November 13, 2024
Yesterday, I drove to the county courthouse, only to discover the driver’s license was at the Alabama State Police building, eight miles away.
At the DMV, they had a kiosk to pick what you wanted to do. I selected “Transfer license from another state” and the machine spit out a ticket. I took the ticket and sat down in a plastic chair to wait.
I didn’t keep track of how long I waited.
The automated system called my number and told me to go to station six.
I handed over my paperwork and took the eye test. I am not seeing as well as I thought from my right eye. (My right eye has a cataract and had a macular hole.) I still passed!
She told me to take off my glasses and took my picture. It is a much better picture than the one I had in Florida.
She punched the word VOID into my Florida license and gave it back.
I received a printed paper license to use until the hard copy arrives in the mail.
I didn’t get the star on my license since I didn’t bring two pieces of mail with my Alabama address.
She said if I come back tomorrow, she can scan the mail in and I will get the star. I’m going back today with two pieces of mail.
With my new paper Alabama paper driver’s license, I headed back to the courthouse to get the Alabama title for the truck. That is when I found out that getting the electronic titles in Florida was a mistake. (We should have had them print out paper copies of our titles at that time.) I needed to have a paper copy of the title. The clerk looked at the paperwork I had and told me I needed the paper title. I explained we had an electronic title. Her reply was, we can’t use that. Argh!!!!!
So, I drove home and fought with the Florida site to get our titles printed and mailed to us.
First, I had to create an account. The entry form didn’t say the SSN had to have dashes. There were some other stupid things as well. It was painful figuring out what the site would take.
After a lot of swearing at the site, I finally got the entry form figured out and created an account.
I will say, once the account was created, I was able to quickly order printed copies of the titles. It was $2 for each title and almost $3 for a convenience fee.
Now, I just have to wait for the titles to arrive.
That reminds me, the clerk at the DMV said Florida would want their tags back. We will have to mail them back.
I am still married to the Florida man, though. 😄
What a hassle!
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It has been one thing after another!
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How kind of them to charge you a “convenience fee” for something so inconvenient. 🙄
What does a star on your license mean?
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It means I can use my driver’s license as an id to fly in the US. The clerk at the DMV said they (Feds) keep delaying when using the Star id will go into effect. If you have a passport, you can use it to fly.
The Star Id is a real burden on women who have married and divorced a few times. They have to show all the divorce documents and marriage documents so the name changes can traced. In some places, if you don’t have your birth certificate, you have to go there in person to get a copy. Oh the joys of modern living!
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My state is one where a physical birth certificate is required. (And yet there are thousands of people in the country who get to fly with no papers whatsoever. )🙄Some folks around me are too old to have physical birth certificates. They weren’t issued where/when they lived.
The cost and inconvenience is in large part why I will never be able to fly. Good thing I have sturdy walking boots!
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The cost for flying one person can be inexpensive, if you find the right deal. The inconvenience big at big airports and small at small airports.
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I’ll probably never leave this county, but I enjoy living vicariously through others!
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is he staying a Florida man, so you have to commute?
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It would be a serious commute! He can’t get his Alabama license until he comes back from helping his dad. That will be at least another three weeks, maybe more.
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I call all this dumb paperwork and fighting computer systems “adulting”. Not fun! It will be a relief when it is all done.
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Yes, it will be a huge relief. It has just been one thing after another. Adulting can be lots of fun, but it can also be incredibly difficult and stressful. 😩
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