 20050731
On Tuesday morning, I woke up extra early to be first in line at the DMV to register my bike and take a test to get my motorcycle learner's permit. (I was frantic, btw, studying for this test. I spent long hours, late at night, memorizing safety books. Indiana tests were a cinch -- but New York? Motorcycles? [*Sounds of grinding gears and large objects crashing to the floor*] )
Got there at 8:30, left at Noon: Long, unnecessary lines caused by the DMV's disregard for intelligent system design (e.g. I finished my test in 10 minutes, but had to wait for the batch of 30 others in my group to finish before my test was graded. Also, the test administrator had to find the corresponding answer-key for each different test, and then check them by hand. The process lasted more than 2 hours). Although, the situation assured me that if I weren't a web developer, there would be plenty of other opportunites to help systems become better. I realized that I am most interested by problems involving logistics and inefficiency. This, subsequently, spurred fantasies of working as an urban planner in Chile at age 35. Anyway. The test itself turned out to be a farce (12 questions on Alcohol, 2 on road signs, 1 on school buses, 1 on train tracks, and only 4 questions about motorcycle safety!!!). All that time studying ... completely wasted. I could have been drinking with my brahs down at the bar. (*sigh*) I passed the test; No problemo, but... now I have to take a picture for my new license? Uh, ok. What!? -- I can't wave to you in the photo? Dumb. Oh, now I can't smile with my mouth open, either? ARE YOU KIDDING!? That's the only way I know how to smile! Well, throw me a bone! Give me a mirror or something -- I need to figure this out. Fine. Let's just take the photograph.She takes the photo, but won't show it to me. She says I will receive my new license in 7-10 days. AND THEN, she says, "I need your Indiana license, please." Naturally, I flip out: You need WHAT!? No. You can't have that. I am an Indiana citizen and always will be ... "Sir, please give it to me. You can't have both." Fine, fine! But, only because this bike is so cool. I don't need that license anyway ... we're seceding, you know ... Indiana is going to be its own country and I will get a new license there. "Whatever, sir." She staples my Indiana ID to my application, puts it on a stack, and presses a button indicating she is ready to help the next customer. Ha. Just wait. She'll see. One day, Indiana will have highways of gold and everyone will be able to drive on them ... EXCEPT HER! Ha ha. Sucker. Right? 14
Comments:
Lawrence said... Hey zach I was wondering what font you used for your "BLOG" and "ZACH KLEIN" titles. If you could let me know, that'd be great. Thanks 11:56 PM Zach said... Franklin Gothic 12:04 AM Mareen said... First of all, congratulations to having passed the test and line of people. Oh you know, Franklin, when I got back from the U.S. one-year-stay, I was allowed to drive another 6 months with that license before I would have to wait again to turn 18 and take the German tests. Accidentally, they transferred the license so that I could drive trucks (the very big ones) only in the mean time. Alright, that was funny. Then, when it came to my Germany license, the lady wanted my old, expired Texas license and told me she would cut it up now, which she did, in front of my eyes... That was my story. Funny, how you added to your description about yourself (top right) that you were obsessive about your Indiana background just a couple of days ago. 4:50 AM Nick said... Rest assured that your pursuit of efficiency, while marred by bureaucracy, will not go unrewarded. A motorcycle is a good, efficient use of a motor. You are the sole passenger. You are the primary benefactor of generated motion. Compared to my Jeep Cherokee, where when I turn the A/C on I am cooling hundreds of cubic feet of space which I do not occupy... I am ashamed but comforted by the steel cage of safety. 10:09 AM Scott Kidder said... Wait, so did she give you a temporary license? Or do you all of the sudden have no ID. 10:44 AM alex said... dude - i'm about to have this problem myself because the lady at the DMV in San Diego is telling me if I get a CA license I have to turn in my VA license, but they won't actually send me my CA license for 4-6 weeks...? wtf? so i guess i have to carry around my passport for a month? 11:39 AM Zach said... They issued me a temporary license, which is merely a slip of paper. Bouncers won't accept it, so I carry around my passport. 11:43 AM Abby said... After being rejected at one bar and having my license scanned (after waiting 10 minutes) at another, I went through similar separation anxiety last week when I decided it was finally time to get a Missouri license. It was sad to see them take my wonderful Florida license away :( The only consolation prize is that my picture looks great! ps - Your bike is very cute. 3:32 PM Zach said... By cute, I hope you do, in fact, mean studly. 3:36 PM Ryan Eanes said... Oh yes, I remember watching in horror as they took away my North Carolina license and stapled it to the application. And that "temporary license" is a joke. Mine ripped in half on day 2. 9:30 PM OrlandoCatastrophic said... Grandma...what big teeth you have... Ah...the joys of good teeth. Sadly lacking in the UK. 7:55 AM Melissa said... Hahaha to what Orlando said. 2:27 PM said... Hey good to see you joined the Club, the Motorcycle Club, that is. Did you take the NY Safety Course, or do the driving test straight up? I got my licence here a month ago, and the test was super easy. Do you have a link to a picture of your bike? I just got a Suzuki GS500, but it's purple. Oh well. -Rob 5:51 PM said... Oh, nevermind, I found the link. That thing fits in your tiny elevator??? -Rob 6:28 PM Post a Comment |
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 Hi, I'm Zach. I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Wake Forest. After college, I moved to Manhattan to get serious about a company I ran with friends. We sold it to Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp in 2006. I just wrapped up with a project I co-founded called Vimeo and left CV to focus on being a twenty-five year old. I have another blog called Copy and Taste, where I post about learning to cook. I live in Brooklyn now.  Del.icio.us My Flickr Me on Flickr Last.fm Linked in MySpace Netflix History Vimeo  Amir Blumenfeld Chris Bodenner Mareen Fischinger Fort Wayne Observed Nick Gray Hype Machine Jake and Amir Jakob Lodwick Oh My Rockness Jonathan Marcus Youngna Park Megan Scheminske Eliot Shepard Shorpy Signal vs. Noise Alex Soth Stereogum Ricky Van Veen Khoi Vinh Eugene Wyatt   Postal Skype SMS (via AIM) |