This Has Nothing to Do with Sojourner Truth---but it's Prettier Than the Image of Me Totally Losing it Last Night

Well, I had quite a shocking evening--it turned out not at all as I was expecting--and it was BAD BAD BAD. Picture this: young woman walking innocently to her apartment building, swinging an umbrella, and carrying a sack. She stops at her mailbox and finds a package. Inside the package is all the mail that has been piling up at her old address. She goes upstairs, into the apartment, says hello to her boyfriend, who is sitting in the bedroom writing a paper on the defenition of terrorism. She opens the package only to find TWO PARKING TICKETS ON HER OLD CAR, which should have been transferred OVER TWO MONTHS AGO, the amount equalling $140 bucks.

This is how the little nightmare begins. You see, I had someone else sell my car for me after I left. She not only forgot to get the release of liability, she didn't write the purchaser's name down on the bill of sale she sent me. After a few thousand calls to the DMV, to Katy (who sold the car), and to the Santa Cruz Police Department, this is what I discovered: A guy named Jesse (no last name) legally owns the car, but ALL THE RESPONSABILITY is still mine. So, as it seems to be unfolding, I am responsable for a car which is now being driven without insurance, which is parking illegally, and I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO REACH OR GET IN TOUCH WITH. Can you see the terror in the situation? This guy has all the power and I have all the responsability and no rights.

Katy searched for his number to no avail, and it wasn't looking good. The most we knew was that he was a student at UC Santa Cruz. So I asked her to go to the adress on the tickets--they were the same address on both. An hour, many freak outs, and prayers, and more freak outs, later she called me triumphantly. She had gone DOOR TO DOOR and found him. She said that he didn't want to talk to me, but that she would be the go-between. Apparently, the reason he hadn't transfered it over was that he was going to sell it again to his friend--who was DRIVING IT AND GETTING THE TICKETS. I said emphatically, who CARES ABOUT THE TICKETS. I need his FULL name and address and the transfer of liability. He was worried about the ticket. I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE TICKETS--I just wanted my name out of it. Well, he "couldn't find" the pink slip just then--but his girlfriend had seen it, so it would turn up soon and he would call the DMV, etc. I couldn't express to him enough how him calling the DMV didn't matter, what mattered is that he WENT TO the DMV and transferred the ownership over, BEFORE he sold the car. At the very least, I had what I needed: his name and address. So now I can fill out another release of liability and send it in myself.

The whole thing was so sketchy I still don't feel entirely safe from it. The thing that I can't believe is that he wouldn't take care of it. Because here's a guy who called me FIVE TIMES to ask me little questions about every single issue there might or might not be with the car, and took it to TWO DIFFERENT places to have it checked out--all for a crappy $500.00 car. He was very high maintenance about the whole decision to buy the car. I said all this to Katy after she had left him. I asked her I wonder why he had been so irresponsible and why he had left it hanging. She said, "Oh because maybe he got a girlfriend right away and her new car to drive."

I am learning (the hard way) that even when you THINK you have things covered, it is best to keep checking and keep your hand in it until the bitter end. I think Katy learned some things too. I am just so grateful that Santa Cruz is a small town and that if anything else happens, JESSE SMITH, we KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, so you can't go FAR. Katy will find you, and if she doesn't. I will.