minor triumph...

Though nothing of my doing.

I kept calling the local DMV to find out if this "Real ID" B.S. has come on line, if I need to "prove" who I am with the multifarious pieces of information that the governmental websites discuss (and they are not at all clear, as you'll see in a moment).

Kept getting a recording saying "No one is here right now" and then it hung up on me. (Which ticks me off...you could at least have a recording with the hours, if there are wonky hours to the place. Which I guess is the case because when I called back now I got a person.)

So I asked the lady: what do I need to bring in to renew my driver's license (bracing for a long list of things - the government website lists birth certificate, social security card, some proof of where you live like a paystub...several other things, and it makes it sound like you need ALL that stuff).

"Is it a digital license?" she asked.

Huh? It's a real laminated piece of plastic - it's not on a cd or anything.

"I'm sorry" I responded, "What exactly does that mean?"

"It has a barcode on the back."

I started fumbling in my purse and said, "What if it has no barcode? What do I need to do then?"

"Well, first," she said, "Don't let it expire, it's a lot harder if it expires. Then, bring the license in with your social security card and we can renew it and make it digital."

"Uhh...that's a problem" (I'm still fumbling in my purse) "I'm not exactly sure where that card is. Would a birth certificate work?"

"Oh, sure! That will be fine." (By then I had found the license and discovered that yes, in fact, it has the coveted barcode. I tell her this and she tells me all I need is me, the license, and the renewal fee to renew. I think I WILL take proof-of-address and my birth certificate though, just to be safe.)

(And now I think of it, I remember them scanning my fingerprint the last time I renewed. I guess that's part of this thing.)

Win. Or at least, Win, once I successfully renew.

And I will have to say, of the four states I've lived (and had a driver's license in), she was the most helpful DMV employee I've ever encountered.