A Day at the DMV, that Driver's License comes FAST in the mail! & bummer news about the free birthday admission to Disneyland promo.

Bummer news-Disneyland is no longer having the 'Free on your Birthday' promotion. Ended in 2009.

Now, on to the DMV.

My Driver's License picture SUCKED, I've hated it ever since it was taken, so this year it came due on my birthday (March birthdays indicate my sign is Pisces, which Barry actually says is 'Feces') & I wanted to get a new pic. I knew that you can't get a new picture unless something really drastic happens, like a name change or something big.

Like weight change.

I saw on a blog or something that a considerable weight change that was obviously apparent was a good reason to get a new pic.

BINGO.

I figured that 55 pounds and 5 dress sizes was adequate, and it was.

Soooo...

I got the renewal in the mail in February about 6 weeks prior to my birthday. A week or so later when I found out about the new pic criteria, I went online to make an appointment. For my first choice Santa Ana DMV, the first available appointment was MARCH 22ND. Oopsie, that's PAST my birthday, so second choice was Fullerton. Got an appointment for today, March 11th at 8:44 AM.
Now, the reason why I made an appointment is because when I was online eyeballing the different offices that were close to me, I saw that each office had 'time counters', aka little counters that tell you the wait times for those with appointments and those who were walk-ins. Appointment wait time in middle of the day for both Fullerton and Santa Ana was appx. 40 minutes: wait time for walk-ins, 3 HOURS.

Yup, appointment all the way, unless I wanted to wait and read "War and Peace". Or do my taxes.

Before the appointment, I'm over-thinking the photo and the procedure-"What do I wear? What color looks good on me? Will I have to take the written test for C1 AND M1 (car and motorcycle)? Will I even PASS the written MC one?" (it's changed & harder-I saw the sample online tests)

Appointment day comes, hair turns out good, the sweater top is good (one of Jackie's old ones that she left here plus the turquoise and silver necklace she gave me), and I decide to get there earlier than my appointment.
GOOD CALL.
When I got there at 8:33 AM, not only were there maybe only 7 parking spaces left in the lot, but the line was around the building.
I got in line, started chatting with another guy, and after seeing some people go in and NOT come back out, I asked the guy to save my place and decided to see if there was a special check-in area for appointments.
YES THERE IS-inside it was Window 25.
Checked in, got form DL144 that you HAVE TO FILL OUT THERE, no copies allowed, got a number and waited maybe 10 minutes to be processed.
Was notified on the monitor that my number was called and what window to go to, went to Window 6 , gave over my paperwork, paid the $31 fee (debit card, forgot to get a check from home & they do NOT take credit cards), questions answered, printout and receipt gotten, AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE A WRITTEN TEST!!!
Went to Camera 1 and into THAT line. It was about 12 people, seemed to move fast.
My turn, had to sign onto an electronic signature thingy (like the one you sign when you get a FedEx package), then an electronic thumbprint (no more ink), then the picture. The clerk commented that my necklace was very pretty, told her it was from my daughter in Santa Fe, NM. She positioned me, I smiled (I practiced in the mirror that morning!!! I know, I'm such a weirdo), and she took it. I asked, "Did it come out good?" and she said yeah, very good, then told me she was adjusting the pic slightly so that the necklace showed. Wasn't that really cool of her!? I got my stuff, and just before I left I told her that her auburn hair color was perfect-she told me it was Preference by L'Oreal and I agreed that was the BEST.
I got outta there by 8:56, close to the time my appointment was supposed to be. Hey, it can NEVER hurt to be really early, especially for any parking or traffic situations. I try to be early-early to places anyway. Worst case scenario, I play games on my Blackberry.
While I was erroneously in line I was chatting with the guy in front of me (before I wised up to the appointment desk), & he commented that it was pretty busy and there were SO many people there. I told him that the DMV would be closed on Friday so people couldn't come for 3 days.

UPDATE ON MARCH 19TH, 2010:
Appointment was the morning of March 11th, right? Received my new license on Friday, March 19th.
WOW.