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alexist at 10:56am on 30/06/2003
alexist at 10:56am on 30/06/2003The DMV opens at 8:30. At 8:10, I went to get my clothes on and leave. As I took a shirt out of the drawer, I suddenly realized I was going to have a photo taken. (Good time for this to hit, eh?) Now, while it is true that there is no such thing as a good driver's license photo, there are levels of bad. My last photo was taken on a humid August day when I had similarly forgotten, and is atrocious.
Therefore, the next 20 minutes were spent making sure I looked halfway decent--I pinned my hair up (didn't trust it not to go frizzy), drew in my eyebrows, and put on some makeup (not too much, it's the DMV!) I left the house at 8:35.
I got to the DMV at 9 and the parking lot was already almost full. Got in and there was a huge line. I had forgotten school finished last week, and all the 16 year olds were lined up to get their learners permits so they could take summer drivers ed. The DMV has a weird system: You queue at the front and tell them what you're there for. They give you any forms you need, give you a ticket with a number, and tell you to sit down and wait for your number to be called (or in my case, have my photo taken first). They used a flash that nearly blinded me. I managed to look at my ticket and it was B236. The DMV ticket system is weird--they don't run one set of numbers, but 7, A-G (I'm not sure why--I think they may run separate queues based on transaction type). So E931 was being called at the same time as B224. Anyway, they were on B220 when I sat down. I had to wait 25 minutes. The actual transaction was quick, involving a 10 second eye test and coughing up $45. It has improved from the old DMV, at least: I remember when you came in, got directed to a queue and had to just stand there till you got to the head of the line.
By the time I left (9:45) the line for tickets was out the door--I was glad I'd gotten there as early as I did!
Therefore, the next 20 minutes were spent making sure I looked halfway decent--I pinned my hair up (didn't trust it not to go frizzy), drew in my eyebrows, and put on some makeup (not too much, it's the DMV!) I left the house at 8:35.
I got to the DMV at 9 and the parking lot was already almost full. Got in and there was a huge line. I had forgotten school finished last week, and all the 16 year olds were lined up to get their learners permits so they could take summer drivers ed. The DMV has a weird system: You queue at the front and tell them what you're there for. They give you any forms you need, give you a ticket with a number, and tell you to sit down and wait for your number to be called (or in my case, have my photo taken first). They used a flash that nearly blinded me. I managed to look at my ticket and it was B236. The DMV ticket system is weird--they don't run one set of numbers, but 7, A-G (I'm not sure why--I think they may run separate queues based on transaction type). So E931 was being called at the same time as B224. Anyway, they were on B220 when I sat down. I had to wait 25 minutes. The actual transaction was quick, involving a 10 second eye test and coughing up $45. It has improved from the old DMV, at least: I remember when you came in, got directed to a queue and had to just stand there till you got to the head of the line.
By the time I left (9:45) the line for tickets was out the door--I was glad I'd gotten there as early as I did!