Fiasco

I discovered that my driver's license was going to expire on my birthday during a phone call about a prison internship the day before my birthday. Mailed in for renewal and just today I got a letter from Sacramento saying Colorado is reporting that my driving privilege there is suspended or revoked in their state. I have to have a clearance letter from CO to get my license renewed and in 30 days my CA license will be canceled if its not cleared up. I haven't BEEN to Colorado in years and years... WTF???

So I called Colorado and after a 45 minute hold learned that a speeding ticket I got in New Mexico (Las Vegas, NM, I remember it ) in 1989 was reported to Colorado as unpaid. They say they sent me a letter to say they'd suspended my license in 1990 (obviously I didn't get it and was at the time in AZ), but then everything went into a national database in 2002 which is how it got picked up now. I paid the ticket, but at this point I have no record of that. I do clean house once in awhile!

I then called New Mexico and learned that they not only have no record of me ever having had any speeding tickets there, paid or unpaid, but the citation# CO gave me belongs to some man in Utah in 1991. They are faxing me a letter to that effect to send to CO.

So now I can send $95, proof of insurance and a form to CO and 20 business days after they get it they might reinstate my license... right over the Christmas and New Years holidays. Gah! Freaking out because I have an interview January 5th with a prison and I HAVE to have a valid license. They're all doing background checks on me and now suddenly I have some skeleton in my closet I knew nothing about? Oh man, this sucks so royally. :(

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UPDATE:

So today I went to the DMV and learned that there was no way I could get an extension until CO cleared my record. I applied for a state ID but after she took the picture the lady told me it would take up to 30 days for it to come. AKK! I left the DMV in tears, realizing that I couldn't go to work at the Hall for a month, which would probably mean losing my job, that AR would have to drive me everywhere, that I couldn't fly to my interviews and that my only hope was to have someone drive me to LA and try to get an expedited passport. On the way home I investigated getting a lawyer.

Once at home I called the CO DMV one more time to plead my case for expediting the clearance procedure, but the woman who answered the phone this time (after 1.25 hrs on hold) said I didn't need my driving privileges reinstated because I hadn't done anything wrong! She said she could see right on her screen that I'd already paid the NM ticket and she couldn't figure out why I ever had a hold on my license to begin with. Oh. My. God. So all of this was for naught! As I blubbered about losing my job, she cut me short with a cheery, "I'll just delete this and you're good to go!" and that was that. She then faxed me a copy of my cleared driving record, so tomorrow I can go back to the local DMV and get my license renewed, presumably with no fuss or muss.

What an insane frigging ride!

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Further UPDATE:

For Pete's sake! It's not over after all. The change wasn't in the computer and the blank-eyed public servant was not able to read the letter and do anything about the situation, so I came away with nothing but the suggestion that CO has to send the letter to CA and maybe CA fixes the computer thing so that my local DMV can do anything for me. I did discover that my existing, expired license is not my purse though, and not at the hospital ER. Shit... I can't remember for sure but I think I had to show it when I checked in there. If not could the DMV have taken it yesterday morning? I don't recall pulling it out for them, but then I don't recall many of the details from yesterday. So I'm back to fretting that I won't be able to get into the first two interviews because I have no photo ID, even if I get a temp license. Got to keep everything crossed that the State ID comes sooner than later. Oh man... there is NO END to this!!!