Thursday, October 20, 2011

Milestone

Ernest turned 15 and a half on Monday. He was set on getting his learner's permit as soon as possible so weeks ago I made a DVM appointment and had notes all over the house so I wouldn't forget.



We got to the DMV (slightly early, I might add, because I just hate to be late), only to find that their computers were down, state-wide, in all 144 offices. You could come back later, they told us. The computers might be back up. Well, the nearest DMV is a half hour's drive from our small town, so we didn't want to go home and come back again, to risk finding that the computers were still down. Disappointed, we went home.

I went online and was able to make an appointment for 8:40 the next morning. Ernest fortunately had these 2 days off school.

I was expecting huge crowds, but there were only a couple customers when we got there. They spend a long time in the back inspecting his papers, and I was worried something was wrong. It turned out they had a new version of the form, but they finally accepted our older version as long as he filled something out on the new form.

Bureaucracy never runs smoothly, does it. So he got the permit. But it wasn't valid until he has a session of driver training.


Luckily, the driver training instructor was able to fit him in the next day.

So this morning, here he is, driving himself to school for the first time. Ernest is pretty laid-back, but I could tell he was pleased and excited.




10 comments:

Jodi Anderson said...

Yay for milestones! (Especially ones that involve sending them on errands soon.)

Anonymous said...

He is very close in age to H-J, who also has his permit. However, I am not relaxed enough to take a photo of him driving.

Also, you just reminded me that I need to search out where to get the DMV-required (supposedly) official State Department birth certificate. The military paperwork isn't enough for our DMV. Grrrrr....

Jen on the Edge said...

What a milestone! Congrats.

(And it just hit me that I'll be writing a similar blog post in a little over two years...)

shrink on the couch said...

So calm and collected you are. Unlike me. Nearly cardiac arresting every time I was in the passenger seat.

p.s. I love the long hair. the world needs more hippies.

Unknown said...

Oh, that brings back memories of driver's ed and all that fun stuff. :)

Anonymous said...

Hooray for the new driver!

Lala said...

Hooray! No more shuttle driving him to the zoo! Although, I hope you enjoyed your enforced 45 minutes together on those days... probably won't happen very often any more.

Glennis said...

Oh, god, I remember when Max had his first brush with the DMV. He failed, of course. The folklore in his high sschool was that EVERYONE failed the first time. They also claimed that no one should go to Santa Monica's DMV, but rather to the one in Winnetka.

Nonetheless, Max failed the first time, and had to re-take it. Then he was fine.

He was actually a very careful driver. We learned to drive on our canyon's mountain roads, which was especially exciting for his mother. He only had two minor fenderbenders in the first six months of driving.

You are expecting that Ernest will have a minor fenderbender during the first six months of driving, right? If not, please alter your expectations. He will.

Vanessa said...

What an exciting milestone!

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

The day Social Butterfly got her license all the computers were down statewide as well! California, you've gotta love it.

Congrats on the new driver. I'd send Xanax if I had any :)