Thursday 082511

No running today.

My driver’s license is up for renewal.  I tried the little renew on line widget, but for whatever reason, I was informed that my license could not be renewed as such because they had no record of it.

I headed over to DMV in Thorton and got there around 8:15.  There was already a line about 60 yards out the door.  After standing in this line for a few minutes I was notified that Colorado DMV does not take credit or debit cards but they do take cash, checks and money orders  - but only in the exact amounts.  I did not have the cash on hand so I decided to bolt, swing by the bank and hit the one in Boulder –  and also hope for a shorter line.

I was issued number 894 in Boulder.  The sign read now serving 821.  There were three people working the counter.  For what it is worth, this office is exactly the same size office, location, everything that it was when I first got my CO license here some 15 years ago.  Probably the same three people too.   Its just that the crowds have grown.

I watched a 16 year old cry when she learned she failed her driver’s test.  I watched an senior citizen argue with one of the staff that the letters from the eye test on line 3 were indeed H-R-F-D-Q and she’d get them right if he stopped changing the letters (I had to step out because I was THIS CLOSE to personally begging the guy not to give her a license renewal).  I saw a guy who took the concept of the big hole earring but had started to apply it to his nose – so he essentially had four nostrils.  A woman had a cell phone that had a ring of a rooster crowing (like what you would hear in the AM at a farm) that went off some 128 times.  

I ran into the ex-fire chief from Nederland.  I knew him from when I worked up there.  I had not seen him in at least a dozen years.  Apparently if I stayed at DMV a bit longer it would have turned into an episode of “This Is Your Life” because everyone gets stuck here for ridiculous amounts of time.

As much as possible I’d walk outside, watch motorcycle driving tests and periodically sneak back in to see how the butcher number counter had progressed.  Sometimes it would go 3 or 4 in  2 seconds.  Then other times it would sit at the same number for 20 minutes.  It basically ran at at a rate of about 20ish an hour. 

3 hours later, I was able to spend 21 bucks, 5 minutes of actual effort and get my licensed renewed.  They will mail it to me within 30 days.

This experience alone is one to drive me to run.  Holy crap did I need a mental escape after that.  Yeah, I know, I know.  First world problem and all. 

On a good note, later in the day, I was able to get through TSA at the airport with the junior hang nine calorie burners without significant issue.  Last time JZ had to go through the x-ray machine multiple times.  Apparently if you touch the sides, it goes off.  It was challenging for him to do this.  For a few moments, he brought TSA to its knees. 

Best part about a new laptop is crazy length battery time.