Hi everyone from Weslaco, Texas, that’s pronounced Weslaco, (Weslahco) all in one run.  See the video attached. We found this out after we mispronounced it a few times of course. Anyway, this is the 2nd time I have been in Texas, the 1st time was over 30 years ago when I was in the Army. It’s really pretty in this part of the country, my wife Denise and I ventured into Progresso Mexico this past weekend and we really enjoyed ourselves.  Everyone we have met in Weslaco seems to be genuinely nice people, the town is over 80% Hispanic, mostly Mexican that are 2nd or 3rd generation natives.

While learning our way around town we found a great church that we attended this past Sunday, we were very warmly greeted, the worship was awesome and the teaching was inspiring and edifying for both Denise and myself.

My one complaint that I have is with the process of us getting our truck registered and switching our Driver Licenses from Virginia to Texas. The first thing we had to do was get the truck inspected which I did last Friday. We went to the place we were told we could get our license, but found out after getting there, that first we needed to take care of the registration and license plates. Of course these were not in the same building for some odd reason, as their version of DMV. After receiving directions to the local tax office, we drove there only to find out that it was closed for Columbus Day. We went back the next day and took care of the tags and registration, that took about an hour or so. For about 30 minutes of that time there was a little boy screaming for his mom inside the tax office, she was about 10 feet away and did nothing to quiet this kid down, just when I thought my head would explode, the lady was called on and she finished her business and took her wild child outside.

Our next stop was the Safety Administration (DMV) where we got our new license with no problem. The next morning while I was working, Denise received a call from the DMV saying that the inspection form I turned in to them was no good because the paper it was printed on was green. I know what you’re thinking but that is what she said, she also said that the tags she issued us the previous day (after she ACCEPTED the green paper) were no good and that I needed to go back to where I had the inspection done to get the same form reprinted on white paper. Of course they wouldn’t take a fax so I drove the 20 miles to the dealership to get a new paper, I was given a paper that the guy assured me would satisfy the DMV so I went over there only to be told that this paper wasn’t exactly what they wanted. So I drove the 20 miles back to the dealership and explained to the service manager what I needed, only to be told that they wouldn’t be able to help me unless a second inspection was done along with another inspection fee. At that point I lost it a little bit.

I wasn’t rude or vulgar but I was pretty upset and after not getting anywhere with the service manager, I requested to speak to his boss which the manager didn’t want to happen. We “chatted ” for a few more minutes after which he went into his office and reappeared 5 minutes later with the form I had first asked for about an hour earlier. After all the running around, by the time I left the dealership and drove the 20 miles back to Weslaco, the tax office was of course closed. I decided to call it a day and will finish this little bit of madness tomorrow morning.

I am sure that sometime in the future I will look back on this day and laugh but I assure you that that time hasn’t arrived yet.

Adios for now, Richard Ward