The Joys of License Renewal

After five years, it was time to renew my driver's license. No big deal - get new photos, fill in some forms, have my eyes tested, then wait three or four weeks for the new license to arrive. The biggest inconvenience is taking time off work to get to the licensing office.

Five years ago when I renewed, I went in about seven weeks ahead of the expiry date - and they chased me away, telling me to come back closer to the time. I did, and the replacement was there in three or four weeks. This time, I wasn't going to take time off work just to be chased away again, so I waited until I had four weeks to go.

I was smart. The licensing office opens at 8:00am, so I was standing in line by 07:30. They didn't open at 8:00. I started to figure that maybe their computers were offline, and I'd chosen the wrong morning after all. At about 08:30 a gentleman representing the licensing office came out to face what was now quite a large crowd, loyally followed by a number of his staff members. He held an important-looking notice in his hand.

"Gather around!" he announced to all of us in the line, in a tone that would bridge no argument. "I have a notice in my hand that I shall read out to you," he said when he had our full attention. He raised the notice and read: " The water supply to these offices has been interrupted. Therefore, these offices shall remain closed until the water supply has been restored."

He wasn't taking questions. The team trooped off.

I'm not sure whether the licensing department's computers are powered by turbines, or whether the staff is powered by caffeine, but apparently water is absolutely essential to their function.

By about 11:30 I figured that if enough people had been chased away, but the water restored, there should be relatively few people there. That turned out to be correct. No problem at all....

...except for a slight irritation where the eye tests were done. One man was having a test done, and a number of other people were sitting around - I presumed, awaiting their turns. I sat down patiently to wait. After some time, a woman sitting there gazed at me with some suspicion, and said: "Are you here to have your eyes tested?"

"Sure," I replied. What else?

She gazed at me for a little longer, then sighed, pulled herself out of her chair, and said, "Okay, come to this machine here."

I was flabbergasted.

Everybody else was friendly and helpful. When I made it to the window with all forms correctly filled in, photos and fingerprints in the right places, the lady asked whether I would require a temporary licese.

"What for?" I asked.
"Until your new one comes. This one expires in four weeks."
"How long will the new one take to get here?"
"Thirteen weeks."

I took a temporary license. Small price to pay to avoid unnecessary visits to where the water supply is unreliable.