Saturday, January 19, 2008

Friday January 18 - New Jersey DMV

Today I decided was the day to make myself a true New Jersey resident and trade in my Oklahoma drivers license for that of the Garden State.
I consulted with several colleagues regarding the the best location to visit the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) and was given several options all followed by "but whatever you do, avoid Lodi". Now Lodi is a fine community to which I had ventured on several occasions with the purpose of visiting Satin Dolls, a strip club made famous in the Sopranos as The Bada Bing. On the internet I reviewed the requirements regarding the documents I had to produce to obtain said drivers license. These included Birth Certificate, Passport, lease or mortgage paperwork, and marriage certificate (presumably if female however that was not stated.) While making my list of documents, I noticed that all first time licensees in New Jersey needed to take a vision test and the vision test is only offered in, you guessed it, Lodi. This fact was confirmed for me later that afternoon while sitting next to our Web Development V.P., a recent expatriate of the UK. He regaled me with his preparatory work studying for the New Jersey drivers examination, which I could take comfort is only required by those of immigrant status. He spouted New Jersey motor vehicle statutes that were so obscure. These included those regarding the speed limit around a School Bus with its red lights flashing and the legal alcohol limit for those under 21. This was a fact we all found most amusing as the legal drinking age is 21.

With all my documentation in hand I headed toward the MVC in Lodi. It was about 1530 and I was a bit concerned as they closed at 1630. Now just to put everyone in the spirit of the NJ MVC you have to imagine how you would feel if you were applying for parole or trying to gain entry to the 50's era Soviet Union. You are treated as if you are a bad person with nefarious intentions. My paperwork (Birth Certificate, passport and apartment lease) were scrutinized 7 times and 2 of these were by the same person. I had to write an explanation why I had moved to New Jersey....twice. I will have to say that they are very thorough in checking documentation. Terrorists may gain entry through our unsecured borders but by god they are not going to get a drivers license in the state of New Jersey. I will have to say despite the repetitive nature of the document verification, the lines, or queues for my British colleagues, were quite tolerable. None-the-less after only one hour at the MVC I emerged with a New Jersey drivers license. As for getting the license plate for my car, well that will have to happen another day as I could not produce the title. --G

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