Adventures at the DMV

My driver's license had to be renewed in person this year. After years of having my original California photo on my DL, I'm finally getting a new one. I've just been renewing by mail forever.

So I logged on to the DMV website and set an appointment for 9 this morning. I printed out the confirmation page they provided which included the address. My thought was to program it into my car's navigational system. I've been to this particular DMV office before, but it was years ago.

So this morning I was all set to go. I left the house at 8:30, leaving me plenty of time to maneuver my way through the morning traffic. My car was happily telling me where to go and I was blindly following her directions. I even made a legal U turn when she said to. But when she ended her spiel with "You have arrived at your destination" I looked around and all I saw was a McDonald's.

I pulled over and checked the address on the printout against what I had programmed: it was the same. So either the DMV moved in the time it took for me to print out my confirmation and drive over there, or they had their own address incorrect.

I knew from going to the DMV before that it was around that area so I drove around a little bit. I made the mistake of going down the street that has the entrance to the freeway so sat in line for awhile. The clock was inching closer and closer to 9. I hoped they didn't give my appointment away.

So just as I was driving by the place I had previously made that U turn, I decided to continue down that street a bit further and, of course, right there it was, on the other side of the street: the DMV. It was 9:10. And yes, they had their own address wrong on the website.

When I got inside I was surprised to see the line to check in if you had an appointment was longer than the other line. That didn't seem to make a lot of sense. But they must have some system because once I had my number, it only took a few minutes before I was called to a window, paid my $26, corrected my address, took my vision test and got my receipt. Then it was on to the photo line.

I was fourth in line, but two of the people were together so that line was fast as well. I signed my name on the little electronic pad, press my thumb on the littler electronic pad and put my feet behind the back line and smiled. All done. It only took 25 minutes inside. Took longer for me to find the damn place.

I should get my new license in four to six week. I'll let you know how the photo turned out. Should be fun.