Hoop Jumping Extraordinaire

Ever since we have moved back to Texas we been jumping hoop after hoop just trying to get jobs and drive our cars legally. The gist of it is that:

1) Mitch can't get a job until he has a TX driver's license. understandable, but places have just been throwing away his applications when he says that he just moved here and he's in the process of getting one.

2) which he can't GET a DL yet because we have to have our cars registered in Texas, even though his car is not due to be re-registered for another 8 months

3) oh but guess what we can't register our cars because our insurance apparently doesn't meet the "Texas" standards. so apparently we have been driving illegally the whole time we have been here. oops. HOW THE HECK IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THESE THINGS? gosh.

4) and not only that but since my car is in my dad's name still, my parents have to sign the title over to me. nbd except the fact that they live 6 hours away and it takes the mail 3-5 days to get here despite the fact that we are in the same state.

5) so they send it and we think we're in the clear but then oh guess what the actual TITLE OF THE CAR WITH THEIR SIGNATURES ON IT apparently isn't good enough. oh no they were supposed to fill out a "TITLE TRANSFER FORM" that the collin county tax office didn't tell them about

6) so they send THAT, but then come to find out we're going to have to pay $800 in taxes (no joke) as "owners of a new car" unless they fill out this OTHER form that says that they "gift" the car to me. oh by the way they have to get this form notarized so my dad has to take off work to go down to the stupid tax office to have some guy witness that he signed the paper himself and not some fraud.

7) a faxed copy of this paper isn't good enough, they HAVE to have original signatures. so by the time it will get here in the mail, my registration will be expired (oh wait it has been expired for 2 weeks already), and I will be working/commuting 6 am-5 pm every day for the next three months...which are the hours of the stupid tax office. so how I'm supposed to get my car registered is beyond me.

8) Mitch takes this stupid security class that is REQUIRED by the state of texas to be a hired as a security guard. I understand that it is a good idea to train people who are going to be armed with guns how to use them. the thing that boggles my mind is that most of the jobs available are UNARMED, aka NO GUNS, and those guys still have to take a class to learn how to be a security guard...um...what? why should the government care if security guards for private firms do their jobs right or not? next thing you know they're going to start telling people they need to take a state-approved burger flipping class before you can apply at McDonalds.

9) it's not even really the class itself that bothers me. they led us to believe that once you take the class you are good to go as far as being hired. WRONG. according to LAW, you don't have the "authorization" to work as a SG until someone hires you and pays to do a background check on you. once your first employers do this process, THEN you are good to go and can go work for as many companies as you like. well it is time-consuming and costs the companies money, so of course who are they going to hire? the people fresh out of the security class who don't have their background checks? no...of course not. they're going to make it a job REQUIREMENT that you've already had your background check b/c they don't want to go through the hassle of doing it themselves. what are the implications of this? oh basically that we wasted money on something that mitch probably won't be able to get a job doing since no one wants to hire a "noob"...even though he's freaking been to the police academy and has experience working security for one of the LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD. also the fact that he has an associate's degree and all this experience counts AGAINST him since no one wants to pay more than minimum wage. in their eyes, a high school dropout with a year's experience working texas security is more qualified than someone like Mitch. pathetic.

10) the kicker of this is summed up very nicely by one of the security applications he was filling out today. the application asked, "have you been arrested more than 2 times? check yes or no. if yes, please explain."

ok. so being arrested twice is ok? it's only bad if I've been arrested more than twice???? YOU'RE TRUSTING THESE PEOPLE TO CARRY GUNS?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP HIRING CRIMINALS, AND THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH SO MANY HOOPS TO HIRE PEOPLE. NO WONDER THE GOVERNMENT HAD TO INTERVENE AND MAKE SURE THAT THESE IDIOTS GET AT LEAST SOME KIND OF TRAINING.

I am disgusted with society. And yes, Mitch is still jobless.