(Click on the thumbnails to read the signs.)

Today is the first day of the  Governor's imposed furlough for many state workers. Some of the "Closed" signs posted on the doors of state offices in Eureka explained the closure -- fiscal crisis, big boss' orders -- and some apologized for the inconvenience. Some didn't, including possibly one of the busiest state offices in town, the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Around 10:30 this morning, cars and pickups were trickling into the DMV's abnormally empty parking lot; their drivers parked, got out, walked to the window and stood before it -- or sat befiore it, in the case of the guy in the wheelchair who levered himself from his car into his chair and rolled to the closed door to read the sign. They scratched their chins, re-read the notice, in Spanish or English, that the DMV would be closed the first and third Fridays of the month (and that there were some services available on the Web), turned around and moseyed back to their cars.