Ginger, thank you. We may take you up on it either there or back.

Really depressed this morning. I should do something, like plan a vacation.

Wanna road trip to Florida, Tom?

So, texas requires proof of citizenship to transfer my current/non-expired license from ny. Is that normal?

Probably some sort of Homeland Security/Protect the Boarder from the 'llegals sort of thing

I had no problems when I transferred my license from NJ to NY. Pretty much handed them my old license, got a new one.

I vaguely recall from making that change myself that NJ and maybe Connecticut had a different standard than other states switching to NY.

Fred, I've marked your post, thank you.

I know my mom had to go through hoops with the NJ DMV to establish her legitimacy because her birth certificate didn't match her current last name -- what with her having gotten married in 1968. They wanted her marriage certificate AND her divorce decree for whatever reason (some mishegas about her maiden name becoming her middle name). Crazy people. I had a battle with them trying to renew my licese with my valid passport and this was well before the current security dramas.

Smonster, thank you also for the place to stay.

Still, I recommend books on tape/CD. Makes the time go SO MUCH FASTER

Oooh! That would be nice. What have I been wanting to read?

I'm gonna pimp Audible for audiobooks without having to carry around a bunch of CDs. Most rental cars these days will have an aux-in jack for your iPod, and if you're the only one in the car with opposable thumbs you don't want to be switching out CDs.

Oooh, good call. Thank you.

Also, if you haven't done audiobooks while driving before, I highly recommend getting a book you enjoy that you've already read. Otherwise, I find them distracting, especially when not used to driving while listening.

That's a VERY good point. Thank you.

There was just an article about a group in France, descendants of Holocaust survivors, whose grandparents were "encouraged" to change their last names to something more French-sounding when they came to France after the war. The descendants want to preserve their history and change back to their families' original names, but under French law, they're not allowed to -- the name was changed when their grandparents became citizens, and now it's final.

Can they change the names of their decendants?

Sail, that sounds like an amazing trip. Yeah, ten seems reasonable. Well, more like 11-12 with the breaks, but 10 driving. I figure an hour for lunch seems sane, I can probably smuggle Dallas in her carrier at a Cracker Barrel.

But can't you get an SS card even if you're not a citizen? As opposed to a birth certificate, which seems pretty cut and dried.

Oh, I think we have ALL learned that there is nothing cut-and-dried about birth certificates. There are short forms and long forms and Kenyan fraud and all sorts of mayhem.

In New Jersey, to get a license, they now have a 6-point ID system. There's a pamphlet listing a ton of different types of ID, in two categories (I can't remember what kinds are in which category), and each type is assigned a certain number of points, and you need to have at least one form of ID from each category, with points that add up to six. I think that last time I had my old license, birth certificate, credit card bill with the right address on it, and maybe one other thing.

That was the way they did it in MA when I was in high school and lost my license. (I mean, had my purse stolen, not had my right to drive revoked.) Of course, because I was in high school, pulling the documents together was a huge PITA. I think I had my birth cert, a work ID, random mail (no bills in my name), my library card, and some else even weirder to make it work, finally.

I probably would have issues if I tried to change, because a lot of my mail goes to Firstname Brooks Lastname, but my real name is First Name Marie Last Name.

My eyes are so burny and so tired, that I feel more comfortable with my glasses off, and I can not really see with my glasses off.

The 6-point system thingy is what's used in Virginia, too. The difficulty was my own fault for not using my right name. Also that it took three trips before anyone told me that I could use the PO yellow sticker as proof of residency.

Trudy, in the unlikely event that your trajectory takes you by Charlottesville, you're welcome to crash here, too. My spare bed longs for someone to sleep on it besides the cat.

A higher-up just pronounced herself "underwhelmed" by something I put together. That's really improved my day, for sure.

When my mom went to get her NJ license renewed (she was already in their system, it was just that her license was going to expire in a few weeks and so she needed to get a new one), her 6 points of ID were rejected because one had FirstName LastName and one had FirstName M. LastName. They said they had to have something to establish where that M. came from. So she had to bring in her birth certificate, which had FirstName Mae MaidenName, to establish that the M. stood for Mae. For some reason, the birth certificate was fine to prove her middle name even though the last name didn't match any other piece of ID she had.

A higher-up just pronounced herself "underwhelmed" by something I put together.

What she meant, but did not have the opportunity to explain, was that she is so far below the quality and amazingness that is anything you put together, that she is under your magnificent whelming.

Holy shit.

I just jumped the fence at a middle school to get out of training. Just like my kids ditching school. I knew I had to leave because, even though it was named "Infusing 21st Technology to Boost Student Achievement", people didn't know shit.

One lady was pissed that I said everyone should know of Google. "You can't assume that."

Yes. Actually I can. They are an industry leader in their industry. They are a major employer. It's like saying, "Oh you don't need to know what the Ford Corporation is. You can't assume people have heard of Kentucky Fried Chicken."

I had to go. I just... I just can't wait 4 days with that. Not during the summer. Not for $102/day.

David Sedaris almost killed me on a drive to Mansfield one time. Me Talk Pretty One Day should have a warning label on it.

Me, too. I almost drove off the road when he was explaining how the combination of crystal meth and performance art could destroy the world.

I've found I can listen to something I haven't read before if it's the right kind of thing. Historical nonfiction and moderately fluffy mysteries work.

Ugh. Dana. That blows.