Finally!
Guys, if you didn’t know already (which if we’re connected on Facebook or Instagram, I’m pretty sure you already know and if not, where the hell have you been?) I finally got on the road. I’m in Denver right now at my best friend’s home, typing this in her guest bedroom where occasionally I’ll glance out the window at the cold, cloudy day outside. I had snipped a few cuttings from my plants before I left and place them in craft beer cans filled with water and brought them with me on my trip. I figured they could be little gifts I give out along the way… anyway, they’re sitting on the window sill, a little cold burned, but all in all they look pretty happy. Plants are resilient, they want to live.
So the adventure that led up to this adventure…
Since my last post, I had been on the DMV like flies on poop. What do they say about a squeaky wheel? At some point they get so annoying that you just deal with it… or something like that?
I remember sitting in my room on the phone… on hold with the DMV for almost an hour when a woman finally answered the phone. Her name was Chris and her voice was sweet with a hint of sassiness. I told her that I understood that everything was super backed up because of recent worldwide events, but I was getting worried because it had been over a month since I has started this process. We chatted for a bit while she gathered my information to find the status on my application. Apparently she’s had been dealing with a lot of disgruntled people (not surprising) and she thanked me for “being nice and not cursing and yelling at her”.
Okay people, we’re all under some type of stress and going thru things, but c’mon. That person at the call center is not the person you should be yelling at. She’s just a messenger and if you know ANYTHING about customer service jobs, you know that most of the time, the person everyone always gets mad at is the messenger. Sometimes the messenger has influence, but most of the time they are just a cog in the wheel. If you butter up that cog, things could go a lot smoother… but if you shove your negativity in it, it could create a blockage and possibly prevent progress. You catch more bees with honey.
She said that because I was being nice, she’d send an email to the supervisor. I should hear from him with in the next week and hopefully we’d get things moving. I felt positive and I thanked her for her help. Before hanging up, I told her I hoped that people would be nicer to her.
I get the tho, the frustration. One woman I talked to a week prior had talked me in circles that spiraled me into tears. But Chris was different, and I will always remember her name.
On Sept 24th, I decided I was going to build a platform to put in my trunk for storage. A couple bike rides to and from Lowes with wood strapped on, lots of carrying the platform to and from the car (which was parked a couple blocks and an avenue over), finding out it doesn’t fit and having to make adjustments and then trying it again, nailing… screwing… sawing… It was type 2 fun. I’ll have save the building out details for another post.
I thought all I needed was this…
.. but then I realized I actually needed these too
Anyway, a few days later and still no word from the DMV, I decided that I wanted to build a bed platform… because why not? I have the time and it seemed like it would be a fun project. I became good friends with the guys that worked in the wood cutting station at my local Lowes. I was also getting the hang of using a Skilsaw and appreciated the value of hinges and L brackets. For the bed build, I was fortunate enough to have access to my friend’s stunt gym which was basically a big room with lots of tools and a garage door that I could pull my car into.
Conveniently, it was a bike-able distance from my apartment. I’d wake up, make some coffee, pack a snack or lunch and bike over. I’d hang out there all day, then bike back home to wash the sawdust out of my hair.
Also, just incase you were curious, sweeping saw dust when you don’t have the proper boom sucks. I ended up moving one of those large industrial 48” drum blower fans around to try to blow some of the sawdust out. It worked pretty well. I was bummed I hadn’t thought it use it the prior days when the initial wood massacre had taken place.
Honestly, if I didn’t have that space, trying to get the bed frame fitted properly in my car would have been an enormous pain in the ass. After initially making the first part of the frame, I realized that I made it too tall and that I wouldn’t have the head room I would have liked. I ended up scrapping that and starting over the next day.
I wondered why I didn’t have this place sooner and concluded that it was because the universe wanted me to be able to fully appreciate having a space like that to work in. It’s funny how the universe works in order to teach you appreciation and life lessons. All you people not in NYC or a metropolitan area that have a driveway or garage, take a moment to acknowledge how lucky you are. I would have LOVED to have had a garage or driveway to work in the whole time, but I didn’t and you know what, I have a new found appreciation for those overlooked concrete slabs.
Eventually I had to move my car out of the gym and conveniently I found a spot around the corner of my apartment. I fixed my curtains (switched out the string it was on with craft wire to create more stability), cut out Reflectix insulation for my windows, got my 4” foldable foam mattress in to the car (it fit PERFECTLY & was super comfortable) and started to pack in some odds and ends (I.e.; car adaptors, bungee cords- you can never have too many). I spent a day hanging out with the tail gate open while I put black gaffers tape on one side of the window insulation. Some people use fabric or paint, but I watched a tutorial where they used tape and we just happen to have some laying around the apartment (Thanks Judah!). The black side would be used during the colder days/nights to help absorb heat and during hotter days/nights, the silver side would help reflect it to keep the car a little cooler.
I was still without plates, registration and inspection, so I didn’t want to do too much more in preparation. I was trying to not get frustrated or too excited at the same time. I felt like something was going to happen soon and even though I was trying to stay positive, I got hit with a couple days of depression. My moon cycle was making its way around and while I typically just get a little irritable and emotional, this month was heavy… like REALLY HEAVY. Lots of just wanting to lock myself up in my room and cry. I’m sure many of you have been there.
Full transparency, I’ve had some heavy phases of depression throughout my life, but the last few years, feel like I’ve been able to manage it better. It helps that I’m not doing the drugs or drink the way I used to. I’ve become more active, physically, and have been working on healing myself mentally and emotionally. However, those couple of days hit hard and I decided to start actively looking for a therapist again. I also anticipated my trip to be a lot of healing and tears (which so far it has been).
Btw, I highly suggest finding a therapist to help guide you in healing your inner child. Many of us have a lot of pain and sadness in us, much of which we tend to repress. While it’s nice to be able to talk to friends, sometimes you need that detached guidance to help navigate heavy issues.
After a couple days of allowing myself to feel whatever emotions came up, I pulled myself together (it’s amazing what happens in a week).
The following Tuesday, October 13th, I had to move my car for street cleaning. I made some coffee and decided to just sit in my double parked car until the street cleaning vehicle passed by. After it passed, I moved my car into a spot on the recently cleaned side of the street. There was still about 45 mins until the allotted street cleaning time was up, so I figured since I didn’t have much to do and it was raining, that I would sit in the car to make sure I didn’t get a ticket. Good thing too because about 20 mins in, while I was playing around with my folding bed, an officer came by the car but when she saw me in there, she continued on.
At about 09:32, I got a missed call, but the same number called again at 09:33. Hoping it was the DMV with good news and not a telemarketer, I answered it.
”Is this Lorraine Ciccarelli?”
”Hi! Yes!”
The voice introduced himself as Mr. Hernandez, one of the supervisors at the DMV. ”I’m finally getting to my emails and I see a few from you.”
”I’m so glad to hear your voice!” I said excitedly.
Is he going to tell me I can get my plates today?!!
He tells me that it looked like they had sent me back my paperwork (again), on Oct 7th, because they needed original signatures on it (why they didn’t tell me this back when they sent me my paperwork before when asking for my payment information is beyond me.. also why they didn’t just call me at the time so I could have given it to them over the phone also baffles me). He said that I should be receiving it within the next couple days and that I could drop the papers off at the DMV. He told me to ask them to give it to Mr. Hernandez directly and he would process it. I thanked him a thousand times and pretty sure I even called him my angel.
Guys, while I was annoyed at the process, those words were music to my ears. They were words I had be longing to hear for the past month.
I got off the phone with him and walked back to my apartment to finish up some editing work I was given, super optimistic but remaining even keel. I didn’t want to jinx it.
While I worked in my room, every time I heard the downstairs door to the building close, I’d check to see if it was the mail man. After about the 15th time, at about 15:30, I hear the downstairs door close. I walked down the stairs and saw the mailman riffling thru envelops thru the glass front door and then walked off. Excitedly, I walked over to the mailbox in the building foyer and opened it up.
There it was, a manila folder with my name and address on it with a return address of the DMV. I grabbed that and the rest of the mail, ran upstairs and quickly opened it up. I read the notes they gave me to properly finish the paperwork and did what I had to do. After fixing the discrepancies, I biked over to the DMV and gave it to the lady working security and told her that Mr. Hernandez said to give it directly to him. She took the envelope, told me to wait, and walked off into the building. A couple mins later, she came back and said that I would get a text when I could come by and pick up my plates.
With a sigh of relief knowing that it was finally going to happen and a smile on my face, I biked back to my apartment.
Another waiting game, but I had a feeling in my heart that it was only going to be a couple of days but as soon as the plates were in my hand, things would speed up and I’d soon be on my way.