Tag Archives: family

Adventures at the North Carolina DMV!

When I moved up here and said I had to get my drivers license people literally laughed at me and said ‘best of luck.’ 

This whole ordeal started when I decided to change my insurance to my current location. I was told I had 15 days to register my car or my Florida license would be revoked.  Immediately, off I went to take care of this only to be told you cannot register your car unless you have a NC drivers license.

I’m not sure how the DMV ended up this way. People say it’s the fault of legislature. I’ll have to dig into that but if you have some insight please let me know.

People blame the Governor but he just got elected and quite recently he called for cross-government partnership to improve customer experience. It’s not his fault at all and kudos to him for wanting to fix it.

This post is not about blame. Its about trying to be helpful until the issue can be resolved.

Lastly, I just need to say this- every person I dealt with could not have been kinder. 

The first day I showed up was right after I was told I could not register my car without a nc license. When I was in the title office this guy came in and told me to go immediately because no one was there (They are both in the same shopping center.) I ran over there and was indeed in the process of getting my license when there was a glitch. 

It took me about a week to get my glitch straightened out. I went back on the third and the sign was out that they were full. I went back on the seventh and they were closed because we had a bad storm and there was no electricity. I went back on the eighth and it was filled. I went on the ninth and was told I could come back at four. I came back at four and was told I may or may not will be seen and there were many people in front of me. Then one of the nice ladies that worked there told me how to do this. She said I had to come back at  4:30 am and bring a chair. I decided to listen. This may not be what I wanted to do but what I had to do. 

Off I went to buy a chair.

I did wake up at four and made it there around five. There were about 15 people in front of me. By 6:30 there were at least 100 people in line. Around 6:30 staff showed up. Not their first rodeo! Everyone got in line. We all went in to sign in and get our number. Then we were free to go sit in our cars while they were in touch via text message. At this time you can see how many people are in front of you. Then, when there were 10 people in front of me I was texted to go sit in the lobby and then I waited for about an hour.

I was a total wreak but happy to report this mission was a total success!

If you have any other suggestions let me know! Thanks!

Movin forward. What goes around comes around.

For years this blog was my happy place. Jefff Liggett, the owner of TreasureCoast.com discovered me here. At first I guest posted and then he asked me to take over as editor. For about 8 years I was honored not only to report the local news but report about our water issues and many local issues that affected us all. 

One of the posts i posted for years was “Pet off the Week”  for the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. 

Newsbreak picked it up which was great because it gave us a bigger audience and that meant more pets getting adopted.

I eventually got my own space on Newsbreak. This worked out great for me. Jeff was ill and I knew we would be selling TreasureCoast soon.  Not what i wanted to happen but this is life right.

Treasure Coast was sold and I decided that the best thing to  do was focus on my Newsbreak page. I focused on two things: my “Pet off the Week” post and two posts a day regarding missing people in Florida. I had hoped to create something larger someday and be able to do a deeper dive into the issue of missing people.

Approximately 840,000 children are reported missing every year.
Two things happened. Both got a good following of about 4000 people.
I’ll stop here to say I did not have any black marks against me.
I got great comments and what was really heartbreaking was people left their prayers. People prayed for the dogs and prayed for the missing people. So sweet! in this day and age when social media can be so toxic i was so heartened by the response.
Then I fell and broke my arm (right humorous). As painful as it was I made sure I posted everyday. It wasn’t a lot but I felt like it was making some sort of difference.
The whole thing worked out great for me until it didn’t. One day I went to post and the page was gone. This had happened before. So I simply used the same info I had used before. The big issue is when TreasureCoast was sold they redid the entire website so I had no access to my old stuff. When I pointed out that all my recent stuff was on Newsbreak they said it didn’t count. When I discussed this with other writers they said it was preposterous.
I’m not sharing this to complain. Quite the opposite. The universe has spoken and said in no uncertain terms its time move on. It’s a plot point.
When one door closes an even better one opens. I’m not sure what it’s going to be but i’m totally looking forward to the journey.

Memorial Day 2015: Remembering Uncle Edward Gelman

My Dad, Arthur had two brothers Melvin and Edward and one sister, Millie. I never met my Uncle Edward because he was killed during WW2. But I knew him through stories my dad would tell me and I know that my Gramma Bertha and Grampa Max thought about him every day.

I always wondered what would have happened if he lived. What would he have been like (My Dad said he was a good kid.) Would have he have married? Would I have more cousins?

American cemetery in Cambridge,England

American cemetery in Cambridge,England

I found this today and I was able to leave a flower.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56289977

Death: Apr. 23, 1945, Isle of Man

USAAF WORLD WAR II
Passenger M/Sgt. Edward Z. M. Gelman Lost
Hometown: Massachusetts
Squadron: 532nd 381st Bomb Group
Service# 11030709
Awards: Bronze Star
Pilot Captain Charles E. Ackerman Lost

Target: Ferry Mission
CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
Date Lost: 23-Apr-45
Serial Number: #43-38856
Aircraft Model B-17G
Aircraft Letter:
Aircraft Name:
Location: southern side of North Barrule Isle of Man
Cause: Pilot error, 31 service men lost.

Reports from the time of this crash stated that no combat operations over Germany were planned, so servicemen from nine different units were billeted for a week’s leave to Northern Ireland. The men chosen were the support servicemen, the ground crews, armourers, mechanics and fitters – people who kept the aircraft flying, combat-ready and safe. Some of those men had been on duty since June 1943 and for most this was their first real break. This ferry flight from Ridgewell in Esssex to Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland with a normal crew and a large number of passengers was on course flying in low cloud when it crossed the coast of the Isle of Man. The flight, piloted by Captain Charles E. Ackerman was never to reach its destination. Shortly after the aircraft passed over Glen Mona and Corrany before flying into the steep southern slope of North Barrule about 200ft short of the summit of the hill. The aircraft disintegrated with most of the airframe being consumed by fire. The crash killed all 31 crew and passengers on the aircraft.

The sadness of this tragedy was compounded by the fact that it happened just two weeks before the end of the war.

plaque at crash site

plaque at crash site

http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/isleofman/iom43-38856.htm

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 43-38856 of the 534th Bombardment Squadron, 381st Bombardment Group, flew into the southern side of North Barrule on the 23rd April 1945.

The aircraft was on a ferry flight from Ridgewell in Esssex to Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland with a normal ferry crew and a large number of passengers.  These passengers were additional aircrew and ground crew travelling to Northern Ireland for a short period of leave.  The aircraft was on course flying in low cloud when it crossed the coast of the Isle of Man.  Shortly after the aircraft passed over Glen Mona and Corrany before flying into the steep southern slope of North Barrule about 200ft short of the summit of the hill.  The aircraft disintegrated with most of the airframe being consumed by fire.  The crash killed all 31 crew and passengers on the aircraft.

American Cemetery in Cambridge, England

American Cemetery in Cambridge, England

This was the second accident on the island involving a B-17 in less than 10 days, the previous accident also detailed on this site.

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/55109

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/326

The 381st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Ridgewell, Essex between June 1943 and April 1945. The Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for bombing shipyards at Bremen, whilst under heavy attack, on 8 October 1943 and the second was awarded to the 1st Bomb Division as a whole for flying without fighter protection to bomb aircraft factories at Oschersleben on 11 January 1944.

When Adam was 13 we went to England for 3 weeks and we went to visit our Uncle Edward’s grave in Cambridge, England. It was amazing experience. They help you find the grave and then take you there with sand so you can take photos.

photo

American Cemetery in Cambridge, England

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial