So I get up early this morning: objective—to go to the DMV to get my NY driver’s license.
Problem 1: My earphones have decided to start crapping out today. Problem 2: Upon arriving at the DMV, I discover that I forgot to bring my passport, which the NY DMV requires to prove date of birth (note that driver’s licenses from other states is not sufficient to prove date of birth of New York, but it is good enough to serve as one form of identification).
So I try to make some lemonade, and head down to the Apple Store to buy some replacement headphones—except that the Apple Store doesn’t open until 10 a.m.
The good news is that it was a nice walk up through the village to school…
(BTW, it seems to me that my comments section has, as of late, become very Y-chromosome heavy, leading me to wonder if and how the gender balance of my readership has shifted…)
hey hey! i have nothing to say! but i do have to x-ays!
(actually, i do have something to say... my first trip to the dmv to renew my license, they told me i had to go get a new social security card and they sent me to the SS office near city. once i got there, they told me that i couldn't get one in manhattan, i had to go to brooklyn. i was so disgusted i didn't get my ss card until months later. i did that. and then i had to go BACK to the dmv. no quick, several hour process for me.)
The Apple Store, eh? Have you read about how it's the latest/best singles joint?
I just received my NYS drivers licence in the mail. I was converting from a just-expired out-of-state licenese, so I had to go to the lovely DMV office in the "Manhattan Mall" at Herald Square. Luckily, I had all the required documentation as a result of agonizing over the DMV web site the day before. The line for the photo stations was interminable. After that, it was merely a brief wait to pay my fee and read some letters off a wall before I could go home. No other tests, probably because I've been ticket-free. (There's a checkbox on the form you fill out that requests the state waive the driver's test: I recommend checking it.)
It took about two weeks for the license to arrive in the mail. As usual, my picture sucks. It doesn't help that their cameras are positioned at roughly navel level, which forces you to look down at the lens, producing a double (or triple or quadruple) chin effect. The other problem is that they don't actually tell you when they're going to take the picture, making it difficult to time a smile or at least a cyanide grin.
I think they are CIA agents, keeping track of dissidents. Sssshhhhhhh...
Paul, if it makes you feel any better, I have to go to the DMV, the SS office and get a new passport. I should have never agreed to this marriage thing....
Okay, no one who's not in a wheelchair can complain about the height of the DMV cameras. I always look like some sort of retarded baby bird looking for a hand out as I tilt my head back for the absurd shot.