How to waste a day at the DMV

Whenever I've heard anyone mention the DMV, it's accompanied by an eye-roll, a groan, or a snort of derisive laughter. Having only been in there a couple of times (and not since 2005, when I got my license), I wasn't quite yet at the point where I hated the experience. Sure, I knew it could be a hassle, but could it really be as bad as everyone said it was?

After today, I can indeed confirm that the DMV lives up to all the hype.

I had to go renew my license (which expires on Saturday), so I went over hoping to make it a quick trip and thinking that I'd spend the remaining 2 hours between engagements shopping for a new sweater.

When I arrived at the office, however, I was greeted by a packed room and a line snaking waaaaaay out into the mall. Quick? Not likely! Before I could even wait in the long line inside the DMV office, I first had to queue up in an even longer pre-line to even be given a number to be seen! After waiting forever in the pre-line, I finally reached the front only to be told that the licensing system had just crashed across the entire state of Massachusetts.

What?!?!? I asked if they knew when it would be back up. No. Would it be up and running by the end of today? No...maybe...they didn't know. Try back in an hour.

Ok, fine. I went over to Target to shop. After an hour, I came back to the DMV. I waited in the pre-line again and finally got to the front. Was the system back up yet? Yes. Success!!!! They issued me a number and told me to wait (again).

When I glanced down at my ticket, it was at least 15 people out (and there were only 2 stations and you know how long it takes to serve people at the DMV). And yet, clear as day, the estimated wait time on my ticket was listed as 4 minutes. I know now that this number was a fabricated work of fiction belonging to the world of fairies, unicorns, and make believe.

A good 40 minutes later, I finally got to the front of the line. You know how they always demand 12 different forms of ID to prove this, that, and the other about yourself? I came supplied with a bagful of stuff including, but not limited to: driver's license, passport, U.K. passport, birth certificate, 2 separate bills, credit cards, etc. Do you know how many of these they looked at? 0, zip, nada, zilch. Of course, had I brought only my driver's license, they would have needed everything else :-)

Oh, and when I finally got everything sorted out, the woman asked me how to spell my street address. I looked at her oddly as I spelled it - wasn't it on the form/in the system from my previous card? I checked out my old license to be sure. In 4.5 years of owning it, I'd somehow missed the fact that they spelled my street incorrectly. OOPS! At least it's correct now :-)

And that, my friends, is the story of how the RMV stole took my 50 dollars and exchanged it for a piece of plastic worth 5 cents.

Ready for Christmas

As of this evening, I've not only purchased/made Christmas presents for all my friends and family, but I've also wrapped all of them! It's not even December, either. Then again, considering my December schedule, that's probably a good thing. I'm in a show, one that is going to be so amazing (I can't wait to show you pictures of my costume!) and I'm going to enjoy doing so much. It is also a major time commitment! In the next month, I have:

1 all-day rehearsal (8 hours)
1 Tuesday rehearsal (which has been happening weekly for the past 3 months)
4 tech rehearsals (5 hours each)
1 dress rehearsal
4 cast potlucks that I have to cook for
17 performances
1 set strike
1 cast party

This weekend, I'm also throwing a birthday/Christmas party (I'm turning 23 on Saturday), as well as going to the all day rehearsal. On Sunday, my friends are performing in a concert, which in turn conflicts with the annual Christmas church service at my alma mater and I really don't want to miss that...but I already told my friends I'd be there. Maybe I'll go to half of one and half of the other? I'm such a busy woman!

I got into grad school!

WOW! That was really quick :-)

They sent the letter out the day after my interview/portfolio review/practical skills test/visit, so I guess they really liked me. On the day of the interview they mentioned that there weren't any actual spaces in the program for next year (they can only have 9-10 students at any given time, and they had accepted so many people into the program last year that they were more or less full). They cautioned me that "theoretically speaking, should you get, say, a letter of admission it would probably be for 2011 rather than 2010" (they can't offer formal admission until it's done by their admissions office, so they said everything in hypothetical terms to let me know what the deal was without them saying anything straight up). Apparently they created a space for me in the program :-)

I was excited first, but got anxious about money pretty quickly. While I was bummed to hear during the interview that I might have to delay my education by an extra year, I had started to think how sensible it might be to save up a little extra money. Being suddenly offered a place a year sooner meant that I'd have to take out more in the way of loans.

At this point, I'm trying to figure out if I should (or if I even could) defer for a year. It's a LOT of money that I'd have to pay back in the form of loans (we're talking about 50-60K here) and that is making me more than a little stressed. On the other hand, there are some grants available (not much) that could offset the cost and it's better to get my degree earlier rather than putting if off. EEK!

I'm going to England!

In just a few hours, I'll be flying to England. Surprise! Actually, the trip has been planned for months, but I don't think I've ever mentioned it on this blog.

The purpose of the trip is two-fold. I'm half English, so my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma on my dad's side of the family all live in England. I rarely get to see them, so it will be great to catch up with them. Also, my sister (who spent the summer in India and is now studying abroad in France) is flying over so that we can see each other for the first time in 6 months. Secondly, I'm going over to look at/interview at two grad school programs that I'm interested in. Woohoo!

I'll try and post pictures when I get back, but I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have when over there.

Did you?