Yesterday, I had the joyous experience of visiting the DMV. I now have a California driver's license, and my Texas license had a big hole through it. I guess that means we're officially staying here (because signing an 18 month lease didn't really make that official). You can make an appointment for the DMV online, which is a great idea. However, when I tried to make an appointment, the next available time was at the end of November, so I just decided to go and risk being caught at the DMV all day long.

The DMV wasn't as bad as I had expected. I took water, coffee, knitting, a book, a crossword puzzle, and a notebook to make lists in with me. They ended up just weighing me down since I spent less than 5 minutes actually waiting and needed to fill out a long form during that time. Though I didn't wait long, going through all of the steps necessary took almost an hour. First, I spoke with the people at the "Start Here" line, who confirmed my paperwork and handed me a number. Then I waited until my number was called and spoke with a woman who entered my information into the computer and took my money. Then I walked to another desk and waited to have my picture taken. My new picture is decidedly worse than my last one. After that, I walked to a roped off area where I waited to take a written test. After I bubbled in all of my answers, I waited for the test to be graded. The three people in front of me failed, so I wasn't feeling overly confident. I passed, though, and then waited in line one last time. Finally, a woman entered my testing information into the computer and printed out my temporary driver's license. In all, I spoke with 4 people and waited in 6 (!) different lines/waiting areas. I also saw one man completely lose it (he was angry they were charging him $18 to replace his title), saw a woman in a full burka, and a man talking on his cell phone while driving in the DMV parking lot (illegal in the state of California).

All in all, it was interesting, though not an experience I'm excited to repeat any time soon.