a few days ago, i took my mother's car to get the emissions tested. as usual, i went to this testing station...been going there for ten years. and you would think that after all that time, i would have learned which line to use. there are six bays that test vehicles. bays one through five are for any car, while #6 is for full time 4WD trucks, etc. well, i've been lucky most of the time and have had to wait less than fifteen minutes on most occasions...until wednesday.
when i first drove by the station, the cars were eight deep with the line snaking onto the street.
i don't think so. mebbe it would be a good time to grab a bite to eat. an hour later, i returned and the lines had diminished by a lot (like down to three cars each).
so i get in the middle lane (#3). even though there are six bays, there's only five lines. so i'm thinking it won't be long at all.
after a couple minutes, more cars pile in behind me and they're eight deep again.
at least i'm in the middle of the pack...but my line sure ain't moving while line two has gone up a couple and line #4 has moved like an assembly line!
arrrggggh
apparently, no one can sit in line #5 because it feeds #6 as well. and since #6 is only for full time 4WD, it has to stay unobstructed. of course, if there are no viable candidates to go into line #6, line #4 feeds it.
so really, line #4 feeds three lines...making for some lightning fast service. oh, and line #2 was feeding line #1 since the snow plow didn't totally clear off a space for cars to queue in front of #1.
so there i am, in line #3, which ONLY feeds line #3, rolling my eyes up to the ceiling (or were they rolling back into my head?).
after about twenty minutes of waiting, i finally get up to the entrance of the testing facility and join all the others in the cement block of a waiting space...w/ a malfunctioning TV (was it my day or what!)...and spend another half hour waiting and watching the two other cars in front of me get tested.
well, after that lesson, you'd think that i would've brainwashed myself to only seek out #4s everywhere i go.
not so fast...
it appears that a new way of testing has arrived...and i can't wait! it's called rapid screen. instead of going to a testing facility and 'eagerly' looking forward to queueing up, all you have to do w/ this new system is drive past a van equipped w/ sensors. the vans are placed near on-ramps of highways with varying locations. if you drive past them twice within a ten month period prior to your registration renewal...and record clean readings, you’ll receive a notification in the mail that reads, “Passed roadside emissions” on your registration renewal card.i like it!!!
2 comments:
I have had my car for 5 years and have never had to get an emission sticker because of those wonderful little roadside vans. I drive by one all the time on my way to school. I lolve that system.
The emissions testing system is so weird, I feel like a little lemming. The tv's in there never work, so we all just watch the cars go through. Then it's our cars turn and we watch the tires spinning like mad, wondering if that's bad for our car, and wondering if we'll pass. And it's really weird to watch some tool sitting in our own driver's seat, isn't it?
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