Monday, August 30, 2010

The Utah County DMV is a nightmare

As I said above the Utah County DMV is a nightmare. While technically there are two here in Utah County, the second one which is in Provo is an express office where you can only do certain things such as drivers license renewals. Since I'm new to the state and have never had a Utah drivers license I had to go to the one in Orem to switch my drivers license to a Utah drivers license.

So when I finally find the DMV (where they have it in Orem is difficult to find and its easy to get lost trying to find it) first I had to fill out a form and then wait in line for close to 45 minutes at the information desk to say that I was new to the state and needed to switch my drivers license over from Arizona. I had to have two proofs of address, my Arizona drivers license, and my social security card and some other form of proof of citizenship. This wasn't an issue as I had brought a copy of my Birth Certificate and my US passport just in case but I didn't need my passport. For my two proofs of address it actually was easier than I thought it was going to be. I just needed a current paystub with my address on it and then I got a statement from my bank with my name and address on it.

Since I had everything I needed, they had me sit down in front of a camera and took my picture and then they gave me a number and had me sit down. 30 or so minutes later my number was called and I had to go up to another counter and show my documents again and they scanned them in there though the guy who scanned my documents said "so your from the doctor state huh?" (I was born in Maryland) When he saw I was confused he asked me what the abbreviation for Maryland was and explained that that was how he remembered the abbreviation. Then I had to pay 30 dollars and go over to another counter to get signed into a computer to take a written test which personally I think was illogical as I had a current US drivers license from a neighbouring state but since I already had a drivers license it was open book and I only missed one question so of course I passed. Then I went back to the counter and they printed off my temporary paper license because they mail your actual license to you several weeks later as I was told. So I switched my license over last week and they told me my actual license would arrive in 3-4 weeks then so I have about 3 weeks more to wait.

So in my opinion Utah needs to add at least 2 more DMVS to Utah County with at least one in the Southern end of the County around Spanish Fork and they all need to be full service DMVS. Also in my opinion they should print out your actual license at the DMV and not just a temporary paper one and then mail you the real one several weeks later. Save yourself some money Utah, you've already set up your schedules so government offices are only open 4 days a week so why not just get card printing machines installed at the DMVs and save yourself some money on postage?

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Contemplations of Inequalities...

It seems like I can never make up my mind and my plans are constantly changing as a result. Here I sit at nearly three in the morning because I can't sleep because I have too many things on my mind. Although I am not the best in the world at math, I can do math and I've been adding the cost of things up and realizing that I can't really afford to stay here in Utah and go to a public University with out of State tuition. There is BYU here but its cheap for members of the LDS church. My cousin is trying to convince me to transfer to BYU Idaho because its something like $1500 per semester there for church members so that is pretty cheap.

Ergh.... The US educational system really bugs me when it comes to residency and tuition. Why can't we be like Canada where there is one tuition rate at all public Universities for all Canadian Citizens and Permanent residents and another higher tuition rate for non Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents. It would give us a whole lot more choice for Education Options.

For example in my birth state Maryland, in state tuition at University of Maryland is something like $4000 a semester bringing the grand total for 2 semesters a year to something around $8000 a year. For out of state students it is something like $28,000 a year. Not many people can afford that. I can't.

Also speaking of education we also need to switch to the metric system and stay on it as if I understand correctly, the US is the only country in the world which is not on the metric system. When it comes to international business we are losing money due to the fact that we have to convert everything to the metric system when doing business abroad.

So yes there is a possibility of me moving back to Arizona by next summer. At this rate I can't afford to stay in Utah. At UVU out of state tuition is $6000 a semester. For financial aid I get a pell grant and a subsidized student loan and a unsubsidized student loan and then the remaining balance which is about $1000 I have to cover myself which is doable. However I hate debt and even though these loans are going towards my education I still don't like being in debt which is one reason I am considering transferring to a Maricopa County Community College as I am still considered a resident there at least till after income tax filing time depending on if my Dad claims me as a dependent or not. At this rate it is quite likely he will. I need to start saving more anyways so I really need to create a strict budget and follow through with it.

However if I moved back to Arizona I would need to get a job lined up before moving back. Any suggestions anyone? Oh and I also need to get rid of some of my crap. I moved up here with way too much crap and it was a pain in the butt to move it up here. Some of it I'm probably going to be giving to my sister and my old clothes I'm saving for when my parents come to visit sometime before December to see if any of my siblings could use any of it and the stuff they don't want or need I'll donate to a thrift store.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Decisions Decisons...

I moved away from Arizona for school reasons and now I'm thinking after I finish my Associates Degree in General Studies at UVU this year I might go to Scottsdale Community Colleges Culinary Arts program because I've been interested in Culinary Arts for some time. I could still get in state tuition in Arizona if my Dad claims me as a dependent however I'll talk to him about that when its time to file income taxes. However I still need to think about this as my plans change constantly.