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Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

This is the place to tell about all the cool places your Eagle takes you. Hopefully there will be lots of great pictures that will help us all plan future trips.
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BoxcarOkie
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 7:42 pm

Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

Post by BoxcarOkie »

Nice day today, sky is blue, birds are singing, no gum on the bottom of my shoes, I am at peace with the world. I am standing at the counter of the Tag Agent (here in Oklahoma they are called a tag agents, a branch of the Oklahoma Tax Commission and not the DMV as in most states) and I start to feel the churning deep inside my gut.

The little rivulets of sweat are forming on my neck and I feel them slowly sliding down towards the small of my back. Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I contemplate my fate at the hands of this government bureaucracy and I am not sure of my future.

This is not my first rodeo and I have been here before.

She shuffles the papers once, no twice, a third time and then looks at me suspiciously like a three legged cat in the Seattle fish market. “You bought this vehicle out of state?” she inquires.

I reply, “Yes. I drove it in from Florida.”

She then says, “the tag says it is from Arizona, what is up with that?” So I say, “I believe the previous owner traded it in on a Florida coach, which he drove home, and left this one there, to be sold.” I think silently to myself, “it came from say Guam or Puerto Rico, what difference does it make” but I keep my mouth shut.

“Hmmmmmmm, she says.”

Not a definite anything really, just a well pronounced “Hmmmmmm” and I am remembering why it is in Oklahoma that they have a law against second cousins getting married. I think to myself, “this is not going to be good.” Not really knowing why, it is just one of those negative things that happens in life.

“Is the bus here?” and I reply, “Yes, like I said, I drove it in from Florida.”

So she squints at me from under her horn-rimmed glasses and repeats, “so it is here.” At that point, I start to unwind a little and I say to her, “Physically here. You mean HERE. Right here in this place, that what you mean?” and she says “Yes.”

“No” is my answer, most definitely in her case, not the “right answer.”

So I ask her, “what does that have to do with anything?” and she says, “I have to inspect it and you have to pay me four dollars.”

“Four dollars, for what?” and she replies, “To ascertain that this vehicle is the vehicle that it says it is on the title, that is why.” I am screwed. The bus is NOT physically here and I am evidently dealing with some mindless clone of the state of Oklahoma.

I reluctantly tell her that the coach is not there, or here, or wherever she wants it to be, not only that but I have a few choice metaphors describing the state of government in Oklahoma that I toss in for free.

She is not impressed.

“You will have to go get it, where is it?” and my first inclination was to tell her Phoenix, Tucson or maybe Douglas Arizona, but I figured this might be pushing the envelope. So I reply, “thirteen miles away, can’t we just do this now and I will bring it in later?”

She says, “we can, but I am going to hold the title until your bring it in.” I am now being kidnapped by the state version of K-Mart or something, ransom is currently as I understand it … four dollars.

I mumble something like “whatever” as I remember it and we move to stage two.

She saunters across the room and plops down at her computer station and deftly starts entering my VIN number into the computer. After a couple of minutes she looks up and says to me, “Did you know that this vehicle has a lien on it? I am astounded, first by the fact, that she doesn’t have the word BUS anywhere in her limited vocabulary and secondly, it has a lien on it.”

At this point I realize this is the 4th quarter and I am losing the game.

I weakly respond, “The Arizona title says it is “clear” and that should be the final say on this.”

Another definite no … She shakes her enormous head, her truck tire replica ear rings sway from side to side and says to me, “Yeah, you would think so, it doesn’t reflect a lien, but the COMPUTER SAYS it has a lien on it. The only way I can tag this is to put the lien on it. You wanna do that?”

Which to me is like saying, “here is my pet rattlesnake,do you want to pet it? Or I have Blue Bionic Plague, do you want to split a Dr. Pepper?”

One of the nice things about “Happy Bus Ownership” is all the interesting things and people you meet along the way. Now because some bean counter did not enter the required data in a form almost thirteen years ago, at a bank that is now defunct, I am placed into a DMV Black Hole … Space!

An Oklahoma DMV black hole … The final frontier, a journey where no man should have to go. I feel so very naked and abused. Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes!

My mind wanders, I feel the foam forming around the corners of my mouth, the sky is no longer blue in my little world and I try to think …….. “Did I take my high blood pressure medicine this morning, think!”

I rank this right up there on the top of my list, the loss of my first bicycle in fifth grade and my first bout with the flu, in ’63 or ’64 I cannot recollect at this point in time.

Hastily grabbing up my paperwork, what I mistakenly assumed was legitimate paperwork, but not recognized by the corn bread eating employee’s of the DMV I head out the door. I am now magically transformed into the Magnum P.I. of the bus world, where is this bank, who are these people who I was blissfully unaware of ten minutes ago, does anyone have a cookie?

I feel my pulse, only it is in the area of my temple and not on my wrist.

Nations bank I discover is no longer the nation’s bank, it was bought out by Bank of America and is no longer in operation. The person who allegedly holds the lien, is now deceased and long gone, after driving to the last known address, some 25 miles away I find just the small, frail widow woman who politely remembers that “Harvey did have a bus, back in, oh, I am just not as sharp as I used to be on these things.”

You get the picture?

Some six or eight hours later, it is all a blur, I am not sure, I am tired, hacked off. Been here, done that, got the T-shirt!

But quicker than you can say or spell the word “B-A-I-L-O-U-T financial wizards have assured me that I am in good hands. I find that help is on the way! Bank of America representatives assure me that my corrective paperwork will be available to me by the end of the week.

But of course, “they lied” what was I to expect, they are after all, “Bankers” and we all know what bankers do don’t we. At the end of the week, the paper work was not forthcoming and it had metaphorically changed into a promise that it was “in the mail” and I should get it soon.

After the holiday ………. Yeah sure. Uh huh.

Perhaps over the weekend I can find time to write a catchy ad for the Eagle International Bus Mall:

“For Sale, 83 model 10-S Eagle, used to be a hard working horse in the California bus community, partially ripped out floor with real wood, no chairs, no working air, could be a 8V or 6V, I haven’t had time to look, somewhat unreliable genset (may or may not start), basically un-taggable in Oklahoma. You will be required to come here, pick it up, and drive it home, preferably Arizona where people are still sane and rational.”

Make an offer.

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No I didn't say that ... Must have been some other guy.
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luvrbus
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Bus Model: 05

Re: Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

Post by luvrbus »

It will work out for you Don I had to deal with the OK tag agents for 30 years and every one is different. A lesson I got was never go on Monday or late on Friday.I have no idea what it cost there now but my personal plates LUVRBUS were 55.00 per year on my bus good luck
BoxcarOkie
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 7:42 pm

Re: Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

Post by BoxcarOkie »

In the Sooner State a RV Tag is $90 per year (when you can get them) and a personalized tag is an additional $21, so your rates are a lot cheaper. As for the tag, I am still up in the air on it, they did not send the required paperwork, Oklahoma is telling me "we will figure out what it is worth, and then tell you what your tag will be" and the saga continues.

The owner of a second hand bus knows how hard it is to drive a bargain.

DS
No I didn't say that ... Must have been some other guy.
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luvrbus
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Bus Model: 05

Re: Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

Post by luvrbus »

Don, mine were not RV tags they went by the year on mine LOL but they charged me 4 bucks for me to go read my own vin number the woman in Coweta didn't even look at my bus.How about you Bob Gilbert what are you paying in Wagoner County for yours good luck
BoxcarOkie
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 7:42 pm

Re: Broke Down Eagle Pt. II

Post by BoxcarOkie »

luvrbus wrote:Don, mine were not RV tags they went by the year on mine LOL but they charged me 4 bucks for me to go read my own vin number the woman in Coweta didn't even look at my bus.How about you Bob Gilbert what are you paying in Wagoner County for yours good luck
It was a lot easier back in the sixties, the cop would stop you and say "Can I see your lic?" and I would smile that stupid, toothy smile and reply .... "It aint on the back of the car man?"

BCO
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