Finally A Paper Californian

I broke down yesterday and finally registered my car with the state of California. Going to the DMV is probably the worst experience anyone can ever have and my third trip to the bowels of lack luster government help was no exception. Regardless of how horrible waiting in line just to get a number so I can wait in line some more is, I buckled down and got things done. It didn't go as smoothly as I would have hoped, but now I can at least say that I can legally drive in California.

My biggest problem at the DMV came at the point when I was supposed to surrender my old Oklahoma plate for the new, bright and shiny (they really are bright and shiny) California plates. As it turns out, one doesn't change license plates very often, so it didn't come as a surprise to me when I couldn't remove the plate from my car because the screws holding it on were rusted completely through. After struggling with the plate for 30 minutes in the DMV parking lot, I dejectedly admitted defeat to the clerk who told me that I could just surrender my plate at a later time.

New plates in hand, I went home to work on removing the troublesome Oklahoma plate from my car. Hours later, I wound up ripping it off of my car, thus making it impossible for me to put a new plate in the same spot. Fortunately, with a little ingenuity and 2 trips to the hardware store, I was able to permanently attach the plate to my car; hopefully I won't have to remove it because I don't think I will be able to get it back on if I do.

All in all, though, I am very satisfied with myself: I completed a big-kid task without too many problems and without having to go completely of my way in order to accomplish something that needed to be done. I still don't like the idea of being a legal Californian, so I refer to my status as being a "paper Californian;" i.e. I have a state driver's license and The Man knows about my car, but other than that, I'm just someone that moved here from out of state. I'm still not a huge fan of California; I find that most Los Angeles residents are self-righteous assholes, so I am content to separate myself from the general public even if it is only through terminology. I still pay taxes to California, I vote in California, and I deal with the same crap as everyone else, but if that term is the one thing that I can use to make myself different, then by God I'm going to put it to use for as long as I can.