So, back in November, my pretty little car did a bang-boom-biff into a deer. Technically speaking, the deer did a biff-boom-bang into my car. A few weeks later, my insurance company totaled the car, I returned the tags to a tag-and-title place on York Road, bought a new car, and thought everything was over.

Month or so later, got a letter from the MVA. I needed to submit proof of insurance on my wrecked car or have my registration suspended. I needed to submit a form from my insurance company. In case my vehicle had a certain fate — like, being totaled — there were other steps I needed to take. In this case, a letter from my insurance company stating that my car had been totaled on such and such a date. That letter needed to include certain information: the year, make and VIN, referencing the case number.

My insurance company sent me a letter, and I certified it out to the MVA. I got another letter from the MVA: as the letter did not include my car’s VIN, it would not suffice. No big: contacted the insurance company, they sent me another letter: this time, with the VIN. Mailed that out to the MVA.

Few weeks later, tonight, there’s another letter in my mailbox: this time, the MVA claims I’ve ignored all attempts at contact (I have your response to my insurance company’s first letter pinned on my bulletin board, but I’m going to chalk this up to “bureaucracy that doesn’t talk to itself” and not “fucking liars”) and has informed me that they’ve suspended the registration on my Toyota Celica.

As in, my totaled Toyota Celica. That I haven’t seen in four months. That is probably rusting out in a lot somewhere waiting to be chopped to pieces for resale.

I’m going to blame this on that fucking deer, too.

All this week, I’ve been waking up earlier and earlier: I started with my alarm at 8:30am Monday and I’ve been setting my alarm progressively earlier (6:30 today). Even though I don’t have to be in to EAP (as in ‘Edgar Alan Poe’, as POE stands for ‘Place of Employment’) until a bit later on my first day, I still want to get my internal chronometer set: I can be in as early as 7am, and I like the thought of beating my commute. And the bright side is that, in three months, when I’ve got an apartment in Silver Spring or Washington, D.C. (or Arlington or Takoma Park or Rockville or wherever) and I don’t have a hellacious commute staring me in the face, it’ll feel like I can sleep in.

In any case, tomorrow, I’m making a test-drive of my commute, primarily so I know how much to give myself and what time I should be leaving. Eventually, I’m going to be driving to the nearest Metro station and taking the train or bus in to EAP.

I’ll also be meeting up with my friend Emily for breakfast. She lives in D.C. and we’re going to take a look at some apartments in D.C. and the surrounding neighborhoods in Maryland (I’m not picky: I’d just like a studio apartment). We’re going to meet up with Emily’s roommate for lunch, and there might be a side-trip out to the National Zoo, too (well, we’ll be in the area: there are several apartment buildings in the area I’d like to get info on, and a bookstore a few blocks up that I’d like to try to get a part time job at). Other things on my to-do list: get a Metro bus schedule, a Metro SmarTrip card, maps of the area, and, oh yeah, have fun.

(And take photos!)