How I Celebrated My Birthday This Year

I had it all figured out.  I was going to have a forgettable birthday, so quiet that not even I would remember.  But events have a way of conspiring against the best laid plans and so, what better way for people to know that it is my birthday than to renew a driver's license and passport.  To beat the crowd, I decided to leave the house early.  After bringing my son to the university (summer classes), I proceeded to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) hoping to find a good parking space (finding a space in this area is like looking for a needle in a haystack) and I did (after calling all the angels for help)!  I stood in line only to be told that licensing renewals were now processed only at their Robinson's Place satellite office.   Whaaaattt??? If I knew that then I would not have driven all the way down here...big sigh!  So off I hurriedly went since parking in that mall is even worse because of the renovation going on but like I said, my angels found me one right in front of the entrance.  Hmmmm, so far, so good.  The satellite office was in the 3rd floor and when I got there, there were already a number of people waiting.  I thought the mall opened at 9 AM? Who let them in?   I asked if there were forms to fill out and the man behind the counter looked at me strangely and said, "No...only submit your old license and drug test results".   Drug test?...oh, that! I guess, 3 birthdays after makes one forget the procedure for renewal.  So, it was convenient that right next door to the LTO was a drug testing laboratory where I was number 35 on their list.  The technician told us to fill up the specimen bottle up to the brim...and in all my years of drug testing, I have never been able to do that.  Of course, I was able to get away with it because I would have my test done in an uncle's laboratory (where I also get it for free), but this time I had to tell the technician collecting the samples that the best I can do is to fill up half the bottle...besides, my license is just a non-professional one :)) and I'm also a doctor so I know that you do not need a lot of urine for testing.   He took one look at me and said..."OK"!  Huh?  wow, is it my lucky day or what?   Well almost, but not totally because it was almost lunchbreak and the LTO office told everyone to come back at 1:30.  That means we have to wait...and where are we waiting...inside the mall...and mall = shops...shops = shopping.....nooooooo.  Oh well, why fight it?  The upside is I got a free lunch courtesy of my cousin who was malling with his family.  He incidentally had a birthday one day ahead of me and was given a surprise party by his wife and so, when they asked if i was going to treat them for lunch since it was my birthday, I said no since all my money has already been taken by LTO and the drug test.  They took pity on me and invited me to join them :)    After some impulse buying, I went back to the LTO and finally got my license at 2:30 PM...and my passport?   I run out of time...so that has to wait but hopefully it will be renewed before my next birthday....heheh.