Ika 20 ng Oktubre 2008

I decided to take a leave of absence today, my special day. Beforehand, I already decided what to do on this day. It's the day that I had to renew my driver's license. With the setting up of offsite LTO branches, it should be a breeze but there is some twist. My eldest daughter who will take driving lessons soon needs a student driver permit which is issued in main branches only. So we should go to the main branch after all. Getting a driver's license counts among my necessary evil. Last night, I told her to sleep early as we would set out early too (really huh!).

My eldest dog is also in heat and needs stud service today based on the canine pregnancy calendar. After scouting for a number of options, I chose one which would be the most suitable based on value for money. The location is not so near though.

I woke up at the usual time and did the usual thing. By the time I finished everything, it was not so early anymore. My eldest daughter and I went our way about 9:30am. MIL and her assistant hitched a ride with us. I had to take a trip to the bank before going to the LTO. After dropping MIL and her assistant, we reached LTO a little past 10:00am. We read the flowchart diagram on renewal and student permit and headed for the first window to get our form. I needed to undergo medical examination and drug testing before submitting the filled up form. We proceeded to the medical and drug testing area and I was asked to pay P400 for a medical that requires reading the last line on the optometrist letter table and getting my blood pressure and the drug test. Darn these requirements, these are more expensive than the actual license itself. During the blood testing, the receptionist, a man, told me it's my turn and I had to fill up the entire bottle. He wipe the water closet and the lavatory before I went in. I winched at having to use it but was thankful that they actually clean it up when a woman will use the improvised toilet. Anyway, the best is yet to come.

Upon completion of the requirements, my daughter and I submitted our documents to the customer service window where we also got the form. From there, we had to go to different windows for the picture and signature taking. This is our first taste of time wasting. We had to listen to a man who is facilitating the orderly conduct of the procedure. If you miss hearing your name, your documents are put at the end of the heap plus you get an extra dose of sermon for being inattentive. You need to hear your name called amidst the stream of people swarming to be able to drive their vehicles as one more facilitator, a burly looking guy, simultaneously called out names of applicants for picture and signature taking and payment and as LTO personnel in two windows called up names of applicants whose student's permits and driver's licenses are released in windows 9 and 10. Waiting time for this first step is a minimum of one and a half hours.

My daughter's name was called by the facilitator just beating the lunch hour. They will stop operation at lunch until 1:00pm. The people thinned out after announcement of the lunch break. I confirmed with the facilitator if it was truly a break and he said yes admonishing us to be back before 1:00pm as they are already calling out names.

First, my daughter and I looked around for a suitable resto or canteen. The lone canteen in the LTO compound was teeming with people when we reached it. We went outside but the nearest decent fastfood resto is about a kilometer away. I decided to just drive to a nearby roadside eatery in a village near LTO. The first resto we went to which I tried in the past had closed down. We quickly searched for a decent eatery and found one nice carinderia. We quickly took our lunch so we can be back shortly. Because the meal was inexpensive, I told my daughter that we could buy some cream puff in a nearby bakeshop which we could eat while waiting. I told her to buy two pieces and she came out with two packs. We went back to LTO immediately after......

(To be continued)

PS: Pagod na naman ang araw na ito. Bukas ay papasok na ako. Nagkausap na kami ng opisyal na namamahala ng trabahong aasikasuhin ko nang magkasabay kami sa elevator nung Biernes. Sinabi niyang pag-uusapan muna nila ng isa pang opisyal na mas mababa sa kanya. Pagkatapos ay magtatawag siya ng miting na sana ay sa Lunes na ito. Ipinaalam ko na naka leave ako pero kung kailangan papasok ako at ipagpapaliban ko ang bakasyon. Sinabi niyang hindi naman..... kaya nagkasundo kami na bukas na lang gagawin ang pag-uusap. At kinakabahan na naman ako kung ano mangyayari sa buhay ko......