The Last Meters... (updated)

To my surprise the DMV actually accepts mobile phone bills as a point of identification. So I'm going to get one, and then I've got my six points! There's just one last problem. My hostel doesn't accept mail for former guests. But getting the title certificate for the bike sent to one's address takes ages, about three months in the regular case. I'm trying to speed things up, but I guess it will still take some time, and by that I will be somewhere else in the county. I hope I can use my friend's address for that phone bill and bike registration and have her forward-mail the title to another friend's address in California when it finally arrives. I will collect it there when time comes to sell the hog again. Keep your fingers crossed!

Update: All right, she agreed to it. I'm just waiting for some answer from the DMV, and then it will actually start!

Update 2: She withdrew her consent. Unfortunately, the DMV doesn't accept PO boxes as addresses, so my options are dwindling. Actually, right now I see only two ways. One would be to use my other friend's California address. On this one, I am still trying to find out whether such an out-of-state address is allowed. I'm getting some contradicting and muddy information from different offices here. And I'd better clarify that beforehand, otherwise some protracted and even more obscure bureaucratic hassles might ensue. Although New York doesn't have a residency requirement for registering a motor vehicle, you still need an address, and they have requirements for it. It also would be good to have something written on that to add to my registration application. The clerk processing it might not know about it after all, given all the different kinds of information I've got so far. The other option would be one that had been suggested to me earlier by a dealer. UPS offers a service that is in essence a PO box, but you get something that looks just like a normal address. And they forward your mail! Sounds perfect. The thought behind this is apparently for small businesses to look more respectable by faking a real address. Just what I need!!! The reasons I would prefer the other solution, though, and why I'll wait to clarify its viability, is that, first, I'm not sure whether the DMV is aware of and, if so, accepts these boxes (there might be trouble in the waiting), and second, the DMV's processing of registrations is incredibly slow. It takes about three months (!!!) to send the title for a newly registered vehicle. If my little independently owned franchise UPS store moves or goes out of business in the meantime, my title essentially goes to nowhere. And when time comes to sell the bike, I would need to order a replacement title, do it from afar, wouldn't have the support of my dealer, might again face the potential problem of the then relevant out-of-state address not being accepted or tell them where my box has moved, and wait for the title copy to finally arrive. And probably run out of time. The odds of the store disappearing aren't too big (I hope), but still I'll try the other route first.

I am getting a lot of sympathy here when I talk to people about my DMV battles. The receptionist at the YMCA whispered to me that it probably is easier to get a gun than a motor vehicle (that you have to whisper even in New York tells me how toxic the issue is in the US), which she thinks is kind of scary. Well, ask a European how scary that sounds... But wait a minute! Actually that might be a good idea! According to my information material, a pistol permit gives me two points of identification! Maybe I should get a gun first in order to get a motorcycle...