It is official. We woke up early on Saturday, gathered all the pertinent paperwork, and a little extra just in case, and drove out to the Chicago West Illinois DMV office to finally make ourselves legal.
We'd been living in the state of Illinois sin documentos since August. Really, though, we meant to go to the DMV right away, but I kinda sorta lost the NC car title, and we had to write a check, fill out a form, get it notarized and wait 3 weeks for the NC DMV to send us a copy of the NC title so we could turn it in to pay more money to get a new Illinois title.
Oh, and the matter of the driver's licenses. What fun!
We expected a mob scene like at the Mondawmin Mall DMV office in Baltimore, and the line was discouraging. But then we got hearded into a shorter line being formed just for tag and title, and things proceeded quickly under the guidance of loud and unhelpful employees who wouldn't answer questions. So far, shitty, but typical.
But then we entered into a -- relatively -- well-oiled machine that included at least a few surprisingly pleasant cogs. Like the woman who advised me on what kind of coat to wear for a Chicago winter, or the woman who politely refused to tell me which one of us did better on the written driver's test.
One thing we learned is that if one of the multiple choice answers is "All of the Above," that's the one -- no matter what the DMV book says.
We have moved six times in the last seven years and have, consequently, had to go to a lot of DMV offices. I can say for sure that, despite the long lines and other rude employees, the Illinois DMV is pretty efficient. Normally only about a quarter of the workstations at a DMV office are open, but every single one had someone in it. Now, it's up to God or the fates or some mystical force whether you walk up to the one with the the cheerful employee or the deranged one, but at least it's fast -- well, faster.
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