Sunday, January 22, 2006

I long to wait in line at the DMV

So I got my driver's license renewal app in the mail today. Let's just say it's not as simple as it should be. This is how it should be. You should address the envelope to the DMV, put in your picture, address, a crispy $20 and you're good to go

They've actually seemed to make me just want to either fly back to MN and renew the stupid thing in person, or just not renew it at all. Last time I renewed it I swear all I had to do was stand in line for an hour so they could take my picture, have me fill out some form and give them 20 bucks. The address on my license doesn't even exist and it has never been an issue at all.

So maybe the rules have changed, but if they haven't, then this is just one nasty way of trying to inconvenience people who live out of state. I have to go to a "Licensed Vision Examiner" and have him fill out this form. I went to the optometist about one week ago...great. Then I have to sign the form in front of a "notary public." But, if I'm out of the country, I just need to find a "judge, clerk or deputy clerk of court, U.S. foreign service or consular officer." That sounds convenient, I can't even find toilet paper how am I going to find a deputy clerk of court. And finally, a step that should be easy but it's just not...I have to send a check or money order. I don't have any checks and as easy as a money order sounds, it just sucks having to do stuff like that using hand motions and strange grunts

And to just complain a little more, what makes all this even worse is I have convinced myself that ND, SD, IA and WI all have online systems where you enter your license #, upload a face pic, enter your address, credit card info and hit enter. Then 4 days later you get a nice package containing your new ID and a written thank you note from a pretty girl.

1 comment:

Mike Staffa said...

You didnt have to wait until it expired to update it. I updated it a year early (right before we left for Japan).