Three Beautiful Things 01/22/18: I Need to Send them Back?, Money and Higher Ed, Beef Stew Redux

1. A while back I received an email from the Maryland Motor Administration telling me I needed to let them know who my new insurer was since I had canceled the policy I had in Greenbelt. I sloughed it off. I live in Idaho now. The Sube is titled and registered here. Today I received a letter from the MVA telling me that if I didn't provide evidence that the Sube was insured that I faced any number of dire consequences.

I called the MVA's Insurance Compliance Department and told the customer service representative that I no longer live in Maryland and that my car was titled and registered in Idaho.

"Oh. Okay. Well, you'll need to send us your license plates. But, first, give me a few minutes and I'll see if you need to send us anything else."

She came back on the line and said, "Well, yes! You're right. Our records show that your car is titled and registered in Idaho. I have closed your Insurance Compliance case."

I heaved a sigh.

"Now, if you'll stay on the line, I'll send you to one of our operators who will put you in touch with a person who will tell you where to send your license plates."

I did that. I got the information.

I went online to the MVA site and did a little digging around and learned that, sure enough, it is the law in the state of Maryland to surrender one's license plates when moving to another state.

I had no idea -- or, believe me, I would have taken care of this a couple of months ago.

So, I dropped the plates in an envelope, secured it, and buzzed up to the Post Office and sent them off.

So, Rocket, if you are reading this: I'd just been thinking the other day that I had failed to send you a Maryland plate to add to your collection. Now I thank God I was so forgetful about that. Ha! I'll try to make it up to you some day -- maybe send you a t-shirt from the Daft Badger -- just in case anyone in your life these days knows that you were The Badger at one time.

2. The Deke had to fast today in preparation for a routine procedure on Tuesday at the medical center, so we hung out at home and, among other things,  listened to two episodes of the Revisionist History podcast looking at financial inequity in higher education. They are here and here.

3. I got to relive the main course of Sunday's family dinner. Christy offered me leftover Parker's Beef Stew -- the recipe is here -- and I had it for dinner. It might have been even better today than on Sunday. One note about its preparation: Christy's oven is temporarily out of commission, so she cooked it in her crock pot. My point is that if you decide to make it, I'm confident it'll work great either in the oven or the slow cooker.