The damned Oregon DMV.
Yes, I have an out of state license. No, I’m not going to tell you how long it’s taken me to get around to replacing it.
I don’t have a car, so I didn’t have to deal with registering a car in a new state or tags expiring. Even though I don’t own a car, I have rented one and used ZipCar since moving to Oregon. But, other than that, my license has primarily been used to buy booze over the last two and a half years.
Seriously, I’m in no rush to switch over to an Oregon license.* Since I know that it’s something I’ll need to do, I’ve been doing research here and looking through the Oregon DMV’s convoluted website there. I’m not the type of person to put things off until the very last minute and then have a full blow meltdown when it doesn’t go my way. I slowly chip away at projects.^
After I struck up a conversation with a New York State transplant who told me he had to take a behind the wheel test before receiving his Oregon license – I’ve been harboring resentment for the entire process.+ Couple that with the fact that I wasn’t able to find anything on the Oregon DMV website that clearly identifies requirements for swapping my New Hampshire license for an Oregon one.
Sometimes I miss the simple ways of New Hampshire – granite outcroppings along the highway, nor'easters that would extend for days, icicles the size of my leg, doing whatever I wanted and then screaming “Live free or die,” and foliage the colors of fire. So, pretty much like Vermont, only upside down. But, what New Hampshire totally has over Oregon is that New Hampshire took my money and Oregon license and giving me a New Hampshire license in return.
It was so simple and so, so easy.
Yesterday, a coworker went to the DMV to renew her license and was kind enough to find out that I have to retest to switch out my valid out-of-state license for an Oregon license. After talking my youngest sister into letting me borrow her car for the behind the wheel test, I decided to do it while I’m in small town Oregon for my mother’s birthday. So, I call up the McMinnvillle DMV and upset either Patty or Selma Bouvier. After being told the difference between an out-of-state license and an out-of-state ID, I find out that since I have a valid out-of state license I need to take the written test and not the behind the wheel test.**
So, now I just need a cute hair day to coincide with a day I’m motivated to go to the DMV. ^^
*1) My New Hampshire license doesn’t expire until next June, 2) For my particular case, I think it’d be a waste of money to make the switch too soon, and 3) Having an out of state license not only makes me feel special, but it also subconsciously protects me from facing the fact that I’m living in Oregon – again.
^Like Chinese water torture or herpes.
+Make retesting number four on the list of reasons why I’m not super motivated to embrace residency in Oregon.
**Pain. In. My. Ass.
^^Since I’m complaining about the Oregon DMV, why don’t they get on Arizona’s bandwagon and issue licenses that expire when you turn 65-years-old?++ Sure, they need to go in for a photo day every so often, but I’d be more than okay with that!
++Look at number 37 on the Arizona Department of Transportation page.
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