Kemo Sabe rides again.

The Chief was supposed to ride again yesterday, but it didn't work out.  To get my XJ out of impound, I had to get a vehicle release from the police dept.  You'd think it wouldn't be such a problem but that place is indeed a massive clusterfuck.

Granted, I should've shown up at 9am like I intended, but I had to take a call from an old friend and instead of shooting the shit for 10 minutes, it turned into an hour and a half.  Yeah, I'm a talker.  So I showed up at about 10:45 instead but I was told that I needed this year's vehicle registration.  Since my Jeep was stolen twice with my registration in it both times, I'd lost the regular one as well as the copy to thieves.  So I went Downtown to get a copy from the tag office and then back out to the new annex in the 'burbs.  Why they refuse to locate all of this Downtown in one area is beyond me; this annex in the suburbs is new, prior to their move, it was a few miles east of Midtown.  That's a long way from the tag office Downtown.

So I went back out to the new annex, waited in line for 30 minutes and the moment I walked up to the window they very kind lady said "Oh, shit... my computer just died."  Turns out that the entire police dept's servers went down and they could pull any records.  Fuck me.  An entire morning wasted; I would rather have been doing something productive like playing MassEffect2.

This morning I was on top of it, though.  I got there at 8:45am, got my release from Property/Vehicles and picked up a police report from Central Records so that the county tag office doesn't suspend my registration.

Question:  My vehicle is registered with the county offices and the info is in the computer database.  When I removed my XJ from my insurance after it was stolen, my insurance info was updated in the computer for my TJ and the county recognized rightly that my XJ was no longer insured.  My question is... since the theft is registered in the database as well, why do I need to get a copy of the police report and take it to the tag office?  Why wasn't my info updated with the theft?  Why must I take a document that seems like it could easily be forged to the tag office so that they can waste trees, push pencils and have more paperwork?  If we're going electronic, vehicles should all have files updated with everything relating to it.  Tickets.  Registration.  Theft.  Everything.  I shouldn't have to bother with this.  Yet, tomorrow morning, I'm going to have to go to the county tag office to show them proof.  Geez.


After getting my release, I went and got my Cherokee.  In what can only be considered divinely good fortune, aside from the flat tire (that no doubt caused them to dump the vehicle and, essentially, was the whole reason I got it back) it was in exactly the same condition as when it was stolen.  They didn't even take anything out of it.  It was a little messy, but I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning and was able to get it clean pretty quickly.  It needs a good vacuum but that's all.  I took the rim to get another tire put on it and it was good to go.

It feels good to drive it again.  I'd forgotten how much I loved that Jeep.  The acceleration... the quiet interior (damn, that soft-top makes you feel as if you're one with the road)... and a ton of other creature comforts that remind you that Jeep does offer some city-savvy options.  It's no Grand Cherokee, sure, but I'll take my limited edition XJ any day.


I must say, though, after riding in that TJ with its 4 or 5 inch lift... I feel really fucking low to the ground!  Man, I still saw over cars but many I felt low.  Time to do something about that.  So, among other things on the agenda, I want to finally lift my XJ.  It's something I've wanted to do since I got it.  Only an inch or two.  Look into some slightly larger tires.  I still need to get the dent in the back fixed along with the taillight.  Unfortunately, Pull-A-Part doesn't have my model Cherokee on the lot.

The present list is:

•Lift
•Rack
•Driving lights
•Exterior-mounted spare
•Ignition kill-switch
•Alarm

These are unnecessary additions, mind you (except for the kill-switch and alarm; those are necessities considering the last 6 months).  I have a few needs that require more immediate attention so the wish list can wait.  I'll try to post all DIY projects.  If someone like me can do it, anyone can...