I went to the DMV yesterday… What a ****ing **** show!!!
When I realized how long it was going to take, I sent my husband (who planned on waiting in the car anyway) home and told him I'd call him to pick me up when I was done.

I waited over 3 1/2 hours (not including the 20 min wait for my husband to pick me up after) to hear that I should have gone to a hearings officer at the DMV earlier to tell them that the reason NH suspended my license was for a DUI… what a load of ****! There is nothing about that on the internet, and nobody told me about that any of the 100X I called the DMV. The hearings officer wasn't interested in my driving record, or any of the other paperwork I was told I needed… only the 30 day letter…

She said that I should have taken the 30 day letter to my insurance agent immediately to get the process of getting a policy started because it takes weeks, but I had waited because my husband gave notice he wanted to take the day off. I thought I couldn't start the insurance part until I went to the DMV (because that is what the NH DMV told me), and thought I still had plenty of time to get what I need to do done.

The hearings officer said that I should request a new 30 day letter (with a new start date) to give me time to get a "MA sr-22 binder[/U]" and take those two documents back to the DMV, pay $500, and get my license back in my home state of MA without having to wait to be cleared in NH which requires "sr-22 insurance." I just wouldn't be able to drive in NH until they clear me. But it's not that easy…

I went to my insurance agent. There is NO sr-22 insurance in MA. It's a NH thing. And there is no such insurance binder… WTF!!! The ladies in the office had no idea what the hearings officer was talking about. They said she "didn't have her lingo down," which doesn't help me at all, and there's no way to go back and ask questions now. Big letdown.

As far as insurance, I can keep my current carrier, but I don't know how much it's going to increase yet. Because I'm not writing a new policy, I didn't have to put 20% down (at least I didn't have to yesterday). The insurance company is going to send me a letter explaining the entire process (thank God), which should take about 23 days, an oddly specific number, but whatever.

When my husband came to pick me up and I told him what happened he hit the ****ing ROOF. He railed because he took the day off for nothing… said all he did was sit on his *** all day and watch TV (which IMHO doesn't sound so bad)… even though apparently I would have had to take this trip to the DMV to notify them I got a DUI in NH no matter what. He was furious at the DMV, angry about another fine, and ****** at me because I don't know what I'm doing. The main problem is I didn't hire a lawyer to guide me through the process. The fact that my DUI was out of state doesn't help matters either… it's very confusing, comes without directions, and with plenty of misdirection.

So I'm on my own now. He won't be driving me to the DMV the next time. I will be taking a cab. I don't consider this to be an entirely bad thing. It will be expensive, but I won't have to wait for him to take a day off, and I won't have to beg for the favor (major plus).

I'm looking forward to receiving the letter from my insurance carrier explaining what's going to happen. Unless the letter clearly explains what MA wants as far as proof of insurance, I'm going to wait until I get my clearance letter from the State of NH until I return to the DMV again to get my license back. It makes sense to do it all at once… if I can. It looks like I'll be waiting about another month now.

To say yesterday was a disappointment is an understatement. I didn't cry, but it was close. I think I was too confused.