I took yesterday off from work with the intention of getting my Georgia driver's license and my car license plate taken care of. My plan was simple, get up around 7am, get to driver's license place early, and then move on to the plates.
Georgia doesn't make this as easy as it could be. First, the driver's licenses and license plates are issued at two different locations. In Minnesota, it's one stop shopping. You go to the government center and take care of both at once. Second, the service centers (plural) for my county are both 40 minutes away from where I live. In Minnesota, it was like 5 miles from my house.
My plan also was sabotaged by me. I didn't want to get up at 7am. I'd stayed up late the night before writing and I wanted to sleep. So I did. Until 9am and then I ditzed around--drinking coffee, checking in on the internet, etc.
Okay, so plan B. Get everything taken care of before the two service centers close. Driver's license had to be first because I needed that to get the license plates. I arrive and worry that GPS got me lost. It directed me to a strip mall. I drive around, finally find the Drivers' Services store front. In the strip mall. For real.
There was a line. I filled in my paperwork and waited. I'd already checked out what I needed to bring with me online, so I was good to go if only they'd call my number. It ended up taking an hour, which I didn't think was too bad considering I got there at 1:40.
Now on to the license plates. First, this involved driving on weird one-way streets that suddenly become two way. I just about had a stroke at one intersection when I looked up and on the other side was a car headed right at me. Gah! But after that little adventure, I finally found the right place.
This one was harder because despite searching online, I wasn't sure what the hell they wanted to see for license plates beyond a Georgia driver's license. I figured they'd want proof of insurance, so I had that with me, and since the car is financed, I brought along my payment coupons in case they needed the information about the bank and their address and my account number.
It turns out they needed the vehicle registration. Um, yeah, what is a vehicle registration? I've only been pulled over once in my life and the officer did not ask for registration, just my driver's license. This was in Minnesota when I was in college, so maybe things have changed, but what is a registration?
So I went back out to my car, looked through the glove box, but there was nothing there remotely like a registration. That could only mean one thing--it's in Minnesota at my parents' house. They have a fireproof filing cabinet and all my car paperwork is in there. Apparently, GA wants the registration in the car. Huh.
One day off work. Two missions. One complete. After my dad mails all my car paperwork down to me, I'll try the second mission again.
