.  It’s done and working, but there’s a leak.

I tell him I’m aware of the leak.  Start talking about the power steering.

No, it turns out.  Not that one; he’d noted that one in the safety papers.  He brought me over to show me.

There’s a pipe where coolant is leaking, right at the join.

I knew there was a leak in that location; there was a stain on the underside of the hood above it, but I had never seen the leak itself.  There were never any puddles or signs when I looked at it.  I just assumed it was from the power steering leak.  However, as he’d had to rev the engine for as long as he did, the engine was warm and the pressure was high, and now we could see the leak.

I had also been low on coolant, which he’d topped up for me.  This leak would be why I was low on coolant.

The possible solution; replace the pipe.  They’ve have to order one in, unless they could find a used one that was in good shape.  Or he could try a couple of other things that we discussed.

How worried should I be about it?

I got instructions on keeping an eye on the coolant levels in the overflow reservoir.  What to watch out for.  What to do, until I could get it fixed.

I bought a gallon of coolant to keep in the van.

Final cost?

Almost $240.

The thermostat itself was really cheap.  The gallon of coolant cost way more.  The highest cost was the labour, of course.

I also got a quote for the other work.  If they use a new part, it’ll cost another $200 +

*sigh*

In just the past 7 days, we’ve dropped over $1000 on the van.  Money from the moving company to replace the power pole they broke, once the ground thaws.  Money we’ll have to replace as soon as we can.

*sigh*

When we got the van home, I parked close to the house and got the license plates on – the front bumper didn’t have holes, but it did have marks for them.  After moving the van to the garage, I popped the hood.

No sign of the coolant leak; any liquid had already dried, but the level in the overflow reservoir was down.  The question is; is it down because of the leak, or down because the engine was now cold?  Or both?

I topped it up, anyways, just a bit.

Tomorrow, we go to the city for our monthly bulk shopping.  This is going to be the real test for the leak.

*sigh*

What a day.

The Re-Farmer

Un. Be. Lievable. Part 3

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I can’t believe it.

I thought for sure, after I finally got the paperwork I needed to transfer my driver’s license, and actually GOT my temporary license, I was done.  It was over.

But noooo….  That would make life too easy, wouldn’t it? Continue reading →

One Step Closer

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In my search for the contact number to Vital Statistics, I found something better.

It turns out you can fill out a Marriage Certificate Application Form online.  It then needs to be printed out and signed, but one of the options to send it in is to scan the signed document and email it.

Which I just finished doing.

It costs $80 for one copy.  It also takes 6-8 weeks for it to be processed.  Unless you pay an extra $40 for rush service within Canada, at which point it will be processed in 5-8 business days.

I had to suck it up and check off the rush service box.  This whole debacle is already taking too long!

The site also had a link to a sample image of a marriage certificate.

Apparently, I’ve never had one.  It’s the same design as a birth certificate, but a different colour.

In filling out the form, though, it had the option of a large, framing size certificate, or a certified copy of marriage registration.  So I think what I have that I can’t find is a framing size.

I included copies of my and my husband’s birth certificates, just in case.

I hope it is acceptable.

I foresee problems for my husband, too.

He took a photo of his birth certificate with his phone, used his phone’s editing software to clean it up, emailed the clear image to me, which I have printed off to send with our health care number application form.

The problem?

His name doesn’t match his ID, either.

You see, my husband is from the East Coast.  As is common among French Canadians, he has 4 names – a first name, two middle names and a surname, but uses his second name.  It’s the only name that was ever used for him. I knew him for years before I found out I didn’t know what his first name was.  In fact, no one in his family uses their first name.  I don’t know the first names of my in-laws.  I’m not sure my husband even remembers them anymore! :-D

It became a bit of an issue when he was in the military, because they kept wanting to use the first name on his birth certificate on various documentation, but he never used it, and they are required to use the name the person goes by, which meant they couldn’t use his first name, but had to use his second name, but they couldn’t use his second name because it was not the first name on is birth certificate…

It was a very circular problem.

In the end, they reversed his first two names on the paperwork.

So all my husband’s ID uses his second name and surname, his birth certificate has his full name, but his military record has his full name with the first two names reversed.

Oh, and I looked it up on the Vital Statistics website.  This is what is says about surnames “after marriage or entry into a common-law relationship”.

As a married person or a person living in a common-law relationship, you have a number of options for choosing your name.

  • You may retain your present surname;
  • You may assume your spouse’s surname or common-law partner’s surname;
  • You may combine your present surname with your spouse’s or common-law partner’s surname, with or without a hyphen (it does not matter which surname you use first); or
  • You may assume your spouse’s or common-law partner’s surname and retain your present surname as a given, middle name.
  • All options apply equally to men and women.
  • If you were born in [province], your birth certificate does not change to your married name or common-law partner’s name.

If you are living common-law, it will be necessary to file a declaration with Vital Statistics in order to change your surname.  You will be charged a fee to obtain a certificate of Election of Surname that will provide proof of your new name.

Now, I can see the need for proof of marriage for someone who has just gotten married and wants to change their ID to reflect their chosen new surname.  But once that’s been done, that should be it.  It’s done.  They should not have to prove it all over again, decades later, when absolutely everything that person has is in their legal, married name!

And it’s costing me $120 to get that proof, so I can get a $20 driver’s license.

What a pain!

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Are You Kidding Me?

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Finally sitting down to my first cup of tea today.

That’s right.  It’s been one of those days where I haven’t even had tea until evening.  ;-)

Green tea with chamomile and honey.

I’m definitely going to need me some chamomile!!

Okay.  This morning, I headed out to the post office, remembering that they close at noon on Wednesdays.  The postmaster was there, so I started off letting her know I had an odd question to ask her.

Did she know me?

She kind of hesitated, with a “not really… I mean, I remember you, but I remember your daughters, more.”

Which was fine.  She could confirm my identity.  She remembered me well enough to remember what house we lived in before leaving the province, how many kids I had, and so on.

I was rather impressed, really.  I barely remember any adults from when I was the age she was at when we left the province!

Anyhow.  I explained why I asked and what I was hoping she could do.  She didn’t have to know me well.  She just had to know me.  After looking over the form, she confirmed that she could sign it for me.  I filled out my part (it specifically states that it has to be filled out in front of the person confirming my identity), then she did the rest, while I regaled her with the problems I’ve been having with updating my ID.  I thanked her profusely.  I could finally go and do my driver’s license!  The first step in a series of steps.

I went home first, to take care of some things, like calling my auto insurance company that I got a letter from, saying my file was “incomplete.”  Talking to the guy on the phone, he explained that my coverage was coming up for renewal and, with my new address, they wanted to confirm it should be renewed.  I explained the situation to him.

Apparently, quite a few people are having the same problem.

As it stands now, my auto-renewal kicks in after March 30.  It would be really good if I can get this straightened out before then.  Not because I’ll lose my insurance, but that if I have to cancel soon after, I will be charged a cancellation fee.  If I cancel before March 30, there will be no fee.

Nice of them to consider that.

Meanwhile, he attached notes to my file about my transfer being delayed and why.

That done, I headed into the next town with all my paperwork to get started on updating my driver’s license.

There was a different woman at the counter this time, so I explained from the start why I was there, and what I had to confirm my identity.

Well, it turns out it didn’t matter.

They still need my marriage certificate.

She even phoned the main office to confirm.  She even gave them my name and information, and they found me in their system from when I last had a license in this province, back in 2004.

Yes, they have me on record with my hyphenated name.

However, because it’s been so long, they have to start over (if I’d moved back within 2 years, it wouldn’t have been an issue).

A marriage certificate is the ONLY document they will accept to do that.

Ugh.

After getting home, I started going through a bin I hadn’t finished unpacking yet that had papers in it, hoping that it might be in there, but nope.  Nothing.

There’s really no point in trying to find it.  I’ll have to phone Vital Statistics and get a new copy.

Who knows how long that will take?

I had even asked her if I should drop half my name and go back to using just my birth name but, as I expected, it would still be the same problem, since my current ID is all in my married name.

I just can’t get over what a pain this is.

At least it’ll be easier for my husband and daughters!

The Re-Farmer

Un. Be. Lievable.

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Wow.

Just.

Wow.

Today, I finally was able to go into town to begin transferring my driver’s license, and our van, to our new province.

I’ve done this before.  Several times.  I even went back to the same company I’d dealt with before, when we were last living in the area.

Thirteen + years, and the place looks exactly the same! :-D

The van will have to wait.  I was kinda expecting that, since one of the requirements to transfer the registration is a provincial license, so I have to do that, first.  I also confirmed that it is now required to have the vehicle safetied, first.  We’ve had a lot of work done on the van before coming out here, but I know there are still little things that would prevent it from passing safety, but I don’t know what this province requires anymore.  So I will have to talk nice to my cousin again. :-/

I needed several pieces of ID for the driver’s license.

Birth certificate?  Check.

Medical card? Not in yet.  So I would need mail, such as a bank statement or utility bill, with our new address on it.

Utility bill with our address on it.  Half check.  Our electric bill has our box number on it, but not our “street” number (the driveway marker number).  Our service address, which is basically the coordinates for the location of the main quarter section of the farm, was not enough.

Bank letter.  Just across the street is the bank I’ve had an account at for several decades.  After we moved, I didn’t bother closing the account, because they said it could only be done in person.  Kinda hard to do when living in another province, and when we did come to visit, it just wasn’t a priority.  However, as modern technology and online banking improved, it became irrelevant.  So I walked across the street and asked for something I could give the public insurance company to open an account for me.  It’s good I did, because changing my info online apparently didn’t take.  They still had our out of province address in there.  So that got updated (the electric bill came in handy again, confirming our postal address) and a letter was printed off, signed and stamped for me.

Back across the street I went, and we continued.

Bank letter identifying my physical address. Check.

Then a glitch happened.

By the time we were done, I had three people trying to help me out, giving me different options and providing me with a form I might need.

The problem?

My married name does not match the name on my birth certificate.

Seriously.

A birth certificate is supposed to have my BIRTH information on it.  That’s whole point of it.  It’s as if they now expect women who change their name after marriage to apply for a new birth certificate with the name change.  Which is ridiculous.

They agreed.

At one point, I turned to my younger daughter who had come with me and told her, “don’t change your name!”

To which one of the women helping enthusiastically concurred.

I didn’t even completely change my name.  I hyphenated (now people can spell my name wrong in TWO languages! :-D ).  So my birth name is still part of my married name.  But because the birth certificate doesn’t match the name I use everywhere else, they knew that if they proceeded with opening the account, they would get a letter back about it; and if it took too long to fix, the partially set up account would just get cancelled.

Now, if I also had my marriage certificate, they could have included that, but I don’t.  I mean, I have it.  I just haven’t seen it in 25 years.  It’s in one of those boxes that got dragged around, move after move.  After move.  After move.  For 14 of my 18 moves, to be exact.

So my choices are;

  1. find my marriage certificate
  2. contact vital statistics and have them send me a copy of my marriage certificate
  3. get someone to fill out a form, vouching for my identity.  It has to be someone who’s known me for at least 2 yrs, and among a long list of acceptable persons, including MLAs, MPs, judges, police officers, Chiefs, a lawyer and…

… a postmaster.

Now, the postmaster would be an easy one.  This is the town I grew up in, after all, and while the original owner of the store that was also the postmaster died some years ago, it’s still in the family, and the person who runs it now has known me for decades.

Except.

She’s not the post master.  I believe it’s her daughter who is.

Now, her daughter also knew me, but considering she wouldn’t have seen me since probably 2004, she may be too young to actually remember me.

It doesn’t have to be someone in this province, but getting someone from another province to do it would take weeks.

Which means I can’t transfer my driver’s license until all this gets straightened out.

At least it will be better for my husband and daughters; especially once our medical cards come in.  My daughters will still need to get a letter from a bank.  One will only need to update her banking information, since she’s not bothering to close her own account to open a new one, locally.  My older daughter, however, had an account with a credit union, and they don’t have a branch out here.  So she’ll have to open a new account locally.

For which she will need some kind of ID with our current address on it.

Un. Be. Lievable.

The ladies at the company were very apologetic, even though they had no control over the situation.  They certainly understood what a problem it is.

At one point, I commented that I have NEVER had this problem before.  Ever.  When did this start? I asked.  Basically since 9/11, I was told.

*sigh*

We were living in this province when 9/11 happened.  We’ve moved 3 times in between then and our current move, including our initial move out of this province.   It still has never been an issue until now.

Meanwhile, we’re supposed to have all this done within 3 months of moving.

That’s not going to happen.

The Re-Farmer