Hmm. Today we got a smog check, went to the DMV, and yeah, that was all. The smog check was fun. We passed it by so much, and the averages are so far below the allowables that I decided it is just a huge racket and another tax on drivers ($60 a car). But it makes you feel good when you score a 0.01 when the limit is 1.0. (Erin was mad the car passed. She wanted a new car. I told her she is crazy)

Then with lots of documentation in hand we went to the DMV. I'm used to the Waterloo DMV, where there are 3 windows and chairs for about 12 people. This one had 14 windows and seating for 50, with plenty of standing room. It was probably a bad idea to show up at 12:40, but we decided we needed to get it done. I think we only sat for an hour and a half, which wasn't too bad. We got the license paperwork done fairly easily, but the triage number-givers didn't give us the paper to get a CA registration. Insert awkwardness as we tried to fill out a paper that would have been nice to have an hour and a half to fill out, but it got done. More confusion later, and we were registering the car to Erin Childers because Erin hadn't changed the name on the loan. Even though it was a Chase loan and she changed the name on another account at Chase, it's a different business so it needs a separate paper. So that added to the frustration of the DMV.

Then we had to get the car verified, which required us to leave the awesome parking spot we had so a lady didn't have to walk to far to read the VIN in 3 different places. Of course that spot was filled so I had to drive 3 blocks to repark the car, fair enough. We get back inside with the verification papers and a different lady checked us out and said the first lady had messed a bunch of stuff up and overcharged us $38. Of course California is too busy collecting interest on overcharges to pay for other stuff that will be cut from the budget in a few weeks, and we were warned that it will take monthS to get the check.

Then we took the written test. I had been warned that a lot of people fail the first or second time through, but we had read through most of the rules of the road. Erin missed 3 and didn't do 1 (6 or fewer misses is a pass). Congrats. I was getting nervous because I was feeling like I would fail. On the first page I missed 4, and I gave up. I decided that if Erin had one version, and I had a different one I could handle a retest pretty easily. But I finished strong with a perfect backside... heh... and we both got our temporary driver's licenses (half sheets of paper). It takes 2-4 weeks for them to print and mail the real ones, weird (we did get the new plates today though).

We took one last, illegal drive with Illinois plates, put on the new ones, and shed a tear for the $305 it cost to drive a car in California. (Plus $15 more to change Erin's name on the registration, minus $38 refund). Maybe it counts as a moving expense.

It was windy and sunny today. I think it will be windy and sunny the rest of the month. :) (I refuse to comment on the heat). I also met Harry Moore, our neighbor, today. He was nice.