Hey, it's not all cranky, all the time around here. It just seems like it in this heat.
This afternoon I went to the Plano outpost of the county Tax Assessor Collector office to get a new registration sticker for the car.
Yes, I am a fool. I usually do this by mail, but when I was looking at our insurance info recently I noticed the finance company was still listed as the lien holder on the car I drive. We paid it off in 2004. Uh, oops. No problem, I'd just pay my registration in person, do the title change deed, and be done. You think I could find the title today? Well, I did after one of those epic searches that had the good side effect of clearing out some outdated paperwork in various files. You know the ending already: the paperwork was there in the right place. I'd only glanced over it half a dozen times. And the title hadn't been signed. That task gets to wait until next week, but the registration had to be done today as there's a five day grace period.
So I went down to the office, fought for a parking space, and ended up in a long line in an almost unbearably hot space near someone wearing about a gallon of scent. These things rarely end well.
But I noticed something. The line was moving at a halfway decent clip. My turn came quickly, and the clerk who took care of my paperwork was efficient, kind, and even up to cracking jokes. And I noticed that the other clerks were also cheerful. Maybe they were looking forward to the weekend. Maybe they're always that way. But it was nice to go to a government office and have a (mostly) pleasant experience. They clerks couldn't help the air circulation and the guy (yeah, a guy) wearing too much scent, but they get big props for cheerful, efficient service.
Made my Friday, it did. I raise my soft drink to them. Too early for a beer.