North Carolina Driver's License!

I have been remiss in my blogging this week - I think it's just too darn hot here. Brain has melted down. Nina and I showed up for a playgroup at someone's house, but we were a day late! The husband answered the door & looked at us like we were nuts.

Anyway, I forgot to report that I successfully got a NC Drivers License - I guess I officially live here. (Steve still apparently lives in New York, since he hasn't gone to the NCDMV yet, AND he has gotten repeated Manhattan jury duty notices, even after he sent them documentation that we have moved!) I have to say that it was a surprisingly pleasant DMV experience - I am still not used to people being polite here (not to mention calling me "honey" or "ma'am"). There was a big line, and many nervous teens with their equally queasy parents, but we were entertained by a news scroller that updated us on the Paris Hilton situation - crucial info. The whole thing took about 90 minutes start to finish. You need a LOT of documentation to get a license here - two forms of ID, proof of SSN, proof of address, proof of insurance (even if you don't own a car), probably something else that I am forgetting. They turned a lot of folks away who didn't have their stuff in order.

They tried to convince me that I'd need to take a road test, but that was because the dude thought my current license was expired (it has a renewal sticker on the back). Apparently he thought I'd been driving on an expired license for TWO YEARS. Hello - I am not Paris! I should add that I was still driving on my Illinois license, despite having lived in two other states in the interim. Initially I kept the IL license when I moved away for college, as part of maintaining IL residency in case I wanted to go to state grad school there. Then when I moved again to NY, it just didn't seem worth the bother (doesn't a New York City DMV sound like your worst nightmare??). And since I never owned a car (ever in my life up until 2 months ago), it wasn't an issue.

But I digress. Fortunately I did not have to take the road test, just the written test, which I'll have you know I actually studied for, and I did pass. Then at the crucial license-obtaining moment, they make you choose your own background for the license! Oh, the pressure! Here are the choices: a lighthouse, the Wright brothers' plane, an outline of the state of NC, or the official state seal. I chose the plane, probably b/c we had just been to Kittyhawk. I asked the DMV dude what people usually picked. In his words: almost without exception, the "girls" pick the lighthouse, the "boys" pick the plane, and the "foreigners" pick the state seal. He assured me that it probably didn't mean anything bad that I picked the plane. Looks cool to me.

So now I'm all official, and the photo is even a decent one.