More Liquor License Woes
Apparently after 20 months of effort, I am within spitting distance of getting one of two liquor licenses I am applying for in Ventura County, California (the other had to be completely restarted due to some paperwork mistakes).
I had to just laugh at the last remaining hurdle. A part of the licensing process is to post a public notice at the site. The ABC called me and said they are holding my application until they get my affidavit of posting -- this is a one page form with my signature stating on what date the facility was posted.
But here is the funny part -- the ABC representative who is calling me actually posted the site herself. She visited the facility as part of a mandated inspection and then posted the site. The only way I knew what date the site was posted was by asking her. So ABC is requiring that I submit a form to tell them what day they themselves posted the site, a date I had to get from them before I could put it on the form to send back to them.
Coming soon: The Affidavit of Elevated Body Temperature and/or Vomiting that must be submitted before obtaining a doctor's appointment.
A Friend:
Don't risk the license just to post this kind of thing! She thinks she's being perfectly reasonable and will think you aren't if you disagree. Unreasonable people don't get liquor licenses.
August 11, 2009, 10:55 amJohnB:
To a bureaucrat, the continuation of her job is the highest concern, and voluminous paperwork is the evidence of her necessity. It doesn't have to be meaningful or even technically correct, as long as the signature is in the right place. As an engineer, it took me a while to understand this, but now I enjoy seeing them approve bullshit certifications filled with double-talk.
August 11, 2009, 3:05 pmCraig:
As soon as you get this approved, you need to be your own first customer. Take a drink (or four) to celebrate the end of this ridiculous process.
August 11, 2009, 6:00 pmMesa Econoguy:
I concur with Craig: start drinking heavily.
August 11, 2009, 6:39 pmMichael:
You'd think with California's revenue short fall, they'd fax a liquor license to anyone who asked.
August 11, 2009, 9:08 pmcoyote little sis:
Yes, to get an appointment at your brother in law's office, you must first see his nurse who will take your temp. Then you ask for an appointment, but only after you pinkie swear you have a temp. If you want x-rays or lab tests, you have to give the secret squirrel hand shake.
August 12, 2009, 2:27 amJason:
Coyote,
This is one more example of why the National Parks are an example of the one thing the government can do more efficiently that the private sector. (Yup: heard a senator say that on a C-SPAN town hall last night)
Figured you'd have been all over that comment, as you have repeatedly show than even with the dead hand of government regulation tilting the scales, you can provide better service to the public than the public servants, and for less money.
August 12, 2009, 5:01 amJim Collins:
"To a bureaucrat, the continuation of her job is the highest concern, and voluminous paperwork is the evidence of her necessity. It doesn’t have to be meaningful or even technically correct, as long as the signature is in the right place."
and you want to know why Medicare and Medicaid are costing so much? I did some computer work for a Doctor's office a few years ago. While I was running network cables, I noticed a truck, about the size of a large U-Haul, from one of the local document storage facilities pull up to the back door and several guys get out with dollies. I asked the Office Manager what was going on and she said that it was nothing, just their monthly document pick-up. When they were done, the truck was about 3/4 full. Anybody want to guess who pays for all of this? Hint: It isn't Medicare or Medicaid.
August 12, 2009, 5:31 amMatt:
I am in the Navy, and I can attest that a bureaucrat's job is to keep a bureaucrat's job the bureaucrat's job. When I was applying to go from the line community (sea going) to the staff community (mostly shore based), I had to get a pre-commissioning physical even though I already had a commission. One of the questions was had I ever been seasick. Once in a typhoon in a Navy ship I got seasick, so I marked yes. The people processing my application made me get a waver so that I could change communities. If my waver had been rejected, I would have been forced to go back to sea with my original commission. When you are a bureaucrat, paperwork is an ends rather than a means because protecting his empire is the reason the bureaucrat gets up in the morning.
August 12, 2009, 3:34 pm