Who coined that proverb? Was that Poor Richard? I’ll Google it in a moment. (Google verb that is.)

I am sitting in a plastic chair in the waiting area of the DMV. This is to be avoided at any cost. I arrived early in the day in the middle of the month and middle of the week to minimize the pain. And yet, here I am.

In my constant battle to prioritize tasks and manage unruly chunks of time this task – renewing my drivers license – kept dropping off my list until after the license had expired. Before that magic expiration date I could have renewed online . Really! What’s that 10 minutes on a dial-up connection? Go ahead, everyone asks … “You couldn’t make 10 minutes to renew it online?”

Of course I could have. I’m sure I mixed it in with that whole birthday denial thing.

Once the license expired procrastination really set in. I wasn’t sure what I would have to do to get the license but I was sure it would be an event swallowing most of a day. If I thought of it at all – usually when prodded – I quickly pushed the thought aside. Who has a whole day for the DMV? If I did put it on the calendar it was easy enough to rationalize out of it. Work, golf, sleep, 2 and 3/4 seasons of football all took priority. Did I mention it expired in 2009? No? Yep, 2009.

I’m trying to spend the DMV waiting time well. I’ve been through my email, twitter and caught up on other people’s blogs. I have read all the latest about Tebow. I’ve followed up on jobs applied for and checked all the boards for new postings. I’ve worked the social network.

So, now I’m writing an entire blog post on crackberry. Just to see if I can.

I prepared in advance for this moment. I’ve quizzed teens who just got their licenses to see how hard the road test is. The big burning question is will I have to parallel park?

I had to locate a bucket full of documents to prove I am me, I am a citizen, and I live at my address (3 people were sent away at front door for missing some document). I’ve completed forms. I’ve passed the eye exam and aced both parts of the written exam (3 more have failed the written exam while I’ve been thumb typing.)

I’m waiting to take the ROAD TEST! With about a dozen other nervous people. One young woman returned and parked her car very precisely on a diagonal. Except that it was a front to the right rear to left diagonal. And it was a straight in parking space. She failed the test. That examiner still looks scared. So far the pass rate for the road test seems to be 60%.

A stitch in time… What does that even mean? I always pictured darning a sock or patching an elbow area on a sleeve. A stitch in time saves nine? A little repair when the tear first occurs prevents a full on reconstruction? 10 minutes online with the Virginia DMV could save… Oh. Wait.

Who even darns socks? Darn socks, anyway. Mine don’t seem to stay paired long enough to need darning.

OK. While not Poor Richard – the proverb did come from the 1732 time frame see A stitch in time saves nine.

Oh! She just called my name! Wish me luck!

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