welcome to hell



On February 28, I received a California DMV driver's license renewal form in the mail. It says I have to personally report to a local DMV office and, among other things (like paying $33), take a vision test. OK, I can do all that. The form also says that I can schedule an appointment online, to "speed up the process". Great! I will do that and save time and avoid "taking a number" and sitting at a crowded DMV office for hours waiting for them to call my name and process me.

I went online to the DMV website the next day, March 1, and, after some confusion (what do you expect, it's the government) I found out how to schedule an appointment. So far so good. This is going to be easy. And convenient. Boy, was I wrong!

The first appointment that was available was for April 24, nearly 2 months away! Two months? I have to wait 2 months to renew my driver's license? WHY does it take taxpaying legal residents 2 months to get an appointment with the State of California Department of Motor vehicles, to simply renew their driver's license? Oh, maybe it's because illegal immigrants can now get LEGAL driver's licenses in California ... and there are MILLIONS of illegal immigrants in California. Could it be that THEY (illegal immigrants) are jamming up the DMV appointment process, causing ME to have to wait 2 months for an appointment?

It gets worse. The expiration date on my current driver's license is May 6. If I go to the appointment on April 24, I may not receive my renewed license before my old one expires. Thus, if, while driving during that expired period, for some reason I get pulled over by the cops I will get arrested for driving with an expired license! Or, as an alternative, until I receive my renewed driver's license, I won't be able to legally drive at all.

So, it looks like I will have to go the DMV office in person, without an appointment, and waste hours of my valuable time, or a whole day, waiting to get my driver's license renewed. And spend $33 doing it. As a legal, taxpaying resident of California, am I thrilled with the stupid government of the State of California and it's inefficient slow-as-molasses stupid government-run DMV? What do YOU think?

I have one thing to say to the California DMV. FIX THE PROBLEM!