If only it were that easy.
JB is off this week so Monday during lunch he took me to the DMV. I took the test. It was as many people warned me, very difficult. Only one person I spoke with had a different opinion of this test -- Kelsey, who told me only a moron would fail it.
I debated whether to put this on my blog. I also debated whether to admit it to Kelsey. But I'll just throw it out there. I failed the test. I got a 74, and I needed an 80.
So what were the questions I missed?
First major question. Take a look at the sign below:
Now before you say, "Oh Wendi you moron, that's the decal you put on slow moving vehicles," let me say that I knew that. However, the question was not that simple. What is the top level of speed of vehicles displaying this decal? THAT was the question.
So ... still think I am a moron?
The answer is 30 mph. I guessed 20 mph, and I got that wrong.
Okay, another question I got wrong had NOTHING to do with driving. The next question was which type of alcoholic drink has the most alcohol in it. Since I don't drink and have never drank, I got this wrong. I can't tell a whiskey from a Pina Colada for crying out loud.
Another example of the questions I missed? When you are a passing a bicycle, how many feet must you give the bicyclist? Now to me, this is a stupid question. You give it a LOT. Like I am going to get out and measure the distance. That's absurd. I guessed 6', but I was wrong. It was 3'. So I lose for being too safe.
Okay, so I am bearing my soul here. I failed the test and was told to come back the next day. I picked up one of the study books and had JB quiz me that evening, and then I returned on Tuesday to retake the test.
All right so before you start rolling in the aisle thinking Wendi the blonde failed the test twice, let me end your curiosity. I did NOT fail the test the second time. In fact, I got an A the second time -- a 91%!
Aaaah, license-here-I-come.
Yeah right.
I walk up to the counter all ready to take my picture and become a valid Minnesota driver. I even wore my hair down for my photo. I hand him all my forms of ID only to be told that my birth certificate is not valid.
Since it is my ORIGINAL birth certificate I ask him why.
He immediately thinks I am jumping down his throat and tells me, "M'am, I don't make the rules. I just enforce them."
"No, no," I tell him. "I'm not mad at you. I just don't understand. What's wrong with my birth certificate?"
"It's torn."
"Torn?"
"Yes, torn."
"Well," I say. "It's twenty-nine years old."
"Right, but torn indicates it could be forged. And then you taped it. Both of these make this birth certificate invalid."
He then goes on to give me paperwork which instructs me how to order a new certificate from the state of Florida.
"Is there anything else I can show you beside a birth certificate?"
He told me that I could instead present a passport. However, one of the major reasons I need a current driver's license is because my passport was lost when we moved! I don't have a passport.
I could also show him my military wife's card. No, I don't have one of those. I have a husband card and a husband with me to vouch for the fact that I am a military wife, but since we aren't on a base yet, I don't have a military wife's card.
However, the horror of the Minnesota DMV does not end there. It gets worse.
My marriage certificate ... my OFFICIAL marriage certificate ... my ORIGINAL marriage certificate is not valid. It is not CERTIFIED. So I have to take my official and original marriage certificate to the county courthouse to get a copy made that they will certify.
Huh?
So now I am in a bind. I need to fly next week and wanted to make sure I had a valid driver's license for my flight. Now I need a birth certificate. So I look up all the info online. Forty-five dollars and fifty cents later, I have a birth certificate on the way.
The driver's license will cost me another $30.00. I am not sure if I will have to pay for the marriage certificate to be certified. Either way, I am out AT LEAST $75.50 for a stupid driver's license for a state I don't even like and don't know if I will be in for more than eight months.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, the husband I FOLLOWED to this state doesn't have to get a license. He is a student. And even if he wasn't, he has a military ID. Never has to get a license again. So every state I go to will require ME to get a new driver's license while he just coasts right on through, quizzes me on driving tests, and tells me I am not a moron when I fail.
Do I sound bitter? It's probably because I am! I feel robbed. I feel like the DMV and the Birth Certificate place got together to figure out how they could milk a poor student's wife out of $45.50!
Grrrrr.
But at least I know that those slow Amish buggies have to go under 30 mph!
15 comments:
Wendi- Wow! Don't even worry, I didn't know the answer to ANY of those questions, in fact, I didn't even know that was a sign on slow moving vehicles! I am dreading the test as well because I will not know the answers. Another reason is I don't know what color to put for hair color, I have always put blond, but now I haven't gotten my hair done in so long, can I still claim that? Who knows? :)
I can't believe they didn't accept your documents- I'm sure you looked really suspicious with your torn birth certificate... I can't believe that! I will have to check my stuff before I go. Will they still accept your passing test or do you have to take it again?
Cassi,
First of all, I have a book you can study. You can use mine now.
Actually as I was walking out I asked if they would accept my test and he said, "Oh yeah, I should make a note of that. UGH!"
As for hair, once a blonde always a blonde in my book.
I knew you would feel my pain. Now what about Kristen? Has she already done it?
um i have an army i.d. and i still need to get a drivers license, whats the deal does lt. kitsteiner get a break cause hes a good idea ferry(aka officer)i know have another mark against officers.
I think that I have a little bit more bad news for you. They may mail you your license and that takes a couple of weeks. Ronnie, English and I all had our drivers licenses mailed to us. We all received our liceses 5 weeks later. Sorry about that but you probably won't have it before you leave on your trip.
Also, to add more to this...Ronnie and I both passed ours on the first try.
Well Ebbs, if that's the case, I completely give up and will just walk everywhere.
Oh and Matt, you are in the Army. BIG difference.
:)
The good news is you can save a lot of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico.
Oh. What a relief Justin.
I just took the Indiana test, and it was very similar. I came to the conclusion that they do not only want to be sure you know the rules of the road, they want to be sure you're not to stupid to drive. Some of the questions were brain teasers. I think they just wanted to be sure you had sense enough to think it through. I suppose it's a good thing to keep morons from behind the wheel. Regarding ID, I had to order my BC also. Pain in the rear.
Aunt L
Hey Wendi, You lost all that money, not to mention the pure hassle of it all! When I was in Alabama I had to wait for my license, but I went to Indiana for a month, then back down to Alabama to summer school for a month, then home for a month, then back to Alabama in the fall. In the meantime, Alabama had issued me a temporary license (paper) until mine was ready. (Who does this?) Needless to say, with the cross-country move 4 times during the summer, my real license was lost in the mail, and that was lots of fun to take care of once I got back. Plus, who in Indiana was going to believe that my paper temporary license from Alabama was real? Alabama wouldn't give me a real one until they found the other one or something. Licenses are the biggest pain. I've had 5 states, and I'm about to get my 6th. I wish you luck (and you wish me luck).
Yeah Sarah, you definitely take the cake!!! I can't even complain when it comes to your state-moving woes.
Matt, if you look in the DMV book it says that if you are active duty you don't have to renew your license. You can have it expired. However, now you have JB wondering if this DOES apply to him.
Wendi, maybe this will make you feel better, but I took that test when I came to MN and missed the PRACTICE question that asks what the capital of MN was. Yes, I put Minneapolis instead of St. Paul. How embarassing!! After that I was pretty nervous:-). I definitely would not have passed it if I hadn't heard that it was hard and studied the book beforehand!
Tia, I have to tell you something ... I missed that question too. I ALSO put Minneapolis. Oh my ... I really am something. What a bad day!
It's not Minneapolis? Oh great, I have a LOT to learn...
No, it's St. Paul!!!! Three years, you think I would have known.
Thank you Tia and Cassie for making me feel like I am not the only moron in Minnesota.
Ok, so I have been meaning to post my experience on here, but haven't had time until now. I couldn't believe that I had to take the test again to get a drivers license here and being the person that I am, I read the WHOLE entire drivers license manual on the internet before I went. Who reads the whole drivers license manual for a stupid little test?? Well, aparently I am the only one! I still did get a question wrong, which was quite embarassing, but they are hard questions...I would have gotten the questions that you got wrong! Well, after I passed I thought that I would get my license right away...No, you get handed a piece of yellow paper and then have to wait for a least 5 weeks to get the flimsy drivers license. I agree with you Wendi...I am going to hate switching my drivers license everywhere we go!
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