OT Why I like my area of Florida

Great isn't it. at ours, if you make an appointment you even get a coupon for a free car wash at a local Shell station.

I've lived in PA and CT but the best by far is Florida. I had to register a car, get licenses and done efficiently.

For years, most Georgia government clerks were about the same way- and especially in the rural-but-becoming-more-suburban county where I live.

For example, many years back, I phoned the Probate Court inquiring about how to handle my just-deceased father's will, I assumed they'd hand me off to their favorite local law firm. Instead, the court lady said to come by and they'd see what they could do to help.

I did. And the reception area had large signs on the wall about the court staff not being able to give legal advice or make specific attorney referrals.

The very nice clerk lady took me to a small conference room, walked me through the surprisingly straightforward process and within an hour, I had the necessary paperwork in hand to probate the estate without spending a dime.

I asked her if I could take her and her colleagues to lunch but she said that wasn't a good idea. So I stopped by a nice restaurant on the courthouse square and had them anonymously cater in the best coffee break and refreshments they could put together.

I got a very nice thank-you call from the court lady the next day.

These days however, the state and local population is changing. Many Democrats are being elected in formerly conservative Republican strongholds. For years and years, my county commission consisted of five Republican good old boys who managed to keep the county's credit rating in the top one percent of all counties in the US. Really helped keep taxes and borrowing costs low.

Currently however, the commission consists of five Democrat women, three of whom are black and one of whom is the commission chair. They are starting to drumbeat for various entitlement programs and are mentioning about some dog-whistle gun control stuff!

DMV did mine a few years ago in Delaware with no problem and it went fast. Can be more difficult for a married woman as her name is different from her birth certificate but my wife had no problem.

My wife and I had the same efficient experience at my local Maryland DMV. If you bother to read the Real I.D. requirements and arrive with the required documents, no problem. The people who have problems generally decide that they can talk the agent into accepting a credit card with their color photo on it in substitution for a one of the required documents, or some variation on that theme.

I know, it took THREE MONTHS for my kids to get tags.

I'm not really sure I'll ever need anything other than a driver's license. Real ID I've had of, but I don't travel often, if ever, and I'll not use any service that requires a mask, as in, flying in a plane.

You're so silly...

I have a passport so that part was easy. A 1099 from Social security and my car registration was all I needed for the rest of the ID stuff. A gave her a copy of my DD-214 for the veteran endorsement.

Do not recall all I took in but had taken passport and that may have been all that was needed. Of course I also had old driver's license.

You need something with your SS# and 2 things with your address. They can get picky about what those are but the 1099R from SS killed 2 birds and the registration from my car brought it home. I had a pile of other stuff that I didn't need. She asked me for an SS card but I haven't had that since I lost my wallet in high school.

Since I don't need RealID, I usually renew on the Secretary of State web site. It's very convenient.

Cindy Hamilton

If you find yourself in urgent need of getting on a commercial airliner or having to prove who you actually are, you'll realize that you do ;-)

As far as I know the only thing that could get me on a commercial airliner is a serious health issue.

I don't see why we need a 'real' id for some things but not any kind of picture ID to vote. Really gripes me that we have to have a picture ID to get some things like Allegre D medicine.

I don't think that is a choice anymore here. Everyone gets real id whether they need it or not. For men it really is pretty easy. Women with a few name changes need more papers. If someone burned their divorce papers with the rest of his stuff they are digging through public records trying to get a copy.

Health condition, family emergency, urgent business elsewhere, who knows what. You really need to have it.

And it's criminal that one has to show a picture ID to get into the stadium to see a football game or into the Democrat convention-- but any Mexican, illegal, dead person, guy who lives two states over, etc., can vote with no picture ID.

The Democrats want all those ineligibles pulling the lever in the voting booth for them- and they do!!

You need a picture ID for damn near anything these days. You can't get blood work without a state ID nor most any other medical stuff. I couldn't even visit my wife in the hospital without them copying my DL but it didn't have to be "real ID" just a state issued picture ID. My CCW would have worked.

North Carolina (my state) does not have a picture on the CCW so you are required to carry a driver's license or an ID from the license place that is an alternate to the driver's license for ID with the CCW.

I don't have any of the above. I did get a passport card in the spring of 2020 with the intent of going up to Banff. It came just in time to stick it in a drawer. Supposedly it would get me on a plane but I have no desire to deal with TSA bullshit.

I guess you can still get a CCW in Montana but you don't need it. Our Democratic governor kept vetoing the constitutional carry bill so we got rid of him.