viernes, abril 10, 2015

Ok, it has been 4 months since I last posted anything. Sorry.
I have been busy, though, I have had two visits in this time, and the time spent at home seemed to serve the sole purpose of cleaning and cooking, which are the two activities I loathe most in life (Electroporation is getting strong, but is not yet in the top two)

But in the meanwhile, I got a driver's license. How cool is that. Not much.
However, what is interesting is the fact that I had to wait for 4 months in order to get it. So here is my piece of advice. If you are not going to be in USA for more than a year, or you live close to your work or you can blackmail someone into driving you places, DON'T DO IT.
The first thing you have to do is study a very stupid manual that comes with interesting statements like this:

And this:


These are only an example of the horror I encountered when reading this piece of shit, as you can imagine, I wanted to get over with it as soon as I could so I went to the closest DMV right after reading all sorts of crazy stuff and stayed on the line forever (because everything has a line here), eventually got to talk to a person, they asked me for every single paper I had (visa, passport, I-94, DS2019, Forma A38 etc) and then proceeded to charge me for 30 dollars, which is a pretty good price if you ask me.
After another hour or two of more waiting, I finally got to do the test, which was on a computer and I had to take while standing. Neat. I passed the test with only one error that promptly changed my expression to a smug one, and went over to yet another counter. They asked for a picture which I graciously gave and walked out with a 60 day special learning permit I did not need.

One week after, I rented a car from Avis, the worst possible choice (also called Budget) and went to take the behind the wheel test. I almost did not get to do the exam because my name was not EXACTLY like the one in the insurance, be careful with that, these people are a bit dumb when it comes to foreing names. Anyway, I passed the exam, that was really easy except for the fact that I had to look over my shoulders all the time which is forbidden in any other country. I guess it has to do with the size of the cars and the outrageously big number of blind spots in these monstrosities.
So what, I get a temporary licence that expires in three months and they tell me that I will receive my licence shortly. HA. After two months I called because the waiting was starting to be a bit ridiculous and after having to call two different numbers, a very rude man to attend one of the lines, hang up on me and having to call again and again to no avail, I finally got to talk to someone that told me they did not have my paperwork. The one I gave to them on the first day. She told me to send it to her, so I did that and ... had to wait another month. After this time, I called again, because my temporary licence was expiring in 5 days, and they told me it was on its way, they had sent it some 10 days ago (what took them another 20 days to get it done is something I will never know) and finally, when my temporary licence was about to expire, I received the licence.

Everything is so easy in the States