There's No Place Like Home

When you sell a vehicle in Minnesota the seller is supposed to mail in a “Seller’s Notice of Sale” card to let the state know that you sold it. I assume that they will contact the buyer after some period of time if they don’t transfer the title or something.

The card was still attached to the title when I got it, so I figured that I would fill it out and send it in.

On the card it says that you can file the information over the Internet by going to mndriveinfo.org.

So I pointed my browser at http://mndriveinfo.org/

Error: 500

That’s beautiful! Send out an address with every title and then have the server not work when you go to it. Sounds just like the government to me.

BTW, if you go to http://www.mndriveinfo.org/ it redirects you to the DVS site, where you still have to search around a bit to find the right page to register the sale.

You have to click on Vehicle Services, then find the link labeled Report of Sale.

Nice work on the usability there guys!

Well I got the title transferred for the Yamaha.

I stopped at a cash machine on the way home and tried to take out $100.00 (wasn’t sure how much I needed.) The machine told me “Amount too large”. WTF?

So I stopped at a different machine. Tried to take out $100.00 again. Again the machine told me “Amount too large”. Damn it. So I tried $80.00. That it let me have. Hrm. (And no, Liz had not taken cash out either.)

Then I stopped at the DMV office in Richfield at 6700 Portland (sort of on my way home.) Took a number and waited for about 15 minutes. They were moving people through pretty fast, I was impressed.

I marched up to the counter. The woman asked “How much did you pay for the bike?”

“$250.00” I told her.

She didn’t even bat an eye. “$43.50 please.”

Cool! Transferred the title and got a sticker for the plate.Continue reading →

Gus brought over the title for the Yamaha Seca 750 last night. Thanks Gus!

Today at lunch I went to the DMV in Egan to transfer it and get tabs. Aron was bored, so he drove.

I also figured that I could renew my drivers license (since it expires in November and I don’t need corrective lenses any more.) But when we get there, there is a sign on the door stating that the computer is down and they can’t do drivers licenses today. Oh well.

I get up to the counter and the woman asks “How much did you pay for the bike?”

“It was free”, I tell her.

Big mistake.

The State of Minnesota doesn’t like things that are “free” because they can’t collect sales tax on them. So she tells me that I have to have the seller fill out a form stating that the bike was a “gift” and that he has to get it notarized!

Fuck that.

Then we drive over to the drivers exam station on Cliff road thinking that I’ll just do it there. So I fill out the drivers license form and stand in line for about 20 minutes.

I get up to the counter and the man says “oh, we don’t do title transfers here, just licenses.”

Not my day, is it?

So I renewed my license since I was there and had stood in line anyway. I also used the only check I had, so I can’t transfer the title on my way home tonight either.

Oh well, it wasn’t like I was going to get a lot of time to drive the hack tonight anyway, what with National Night Out and all.

I’ll try again tomorow, and I’ll tell the person that I paid $300.00 for the damned bike.

Kelly’s Blue Book suggests that it’s got $720.00 in trade-in value and $1190.00 retail. Huh. That seems a bit high to me.

I just got an email from Gus:

Subject: Riddle

What is green and white and on my desk?

Whoo-hoo! The title for the Yamaha Seca 750 is here!

I added another update to the Sidecar Project pages.

Enjoy!

So, like a said in this entry, I have one of my motorcycles listed for sale. As I also noted in that entry, I am being approached by people trying to scam me out of the bike.

Now they are taking a new tack. The listing for my bike on the Internet BMW Riders Marketplace has my home phone number on it. Twice now I have gotten calls from people using Internet Relay Calls to call me.

Internet Relay Calls are for use by deaf or hard of hearing people. They type into a web app, the operator places the call and reads what they type. Then the operator types my replies to them. Internet Relay Calls are also free – it’s an FCC thing.

The phone companies are not allowed to tell you who is calling (i.e. what IP address they are coming from) or divulge any other information about who is placing the call.

I’m pretty sure these people are scammers for a several reasons:

• The first call was placed while I was at work. Liz asked them for their email address and I sent them an email. No response.
• The second call came today. It went okay until I asked why they were using Internet Relay Call instead of just emailing me. They decided to end the call at that point.
• Internet Relay Call is a way to make FREE long distance calls (albit a little cumbersome).
• With Internet Relay Call you could initiate the call from ANY country.
• With Internet Relay Call the recipient has no way to find out who you really are. None. With emails you can back trace them at least to their ISP. (Maybe further, with the ISPs help.)
• With Internet Relay Call, you can terminate the call at any point.

Internet Relay Call appears to be tailor made for scammers. There is a way to block incoming calls, but I don’t think I’m going to do that yet.

Wish I had a tape recorder on my phone so I could transcribe the calls…

I read the comic For Better or For Worse in the paper every day. Today, Liz is leaving work on a motorcycle! I have two questions:

1. When did she get a motorcycle? I don’t remember anything about her having one before.

2. Is that really a BMW R100RS? Sure looks like one.

UPDATE: I sent an email using the For Better or For Worse email form asking about the motorcycle and got an almost immediate response!

Hi Tim,

Thanks for writing!

Liz had a motorcycle last summer as well. She borrows it from Gord when she
is home so she can get to work and back. And yes – it is a BMW 100RS.

Have a great day,

Allison