Hi everyone, thanks for joining us!

This is Foster with another special news report. Our roving reporter, Panda, has been on location with Mom at the Department of Motor Vehicles for most of the day. It looks like Mom and Panda are standing in line now. Let’s listen in and see what he has to say.Well, Foster, we’ve been standing in line since just before 8:00 this morning. The DMV opens at 8:00, so Mom thought we should get here early. Unbeknownst to us, a lot of other people were thinking the same thing.Wow, Panda, that looks like a pretty long line!Well, actually, Foster, it’s not as bad as it could be. Mom showed me this screen shot of how long the line was when she came here on Monday. That’s why she just kept on driving.That’s ridiculous! Why didn’t she just make an appointment? Wouldn’t that have been a lot easier?Well, Foster, that would make sense, but right now the DMV isn’t making any new appointments. First they had to reschedule all the appointments that got cancelled during the shutdown. So you can still go in, but you just have to be prepared to stand in line. You’ll notice that, just like I reported from Fig Garden, there are lines on the sidewalk to show you where to stand. You have to have your mask on, and you still have to be at least six feet apart. Aww man, that just makes the line seem longer. So how are all the people taking it? They look pretty calm.Well, Foster, that’s one thing I have to say, the people are surprisingly good-natured about it. People are looking at their phones. or talking to each other. The people behind us in line even brought their lawn chairs to sit on. It only took us around a half hour to get to this sign. We figured we were almost to the door, so that wasn’t too bad.But when we got to the “Enter” sign we realized that what we were entering was a line sort of like what they have at Disneyland. So there were way more people ahead of us than we had previously thought!Well that was an unpleasant surprise! And while we’re on the subject, are you telling me you’ve been to Disneyland? And why was I never informed of this?No, Foster, I’ve never been to Disneyland. I’m only going on what Mom was saying. You can see behind me that the line just keeps getting longer and longer! It’s also very hot and humid out here. Mom was saying she probably should have worn a hat.Once we got closer to the end of the building we were all curious to know what was around the corner. A few of us tried to see up ahead, but it wasn’t much use.It turns out, once we turned the corner, they were taking people’s temperatures and asking the Covid Questions.That’s alarming! What are the Covid Questions? Did you know the answers?

Well, they only asked Mom, and I guess she passed. She was always pretty good in school. After they took our temperatures, they gave us a sticker that said “DMV Screened”.Well that was nice. Okay so after you got screened they let you in the building, right?Umm, that’s a negative, Foster. The next thing they did was give Mom a little piece of paper and they texted her a link she had to check periodically to see when it was going to be our turn.And what’s worse, they sent us back to wait in the car!Oh my word! This is absolutely too much! So how long did you have to wait?Well, Foster, we were number 12 when we went back to our car. As you can see on this screen shot, at 9:45 am, Mom’s phone was down to 24% power. When we got in the car, she tried charging it with the charging cord she has in there, but it wasn’t working. She said she thought the wire inside was broken. So by 10:21 we were down to 13%. Mom kept having to turn her phone off for a few minutes so it could gain a little bit of power so she could keep checking our wait time. Needless to say, she was getting a little nervous, because we had now been here for about two and a half hours, and she wasn’t about to miss her turn because her phone had died. It was about then that she noticed there was a CVS just across the street. She decided to walk over there and buy a new charging cord. So Panda, I’ve been wanting to ask you this. Is the DMV like, on another planet or something? The atmosphere looks so different where you are.You’re right, it kind of looks that way. The air quality has been really bad. It’s because of all the wildfires going on in California right now. Haven’t you been outside lately?Dude, I’m an indoor cat, remember? How would I know that stuff? Anyway, was Mom able to charge her phone after that?Yes, she was. And it was a good thing, too! By the time she got back from CVS, we were number 7 in line, and we were down to 8% power. At 10:45 we made it to number 3, in line, so Mom decided to walk over to the building and wait. At 10:53 they let her inside.Wow, Panda, I’m just saying, that was a long time just to go to the DMV. What time did she finally get done with everything?Well, Foster, it was 11:39 by the time she came out. I guess I don’t have to tell you we stopped and got some delicious ice coffee on the way home. I don’t mind telling you, Foster, that I am absolutely exhausted! I’m ready for some serious quiet time. Me, too, Panda! I’m exhausted from just listening to you!