Am I the only one who remembers the long lines at the DMV offices in Texas in 1978? That was the year that the intent to seriously enforce expired tag regulations was announced. It was all the rage on the FM radio airwaves. Previously, I had said to someone about a month after my tags had expired (I had only moved to Texas in '76) "I gotta' go get my tags re-upped." They replied "Not to worry. They never stop anybody for that in Texas." And so I kept driving with expired tags with no problems. Then I went home for a week. When I got back, everybody was talking about it. It changed that quickly. BTW, 1978 is also the year that the last two privately-held banks in Texas were bought out. I happened to meet and become acquainted with one of the owners of one of those banks, purely by chance, having gone to that bank to cash a check and established an account. He didn't say anything after being "bought", I but I could tell he wasn't entirely happy about it. The coincidence of tag enforcement and bank conglomeration brings to mind the "coincidence" of establishment of the federal reserve and the income tax. Back to my story - next thing I know, I'm standing in a line at the DMV for 8 hours along with what had to be half of the total population of Texas. Not only that, the clerk who waited on me gave me February tags with March paperwork. I called this to her attention. She glares at me. Sez, "Too bad. Go to the end of the line and maybe we'll fix it for you when you get back up here. NEXT!" Net result, two years later, my renewal notice arrives the day my displayed tags expired and I got a ticket. Cop was a good as he could be. I told him my sad tale of woe, he tells me - Don't pay the $300 ticket. Go to court. I won't show up. It'll cost you 16 bucks cost of court. True to his word, he didn't show and I got off light. FWIW. DC Treybil