You guys all know how much I really love going over to the Kansas DMV, right? We moved to Kansas in 2006, and their drivers licenses are issued for 6 years if you are under 65 and over 21...
So, six years and 2006 equals 2012!! Yep my DL is up in a month or so... So I called a couple of days ago wanting to know how long before my expiration date I could go renew... The answer surprised me.... Up to a year before....
So sometime in the year before it expires, you have to make a little time and go get it renewed.... That seems doable.... And if you don't, there is a big fine and you get to take the tests over again... Both written and driving for both the car and the motorcycle.... Two writtens and two driving. On different days, at least for the driving part...
Oh, and not also reflecting that once my birthday has passed, I will be 65, and that changes the length of the new license to 4 years..... Not 6... Well how much encouragement does one need?
Now couple that with the fact that they don't actually make the plastic card at the DL exam stations but rather mail it from Topeka several weeks later and now we really have motivation...
So I stalled around with other stuff until mid afternoon, but finally jumped on the bike and drove over to the Great Mall in Olathe... I call it the Great Morgue... Literally no one goes there.. Not a soul!! But the DL office is in a otherwise vacant business space.... Gotta love Kansas, if it is cheap, they'll rent it..!
The place was about 50% full, with folks sitting on chairs waiting for their numbers to be called.... Its the exact same computer system that is in the car tag office, but that is several miles away... Why wouldn't they be in the same location?
Anyway the lady at the first desk looked at my old license and the registration to my bike as a second form of address verification and deemed that I was capable of a renewal.. Seems as though there were twelve folks in front of me...
Of course it is never that simple as that was just the numbered tickets that were outstanding, and folks that called or put in their cell phone numbers were also ahead of me. But they had 9 lines open, so I began to count how far I was really back in line.... Just for fun, you know.... Something to help me pass the time...... Remember I am an accountant..... Anal ?
Well I lost count somewhere around 35 folks, but that wasn't the fun part... At about 4PM a whole drove of folks seemed to arrive all at once... Off from work, or out of school, or they unloaded a bus or something......
Some didn't believe the number of folks now ahead of them in line and just left in bewilderment... Such fun on a Friday afternoon.. And I only have that opinion because I just happened to arrive during the low point of the afternoon...
And in just a few more moments I had my ticket number called and I was in business up at the window.... Of course you had to pass the vision test and show your proof of residence get a new picture taken and pay the fee...
And the fee was as if you had two licenses.. The car license was $18 and the motorcycle was $12.50.... But then you have to have your picture taken for the license and that is $8 but by then it was so high priced it exceeded the cash I had in my pocket.... So I needed to charge it on plastic, and that cost another 2.5% which I was told was exactly what the credit card company was charging the state and they had to pass it along.... another 96 cents.... Are you keeping score here? $39.46... for a drivers license...
Along with the receipt and a temporary paper license, I got the following little notice.....
The temporary receipt issued today will serve as your (Driver License) (Permit) or ID card until your permanent copy is mailed to you at the address you provided. The temporary receipt is valid for up to sixty (60) days, however your permanent license should arrive within seven to forty five business days...Uh, if I am out of state, the highway patrol won't accept paper licenses, so I protested to get my plastic license back, since it is still valid until two months from now. All of which I said to the lady...
CAUTION, TEMPORARY LICENSES, PERMITS AND ID'S ARE LIGHT, HEAT AND WATER SENSITIVE. ANY ATTEMPT TO COPY OR LAMINATE THESE WILL DESTROY THEM. A REPLACEMENT OF THE TEMPORARY WILL COST $16.00.. ID $12.00
All information provided with your application will be verified before your permanent documet is sent to you by mail. If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please contact 1 785 296 xxxx.
She asked if I was really going to leave Kansas...? Remember we live right on the state line and Kansas City is in both states... So I told her that I was leaving Kansas in the morning...... And she reluctantly handed me the old license back....
Why would I want to drive around on a paper license that wouldn't let me leave the state of Kansas?????? One that will self destruct!
We have some weird ways of doing things out here on the plains, and all of them seem to cost us more money........
Retired Rod
I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen when we move back to Canada, since my now Austrian driver's license DOESN'T expire. Ever. It's a little mind boggling I know.
ReplyDeleteYou're $40 (let's call it that) is cheaper than ours in Ontario. It's something like $75 and includes a photo taken on the spot. You do get your license back though, with some sort of paper saying your new one in "in the mail". Usually takes a couple weeks. I've never experienced the line up like you did though. Maybe I've been lucky so far.
At least you got it over with.
I thought Maryland had the market cornered on how to "nickel and dime" you to death, but I think Kansas beats them ! One of our recent campaigns made a big deal of telling us that "fees are taxes"and that that candidate didn't raise any fees while in office. Once elected, suddenly our registration and license fees (taxes) skyrocketed. At least the picture is included at no extra charge and you walk out with you plastic license immediately !
ReplyDeleteCan'y believe they charge you for a motorcycle license, here in MO we just have an endorsement added when we pass the test, my CDL has a ton of them on it. Now they due charge extra for the Haz Mat test, but the rest are free.Hey think about a meet up in Columbia for the dinner train before you guys leave. let us know. Be safe out there. San & Donna..
ReplyDeleteOne driver's license here in Ontario is $75 for 5 years so count your lucky stars!
ReplyDeleteYes I understand that everything is about double in Canada, but Canadians seem to have more money than we do down here in the states.... At least it seems that way....
DeleteActually, Rod, it's pretty easy because when we run out of money, we just start using Monopoly Money.
DeleteI guess I'm lucky living here in B.C. because as a senior citizen (65+), I only had to pay $17 for a 5 year licence instead of the normal $75.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of places refusing to accept credit cards because of the 2-2.5% charge they incur, but Kansas is the first place I've heard of that adds it to your bill. That's pretty aggressive!
I'm just sorry now that we'll have to wait so many more years to hear about your next visit to this house of horrors!! It's always an entertaining read.
Our DL's as well as our Passports are five year deals here in Alberta. You get a paper temporary for the DL but when you apply for a new passport they take your old one away so you are grounded for a few weeks till the new one gets back. They tell me next time we need to renew our passports they will last for 10 years.
ReplyDeleteWe have yet to need to renew our DL's in South Dakota. So I have no idea how that experience will go. MT was a piece of cake. Glad you got one more thing over with. When does Loyce have to go through this ordeal?
ReplyDeleteLoyce is due next year, so she can go after her birthday this fall.... But we won't be here to get it in the mail... And they will take her old one away.... So she won't go over until we get back in the spring..
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