It wasn't a dream ....
My Driver's Permit expired on March 7, 2010 ...... and I renewed it on April 7, 2010.
Yes ..... I confess ..... I was driving with an expired Driver's Permit ..... for an entire month ..... and de reason fuh dat is ..... Lent ..... cuz that's what I gave up fuh Lent ...... parting with my money ...... so yeah ..... I was pretty much brakesin from payin de new $500 fee .... and I was kinda brakesin from de stress of goin tuh Licensing too!!
But ..... after hearing about all de road blocks dem Pohlice put down fuh de Easter weekend ...... and after chatting wit ah real Pohlice on Easter Monday ...... and finding out dat ah could get lock-up fuh doin dat shit ...... common sense kicked in ...... and I realised that the time had come for me to stop procrastinating ...... and to stop breaking the law! ..... so I picked up myself at about 1:30 yesterday afternoon ..... and headed out ..... tuh Licensing in St. James ..... taking ah slight detour tuh de ATM in Starlite ...... tuh get de 500 smackeroos!!
Getting there was a breeze ...... and getting a park was also a breeze ..... which proved to be signs of things to come .....
So ah reach inside now ..... an' it have about 6 people jus standing around ...... so I walk up tuh de small counter tuh complete a Renewal Form ..... and there are none ..... so I then walk over to the next side of de office ...... where it have two gyuls tuh de right ..... and de Cashier on de left ..... and I request a Form from de gyuls ..... after which ..... I return tuh de small counter and complete de Form ...... and then I go back by de same gyul who give meh de Form ...... she do she do ...... which is tuh check it back or sumtin ...... and then she sends me to the Cashier ......
As I turn away now ...... tuh head tuh de Cashier ...... ah spot de sign ...... ah sign saying RENEWAL is $200 ...... well I tort I win de Lotto ..... cuz there I was thinking that is $500 tuh renew (cuz da'is what I see on de internet and dat is what pass in de lass budget) ..... and is still $200 ...... I suddenly became $300 richer ..... and 300 times happier!
So I go to the Cashier now ..... and I pay my $200 very willingly .... after which she gives me a small-ass piece of paper like ah receipt (which btw you need to keep) .... directs me to the Waiting Room ..... and tells me to listen out for my name ......
So I go to the Waiting Room ...... an' it have about 25 chairs ..... and there are about 10 people there ..... so I sit to wait my turn ...... which I figured woulda been a long-ass wait ...... and I pull out my camera and start to amuse myself by taking pics of their jokey signs ..... when in less than 10 minutes ..... I hear my name call ..... so I get up and go to the adjoining room ..... to have my pic taken etc ..... and there's a kyna gruff girl tellin yuh tuh sign ah big dotish book .... ON THE RED DOT (yeah, she was real stressin dat red dot scene) ...... and tuh check back de info on yuh card ...... and tuh sign it ...... and tuh wait by de white line tuh have yuh picture taken .....
So right ..... wit everyting in order and card signed ...... I then sit on the chair to take my pic ...... and in de course of small talk wit de photographer ..... I tell him that I don't like smiling for pics ..... well who tell me say dat ..... de man say ...... he eh takin de pic UNLESS I smile ..... so needless tuh say ..... my pic came out very silly ....... cuz yuh could see dat ah stiflin ah smile ......
Anyway ..... after de pic ..... ah had tuh go right back where ah start (which is the main office area) ...... and wait fuh meh name tuh call ...... so again ..... thinking that I would have a long wait ...... I pulled out my camera and started taking more pics ...... when in two-twos meh name call ....... an' de 'not takin no non-smilin pic' photographer hands me my Permit ..... all nice and shiney ...... and valid fuh 3 years .....
THE ENTIRE PROCESS TOOK ABOUT 20 MINUTES!!!!!
I was in Shock!!! ...... cuz at de end of de day ...... dis was ah government office ..... and the experience was totally not government office-ish!!!
Maybe it was de time of day ....... or de day of de week ...... or de week of de year ...... or de month of de year ...... I doh know ...... all I know is dat yesterday ...... Licensing was Lovely!!!

This pic is tuh share that very vital info ..... like dey opening hours and phone number an' ting ...... and also tuh show ...... dat yuh cyah park in front de place ......

however ..... like yuh could park behind de NO PARKING sign

..... how dat door crack ..... ah doh know ..... but de purpose of dis pic ...... is tuh let yuh know ..... dat dey doh have LINX!! ...... in de Licensing Office ...... CASH IS KING! ..... but only exact cash ...... cuz dey doh give change!!

..... anyway ...... right after de "CASH IS KING" sign ..... is the entrance tuh de place ...... where you will discover ...... that Licensing loves his country ...... and Licensing is a Drug Free Compound!

Behind dem doors is de Waiting Room ..... which I guess is someting kinda new-ish ...... cuz I remember 3 years ago ..... which was de lass time I went dey ...... it didn't have no 'Waiting Room' ..... it jus had ah room where EVERYBODY had tuh wait ...... and wait ....... and wait ...... and wait ...... and wait ...... and wiat ...... and wait ......

No Sleeveless Tops?! ..... did you know that? ..... is ah good ting I didn't wear one of my signature camisoles ......

...... and Licensing doh make joke wit dey LUNCH ..... dey lunch hour on sign all over de place ......
PS: ...... Parliament dissolvin tonight ..... and general elections callin next month??
Yes ..... I confess ..... I was driving with an expired Driver's Permit ..... for an entire month ..... and de reason fuh dat is ..... Lent ..... cuz that's what I gave up fuh Lent ...... parting with my money ...... so yeah ..... I was pretty much brakesin from payin de new $500 fee .... and I was kinda brakesin from de stress of goin tuh Licensing too!!
But ..... after hearing about all de road blocks dem Pohlice put down fuh de Easter weekend ...... and after chatting wit ah real Pohlice on Easter Monday ...... and finding out dat ah could get lock-up fuh doin dat shit ...... common sense kicked in ...... and I realised that the time had come for me to stop procrastinating ...... and to stop breaking the law! ..... so I picked up myself at about 1:30 yesterday afternoon ..... and headed out ..... tuh Licensing in St. James ..... taking ah slight detour tuh de ATM in Starlite ...... tuh get de 500 smackeroos!!
Getting there was a breeze ...... and getting a park was also a breeze ..... which proved to be signs of things to come .....
So ah reach inside now ..... an' it have about 6 people jus standing around ...... so I walk up tuh de small counter tuh complete a Renewal Form ..... and there are none ..... so I then walk over to the next side of de office ...... where it have two gyuls tuh de right ..... and de Cashier on de left ..... and I request a Form from de gyuls ..... after which ..... I return tuh de small counter and complete de Form ...... and then I go back by de same gyul who give meh de Form ...... she do she do ...... which is tuh check it back or sumtin ...... and then she sends me to the Cashier ......
As I turn away now ...... tuh head tuh de Cashier ...... ah spot de sign ...... ah sign saying RENEWAL is $200 ...... well I tort I win de Lotto ..... cuz there I was thinking that is $500 tuh renew (cuz da'is what I see on de internet and dat is what pass in de lass budget) ..... and is still $200 ...... I suddenly became $300 richer ..... and 300 times happier!
So I go to the Cashier now ..... and I pay my $200 very willingly .... after which she gives me a small-ass piece of paper like ah receipt (which btw you need to keep) .... directs me to the Waiting Room ..... and tells me to listen out for my name ......
So I go to the Waiting Room ...... an' it have about 25 chairs ..... and there are about 10 people there ..... so I sit to wait my turn ...... which I figured woulda been a long-ass wait ...... and I pull out my camera and start to amuse myself by taking pics of their jokey signs ..... when in less than 10 minutes ..... I hear my name call ..... so I get up and go to the adjoining room ..... to have my pic taken etc ..... and there's a kyna gruff girl tellin yuh tuh sign ah big dotish book .... ON THE RED DOT (yeah, she was real stressin dat red dot scene) ...... and tuh check back de info on yuh card ...... and tuh sign it ...... and tuh wait by de white line tuh have yuh picture taken .....
So right ..... wit everyting in order and card signed ...... I then sit on the chair to take my pic ...... and in de course of small talk wit de photographer ..... I tell him that I don't like smiling for pics ..... well who tell me say dat ..... de man say ...... he eh takin de pic UNLESS I smile ..... so needless tuh say ..... my pic came out very silly ....... cuz yuh could see dat ah stiflin ah smile ......
Anyway ..... after de pic ..... ah had tuh go right back where ah start (which is the main office area) ...... and wait fuh meh name tuh call ...... so again ..... thinking that I would have a long wait ...... I pulled out my camera and started taking more pics ...... when in two-twos meh name call ....... an' de 'not takin no non-smilin pic' photographer hands me my Permit ..... all nice and shiney ...... and valid fuh 3 years .....
THE ENTIRE PROCESS TOOK ABOUT 20 MINUTES!!!!!
I was in Shock!!! ...... cuz at de end of de day ...... dis was ah government office ..... and the experience was totally not government office-ish!!!
Maybe it was de time of day ....... or de day of de week ...... or de week of de year ...... or de month of de year ...... I doh know ...... all I know is dat yesterday ...... Licensing was Lovely!!!
This pic is tuh share that very vital info ..... like dey opening hours and phone number an' ting ...... and also tuh show ...... dat yuh cyah park in front de place ......
however ..... like yuh could park behind de NO PARKING sign
..... how dat door crack ..... ah doh know ..... but de purpose of dis pic ...... is tuh let yuh know ..... dat dey doh have LINX!! ...... in de Licensing Office ...... CASH IS KING! ..... but only exact cash ...... cuz dey doh give change!!
..... anyway ...... right after de "CASH IS KING" sign ..... is the entrance tuh de place ...... where you will discover ...... that Licensing loves his country ...... and Licensing is a Drug Free Compound!
Behind dem doors is de Waiting Room ..... which I guess is someting kinda new-ish ...... cuz I remember 3 years ago ..... which was de lass time I went dey ...... it didn't have no 'Waiting Room' ..... it jus had ah room where EVERYBODY had tuh wait ...... and wait ....... and wait ...... and wait ...... and wait ...... and wiat ...... and wait ......
No Sleeveless Tops?! ..... did you know that? ..... is ah good ting I didn't wear one of my signature camisoles ......
...... and Licensing doh make joke wit dey LUNCH ..... dey lunch hour on sign all over de place ......
PS: ...... Parliament dissolvin tonight ..... and general elections callin next month??
he eh takin de pic UNLESS I smile ..... so needless tuh say ..... my pic came out very silly
Eh heh... ah remember you posting someting a while back bout dem pics and what it go do tuh find yuhself de victim in ah accident and dey identifying yuh by this pic...
Looks like yuh going to have tuh revise dat post, eh?
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Dat wuzen me Jumbie ..... ah feel is aka ......
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Darn...
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Well you are one lucky person because the President assented The Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2010 on April 8, 2010. One day later and you would have paid the $500.00. I always renew my license in St. James and it is always smooth sailing. The photographer is really a funny dude if it is still the rounded dark skin man.
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As Mr. Spalk would say ..... WHAT!!! ....... I goin an' play ah lotto yes!
.... and yeah ..... it's the same dude
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Hear nah, doh be too quick tuh praise de system eh. I ketch meh a$$ when I went there the Wednesday before the long Easter weekend; right there in St. James. Arrived around 8:00 and the line was heading west all along the pavement; it was bad! Office didn't open until 8:15. It was a mad rush as people who were in the back pushed their way forward once inside. Place was packed plus, to make matters even worst, the AC was not working (office was closing at 2:00 because of that). Picture a hot, overcrowded space with some people smelly stink that early hour of the morning. Not to mention the ones who talking up in yuh face with bad breath. It took all of 1-1/2 hours for me to get through.
You're right about the girl who was calling the names. She was rough. She was stressing that people should read the info on the permit first before signing because, and I quote "de people who typing is human and dey does make mistake too"...end quote.
Thank goodness I do not have to do that for another 3 years.
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KC ..... ah read yuh eh ..... and I actually got the same story today from someone else ..... but hear nah ..... I still stunned at Trinidad Lover comment ..... cuz you realise how I get away .....
...... and I learn ..... dat yuh mus never go in dem places as it open ...... cuz da'is what EVERYBODY does do .....
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Well, I and all get away from paying ah $500.
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well, the difference between me and u is that i know my permit expire on 10/4/2010 but i was brakesing the $500. now i know is only ah $200...i on d way today. LMAO. thanks for d heads up
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..... my story eh no different DamnGenius ...... I knew mine expired too ..... I jus didn't feel like parting wit my $500 .....
But is not $200 no more ...... according to Trinidad Lover (a few comments above) ..... apparently it went up tuh $500 the very next day (i.e. April 8) ..... so walk wit yuh $500 eh ..... or else is SALT fuh you!
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