Waiting to Work

It was supposed to be simple. Last February when I checked in down here with the local branch, they said I'd be welcome to work here. A couple things were listed that I needed to do, like get black shoes and my own Blackberry, and once here put commercial plates on my car. Two weeks notice should get all the paperwork transferred from the Minnesota branch.

I gave notice, got the plates, and showed up early Monday morning in uniform ready to start.

Yeah, right. I was ready. Corporate, not so much. It seems they couldn't decide whether I needed to repeat my background check and drug test. We had to wait. I said no problem, let's do them and get them out of they way.

Nope, had to wait for corporate to call, let us know. Maybe by Friday I could start.

Well, could we get other stuff out of the way?

Nope, gotta wait.

When Thursday came, I called. Yep, Corporate finally decided I didn't need the screenings. However, I did need to sign a new form for accident insurance. Same company, same coverage in all states, but new signature.

OK, went in, signed the form. Wore the uniform again, thinking I'd need a new photo ID. Was told they - meaning Corporate - would formally need to acknowledge receiving the insurance paperwork. Now, it's all done on computer, with a signature pad like when you use your credit card in a store. But, somebody had to formally acknowledge the thing. Might be later in the day, might not. I got a promise to call me just the minute he heard.

At least this time we could take care of other paperwork, like the direct deposit form for my checks, and my photo ID (back in a week).  I'm beginning to find out just how very small this branch is. Not totally surprising considering they have no stickered vehicles down here. Even if they aren't needed with the commercial plates on the vehicles, has anybody thought about the benefits of advertising on the side? Those mobile billboards do bring in business.

But perhaps they don't want more, with one to two dispatchers on duty at a time, in a tiny office where the main phone line rings in. If they don't, well, tough! There will be one rolling down here for a few months. Of course, it sports the St. Paul phone number.

Oh, and now they wanted an AZ drivers license, in addition to the plates. He explained it's not normally an issue, and in fact I'd been told last February that my Minnesota license would be just fine. Now, not.

So Friday I headed back over to the DMV office to wait in line for my new license. You can tell it's Arizona: in addition to my old license, I need my original birth certificate and SS card. That's what I have: my original SS card. Never changed it to add "Rosa" to it. Be interesting to see how the DMV reacts.

I put that in future tense, because I hit a little snag, along with everybody else who showed up for the same thing yesterday. Their system was down. Not the whole system, mind you, just the part for driver's licenses. The system for license plates was up and running, though it had just come back up a couple hours earlier, having been down also for most of the day. I was handed a letter with a number to call to check of the system was up. I have that number already in my phone. I used it to get information on commercial plates. I also used it to check what paperwork I needed to get this one.

I called once while shopping: still down. I tried later, allowing myself time to get over before they closed for the week. I'm heartily sick of their involved voicemail system, which includes among other things a warning not to give personal information to the person who will answer the call, eventually. Huh: Arizona! This time I was informed they were up and running again, so headed over again.

The voice lied.

So some time in the next month I need to take time off work and head over once again to get an AZ driver's license. Assuming, of course, I can actually start!