DMV fun

Last Friday, I took 3 hours to deal with the AZ DMV. My car registration expired this month and there was no reason for me to renew it in VA. Tucson and Phoenix require emission inspections for cars more than 5 years old (so if I had registered it in 2006, I might have been okay). AZ also has a car tax (although at a lower rate than VA's).

The emission test, including wait, took about 40 minutes. Then, I drove across the street to the DMV. I got in line for the info desk and was told to go back outside and drive around to get a "physical inspection" of my car (not a performance inspection like VA, just checking the VIN, etc). So now I am an hour in to the DMV adventure, and I go back inside to get a number. Since I have "mulitple transactions" I get an M number. AZ has the standard Letter-Number waiting system. After an hour and fifteen minutes of sitting and waiting, a fellow first year anthro grad student walked in, which was a surprise. We only had a moment to chat because my number got called. I turned over my forms, old plates, old license, and fees and received my new plate. A short wait later, and I got my picture taken and then got my license in hand.

A few steps closer to being an official AZ resident in the eyes of the University (which is what matters).

New plate:







New license: (good for 50 years - yep, that's until my bday in 2046)



(out of licenses I've seen from other states, this one looks the most simple/fake. But how lovely, the background image is the Grand Canyon)