Classic. I drive all the way to Monroe to get my license renewed and “the system” is down. How long does is normally take to get it back up? “Could be five minutes, could be all day,” I’m told. “Raleigh didn’t tell us it would be down.”

Meanwhile, DMV has the time and cash to spend thousands on contracts with a firm with close ties to state Sen. Tony Rand. And “our” NC Ethics Commission will not even disclose if it is investigating former DMV commissioner George Tatum over links to the same company.

Yeah, The System is down alright. Time for a new one.