Official

It's official, as "they" say.  Who are "they," I dunno... Probably just me.

All that aside, I've made it through the red tape and visited various locations all in the name of getting my license, title, and plates switched over to the North Carolina variety.

First stop was to get my license.  Well, actually the very first stop was getting insurance.  But that wasn't so exciting, so I'll skip it.  Trust me, I got insurance.

So, my license.  Down here you have to take the written test no matter what.  It was rather easy, but still made me just nervous enough that I skimmed through the handbook the DMV puts out.  I learned one thing, NC has about a million ways to take your license away.  I had to run home and get my passport because they couldn't accept my Massachusetts license as ID because it didn't have my full middle name, just my middle initial.  Luckily the DMV wasn't far so I was able to run back and get it and sit for my wonderful license picture.

Next step was to go get my license plate.  Oh, but wait.  You can't go until your official license arrives in the mail 8-10 days later.  Ok.  Get my license and drag my ass over to the separate plate place and see an out of control line... yeah, I'll come back.  I made the mistake of heading over there around lunchtime, so my fault.  I returned a couple hours later and the line wasn't so bad.  Gave my loan info and paid the fees and got my plate and registration.

I'm all NC on paper now.

Goodbye MA (I'll leave the Southie parking
stickers in the window to represent)

Having only one plate now left the front looking very naked... that had to be remedied.  I pulled out my old Georgia Bulldogs vanity plate from my days down at UGA, which solved that problem.  But, I can't just represent UGA, I then had to throw my UCONN plate holder thingy on the back.

Now, I know all won't agree with this, but I have to say - my experience with the DMVs down here have been the most pleasant in my history of DMV experiences (which include CT, MA, and GA).  Lines moved at a decent pace, which is probably the most important thing to anyone in a DMV.  But on top of that, all the employees I dealt with were pleasant, one might even say nice!  Seriously.  It wasn't the normal grumble greeting you'd get at the Chinatown RMV in Boston.

making it official

So, today the plan is to finally get our asses down to the DMV and get our NC licenses.  I have to take the written test for sure, and possibly the road test.  I've heard varying accounts of having to take the road test, and it seems that it is at the discretion of the tester whether or not they make you take it... so we shall see.  Once we have our licenses, then we have to go back to our insurance agent, get some form, then we can go register our cars and get license plates.  A whole process that we've been putting off for too long.

Last night I hit the trainer and my legs were feeling it before I started.  But I pushed through even though something was going wonky with my heart rate monitor... I'm guessing the battery in the strap is dying - unless somehow the laptop I was watching video on while riding was interfering with the readings??  With the impending rain/wind storms the air had me sweating like a maniac... I think I lost a couple pounds.

Depending on the weather today I may go for an easy spin on the roads and check out if the heart rate monitor works any better... if not - battery it is.

Saturday and Sunday are shaping up to bike (related) filled days, so that is cool.  But I'll save that for later, cause I need something to talk about tomorrow.

Wish us luck at the DMV!