Hey there.

Since I am on Christmas vacation from teaching school, my wife and I have the rare opportunity to get as many errands done as possible before I have to go back to work.

Looking through our various papers, my wife and I found that we needed to turn in our son's registration at the county office for a birth certificate by today. I thought that it wouldn't be so bad.

Well... Wright County Minnesota (where we live) has an extraordinarily understaffed DMV office. (For some unknown reason, birth and death certificates are handled at the DMV along with the drivers' licenses.) When we arrived at the office, we stood at the end of the line leading from the door down the hall. Overhearing the conversations of those in front of us, the line moved every twenty minutes or so. My wife and I were about the tenth party from the door.

Fortunately, our business was the sort that can be dropped off as long at it is notarized and accompanied by a check. We packed everything up, and got our form notarized at a bank, wrote our check, and brought it back to the county office to have the information lady give it to whomever needs it. Thank goodness that I didn't have to stand in that god-awful line! (I am sure that my number will come up some day...)

On the bright side, Kazuko and I were able to peek into the room where people in jail visit with people on "the outside." I have only seen those kinds of rooms on television. I felt like I was watching "The Practice." *"You've gotta get me out of here Bobby! I don't know how long I can last in here!"