There really is nothing like going to the DMV.

Here we go. First issue, parking. We need a parking permit to park on the street at our place for more than two hours.

The parking ticket guy is always out there. I see him. Driving around in his little enclosed tri-wheel-motor-vehicle-thingy with a pole to mark new cars with white chalk and a pad to write tickets to cars that arrived precisely 120 minutes ago. Every two hours I go outside to move our vehicle. And every two hours he is there. Or, more precisely, just about there. I look at him. He looks at me. And then I screech away in our high powered VW Tiguan. Screech away. He can't keep up. And after driving around the neighborhood for about half an hour I sometimes even find a new spot to park in. Then, two hours later, we resume this game. Tons of fun. I'm telling you. Tons. Of. Fun.

So. We needed a permit. How does one get one of these mysterious permits here in California? With a vehicle registered in California, of course. And how does one register a vehicle in California? First off, with a smog check! Yes! A 2015 model vehicle needs a smog check! Lucky for us, there is a smog check station on every corner here!

Excuse me. Could you please move your junky Bentley and get those Ferraris out of the garage to make room for our Tiguan?

Smog certified! But not before 0800. We arrived early, got the car hooked up to the California mainframe, but no. No smog reports allowed before 0800. Why? Good question!

Forgot a hair clip for Monks. This happens once in a while. The result: "He is sooooooo cute."

0800. Smog certified. We are off to the DMV. Over the bridge we go.

Fun facts...

California law: Register your vehicle within 10 days of moving here.

California law: Transfer your Driver License within 10 days of moving here. (Always thought it was a Driver's License by the way, but the paperwork says "Driver License" here.)

Soonest appointment to transfer these things in California within 10 days of moving here: 14 days.

To the "no appointment" lane for you!

Not too bad at the DMV actually. Temporary registration received. Driver License test set for 1340 and 1400. Off to get our parking pass with our temporary registration. Over the bridge we go.

Hoping it won't take too long...

And into the SFMTA we go.

Parking permit obtained! No soup for you tri-wheel-motor-vehicle-thingy driver man! A couple of "your boy is soooooo cute" encounters later and we are headed back to the DMV. Over the bridge we go.

Quick stop to buy new work shoes (old one's were filled with glass from our Target experience). A couple of "your boy is so cute" lines and a few minutes of Monk's checking herself out in the mirror and we are back on the road.

Back at the DMV we are all set to take our written test to get our California Driver Licenses. 36 questions. You have to get 32 out of 36 to pass. Computerized test. Jaynie and I are both in the room taking the test on different computers. Lydia is super excited and decides to be super loud. She is with Jaynie. The DMV lady kicks them out! I finish my test and go outside and stay with Lydia and Jaynie goes in to take her test again. Come to find out, Jaynie had 3 of the first 4 questions wrong. Instead she had to start over and made it through. Now, you might be thinking that there shouldn't be a problem taking a written Driver License test, but the questions they ask here are pretty ridiculous. Example: How many days do you have to notify the state of California that you have sold your vehicle? That's an important one right there. Anyway. We made it through. Here is Jaynie after passing her test.

And we are finished at the DMV. For now. We still have to bring in paperwork later on to get our permanent plates, but we have the parking permit and our licenses are on the way. One last time for the day. Over the bridge we go.