License to... drive?

On Monday at work, Fay had to leave for a doctor's appointment, so it was just me and Yvette. And Mondays are pretty slow, so we were chatting while we worked (as usual with Yvette; she's a lot of fun to work with). In any case, she'd come in holding a Driver's Manual, and so I asked if she was going to take the permit test or what. She told me that she recently bought a car, but that the DMV wouldn't register it to her until/unless she had a valid permit or license. And since her permit had been expired for over two years, she couldn't just renew it; she had to take the permit test over again. She said that she was going to try to get to the DMV on Tuesday or Wednesday to take the test.

First, I asked her where there was a DMV in the city; she said there was one around 72nd Street, and another one at 34th Street and Broadway (Herald Square shopping center, 8th floor). Then I told her that if she ended up going that I'd love to go with her. I explained that my Learner's Permit had expired on my 21st birthday (last May), and that when I'd gone online to find out how to go about renewing my permit, it said:

You can renew a learner permit if you passed the written test in the last two years. If you did not pass a written test in the last two years, you must apply for a new permit and take the vision test and the written test. (scroll down a bit)

So I assumed I'd have to take the test again because the last (and only) time I took and passed the written test was when I'd just turned 16.

But Yvette said that by what the person at the DMV told her, it seemed as if, as long as the permit hadn't been expired for over two years, you could still renew it. So I decided I would check about renewing it first, and if I couldn't, then just take the test over. (It's sort of come to a head at this point in time because of my father's bad eyesight; he can't drive anymore and so my mom's the only one who can legally drive.)

But Tuesday didn't work out, and Wednesday I had to take my father to several doctors' appointments. It actually turned out that Yvette didn't have time to go either.

However, Thursday was a different story. Angelica didn't go to work, and we walked from Grand Central (43rd & Lex) over to Herald Square to look for the DMV. (It was such a nice walk; we had so much fun -- we hadn't done something like that in sooo long, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it!) We found the DMV and went on line. I filled out the permit renewal form and stood on line to have my picture taken. Angelica, of course, made me laugh... but I couldn't tell when the picture was taken, so I hope there was an okay expression on my face at the time. o.O*

After taking the picture, we waited for my number to be called. In the interim, Angelica was reading through the Driver's Manual that she'd picked up, on a spur-of-the-moment decision to take the permit test herself that day! (Some background info: I'd taken Driver's Ed in high school, but Angelica hadn't, and had never taken the permit test before.) Finally, my number was called and I stepped up to have my permit renewed. I was all nervous (due to my long-held, irrational fear of the DMV) as I gave over my papers and expired identification, and was practically left slack-jawed when the woman said, "Okay, that'll be 41 Dollars."

I hadn't even thought of how I was going to pay for the renewal fee! Sara no baka! Luckily, I do have a credit card. ^^ So now I have a valid learner's permit again, and can finally cash money orders at the post office again. Er, I mean, practice driving. Yeah.

Anyway, after renewing my permit, Angelica was reading the manual as fast as she could. I was sitting on the bench next to her, staring off into space and making things up (it's scary when the Duo that lives in my head goes into screen-saver mode; think Sumomo from Chobits). All of a sudden, Angelica lurched up off the bench and said, "I think the last time you can the test is at 3:30." Of course, it was 3:15 at that point. So we hurried over to the test area and got on line to take the test, while Angelica crammed as much info as she could in the few minutes left.

Then she got to the front of the line. And was turned away! Refused because although she had a valid New York State, DMV-issued, non-driver photo ID card, since 9-11, you also need your Social Security card (or birth certificate) in addition to a photo ID/proof of name in order to take the test. Go figure.

So we left, slightly disappointed.

But it had still been a really fun day.

And I was ecstatic to have been able to renew my permit without taking the test again!

The next day, Friday, Angelica planned to go back to the DMV and take the test. I sent her a nice little email reminder not to forget her SS card. So she went. And she passed the test! (Oh, I'm so proud! ::sniffsniff::)

Now, I'd been vaguely thinking of taking driving lessons from a place nearby that lets you use their car for the road test. This is my biggest problem. I know how to drive (although I haven't driven in about a year or two) because I did take Driver's Ed, and I did practice and do well. However, I have a minivan (the longer one; not the smaller), and I just can parallel park and do 3-way turns with it. Just not well enough to pass the road test. It's not the length of the car (I learned how to drive on a V6 Buick); it's the height -- I just can't judge the right side of the car well enough to park in one try with confidence. Never mind 3-way turns in a freaking minivan.

However! Lisa (Angelica's mom) had passed the road test a few months ago. And since Joe (her husband) won't let her drive his car ('cause he's stupid-paranoid), she's been trying to get him to buy a new car for himself (in a month or two) so that she can use the current one. And Angelica says that Lisa would so totally let us use the car (when it's hers) to practice, and to take the road test! Isn't that so cool of her?!

I hope it really works out 'cause then I'll be able to save that $200 (that I don't really have) for driving lessons (that I can't really afford).

And won't it be really freaky for both of us to have our licenses?