Tales from the DPS

First of all, for those who read my blog only for my running updates, I'm sorry I haven't been talking about running as much. I'm still out there, but it's nothing interesting and my speed is decreasing due to the heat - so frankly, I'm lucky I'm out there at all.

Monday: I only did the Kenyan Way. Sean decided to attempt to kill us Monday, for we had to run up the steepest hill I've ever seen - it's on Memorial and Waugh, right where those huge pink flowery trees are - we had to run up and down, up and down. It's a hill I would normally avoid even walking up. But no, we had to run up it. Needless to say, most of us refused to do anymore running after we went up the hill - we walked the long way down and around and ran only up the hill. On the positive side, I did manage to run an 11:25 minute mile warm-up, which is the fastest I've gone since the heat index has risen to "deadly."

Tuesday: 3 in the morning, 4 in the evening, both around Rice. Both were slightly miserable. Fastest mile was in the evening, mile 2, which was 12:30. And then it just went downhill.

Today: Only Kenyan. I'll talk more about that later.

Today, I actually had things to do. The most important thing was to get my driver's license renewed. It doesn't expire until next month, but I'll be in NY over my birthday and need to be able to board the plane back to Houston (and I doubt they'd let me do that with an expired license). So, I went to the DPS, luckily having the foresight to bring a book with me.

I get there, and, after avoiding a petition tent in the parking lot ("Hey, ma'am, would you like to join the petition of Women Against Bush" I was asked. I had to admit that I voted for Bush was quite surprised nothing was thrown at me) I went inside. The line is obscenely long and filled with a bunch of people who don't speak a word of English. But I stand in it. And when I get to the front, I notice a sign saying that the only methods of payment they'll accept is cash, check, and money order - no credit/debit cards. Damnmit, that's all I had with me. So yes, I had to leave. I went home (not too far away), grabbed my checkbook and went back. When I got back, the line was even longer. Much longer - out the door long. Damn.

So I waited my turn (30 minutes later, I get to the front). The guy behind me was standing too close for my comfort (he was invading my bubble) and I could feel his breath on my arm. I kept trying to gain some inches between us, but he was oblivious to my discomfort and continued to get as close to me as he could - I guess to avoid any line-cutting by others. But he kept breathing on me! Yuck! And I noticed that everyone was close to each other. Man, I hope noone had a contagious disease, otherwise we'll all get sick soon.

Finally, I get a number and proceed to wait another 30 minutes for my number to be called. And I noticed that all of the numbers were being called in English AND Spanish. I don't know about many of you, but I am not too thrilled with non-English speaking people getting drivers' licenses in America. Don't think me prejudiced, but I personally would not even THINK about getting a license in, say, France without learning French. If I can't read/translate the signs, I'd be freaked out!

Now that my number has been called, the most bothersome part of the trip comes straight to my face - the eye exam. I have forever been afraid of the eye exam because my left eye is underdeveloped (in terms of sight) and I don't want my driver's license to say that I must wear corrective lenses while driving. I guess I think of failing the eye exam as a sort of failure of me as a person. I am not ready to accept my failing eyesight. But I get up there and must admit (especially since my glasses are pushed back on top of my head to hold back my hair as a headband) that I need glasses for reading. She tells me to go ahead, sans glasses, and stick my face up to the eye screen and read the tiny numbers. Deep breath. Ok. There's the small line. Ok, I glance at it with both eyes for a second. Then I close my right eye. Hell, now I really can't see the line. I open both eyes and read the first third of the line. I'm not too confident. Then I close my left eye and read the rest of the line flawlessly. Well, I guess it was good enough because she said so and I didn't need to put on my glasses for a retest. Score! I'm good for another 4-6 years (I'll know when my license gets in the mail - in Texas our licenses are not given straight to us, they are mailed 2-3 weeks later).

Hell, I might just renew online next time. But my picture doesn't look a thing like me and I'm tired of people/bouncers/security showing skepticism when looking at my license and then at my face.

Cheers!