This is some bullshit.
So I wasn't allowed to take the first license test yesterday -- and no, it wasn't because of the form thing, they had plenty of forms there. This is why:
In order for you to get the ball rolling on getting your license, the state requires that you bring, among other things, something called a CS-1 certificate that proves you completed at least 8 hours of classes at an accredited driving school (which cost at least $125, in addition to the $40 to take the test and the $66-$77 to actually get your license). This means that it doesn't matter how old you are, or if you already have a license from another state/country; if you're getting a new license in Connecticut, you have to take driving classes. I'm sure this is a fairly new rule, even if it's been around a couple of years, because I only first heard about it a couple of days ago. So OK, a bit of a hassle, but I'll admit I see why there's such a rule in place.
Back in 2007, I took driving lessons (30 hours in the classroom, 8 hours on the road) that were being offered through my high school, even though it was a private company that was actually running the program. Not long after I finished the program, it was revealed that the company was involved in, shall we say, quite a bit of questionable business practices, the not handing out of CS-1 certificates being the absolute least of them. Long story short, the company got shut down, the owners got ran out of the state, and the whole thing was just a big mess.
Fast forward to yesterday. After spending two hours in line at the DMV (mostly my mom's fault since we didn't go first thing in the morning, even though my sister had an orthodontist appointment early in the morning, so IDK), we were told we had everything we needed -- except for the CS-1. The certificate of completion we brought with us, which we thought was the CS-1, didn't do any good. We were given a number to call to see if we could obtain a CS-1; when we got home, it turned out that number was for another DMV division, and we could only get the answering machine. We called numerous times that afternoon, but we still kept getting the answering machine, which meant that either the office was closed for vacation, or they couldn't (be bothered to) help us. We then called the driving school that replaced the old one, and we were told that they didn't keep records from before 2008, which meant that the 38 hours I spent taking classes might as well never have happened.
The only option left is for me to take driving classes. Again.
The (potentially) good news out of all of this is that I can take the bare minimum of 8 hours of classes to get the CS-1. The driving school we called is offering two four-hour classes this Saturday and the following Saturday in a nearby town, which will fulfill the minimum. Which. Is going. To suck. I seriously don't know what I'll do with myself in that amount of time. But at this point, for us to do anything, it needs to be done. The best case scenario is this: I take the classes, I get the CS-1 (hopefully sooner rather than later, though I can always ask), I go to the DMV first thing in the morning one day, I give them everything they need, I pass the first part of the test, and I wait until next summer (or perhaps even April vacation) to take the on-the-road test. If I pass the knowledge test (i.e. getting 20 out of 25 questions right), those results are good for two years, so I can get away with it. Hopefully, that should work out.
I know I'm spending way too much time over something as relatively trivial as this, but this whole situation has been just that irritating, and there's nothing anyone can do at this point to make things better. I could blame the old driving school for putting us in such a situation, I could blame the DMV for having such a rule in place, I could blame my parents for waiting too long to get started on actually doing this (because they were "too busy" or too lazy or "forgot" or some shit like that) and being totally incompetent at doing the necessary research, I could blame myself for not pushing my parents hard enough to help me because I needed their help and I couldn't do it without them, I could blame the ~*~bureaucracy~*~ because that's just the satisfying if cliché thing to do, etc. etc. etc. But pointing fingers isn't going to do anything any good. The only good thing for me to do today is relax, watch all the things I've been meaning to watch, prepare myself mentally for tomorrow (advice, anyone?), and try to forget this whole thing ever happened.
And because I'm talking about RL stuff, I might as well mention this: the iPod Touch and new printer laptop came in today. I couldn't convince my parents that I didn't need them; they're convinced that I can find a use for the printer (which is smaller than the one I had, and is wireless), and they agree with me in that I could probably sell the iPod for extra cash if need be. The laptop printer itself isn't supposed to come in until early next week; after that pretty soon, I'm gonna have to start deleting and moving stuff off the old one so I can give it to my sister. If you see a lot of linkdumps within the next couple of days, that's pretty much why. The only other good thing to mention is that my family and I plan on going to Mystic for its outdoor art show on Sunday, which I talked about here when I went last year. Hopefully that should be fun!
But yeah, between this, work, not getting enough sleep, and not commenting on people's entries like I'd like to (I plan on getting better at that soon, seriously), this has been, and still is, the Shittiest Week Ever, and I just hope next week is better. -_-;
In order for you to get the ball rolling on getting your license, the state requires that you bring, among other things, something called a CS-1 certificate that proves you completed at least 8 hours of classes at an accredited driving school (which cost at least $125, in addition to the $40 to take the test and the $66-$77 to actually get your license). This means that it doesn't matter how old you are, or if you already have a license from another state/country; if you're getting a new license in Connecticut, you have to take driving classes. I'm sure this is a fairly new rule, even if it's been around a couple of years, because I only first heard about it a couple of days ago. So OK, a bit of a hassle, but I'll admit I see why there's such a rule in place.
Back in 2007, I took driving lessons (30 hours in the classroom, 8 hours on the road) that were being offered through my high school, even though it was a private company that was actually running the program. Not long after I finished the program, it was revealed that the company was involved in, shall we say, quite a bit of questionable business practices, the not handing out of CS-1 certificates being the absolute least of them. Long story short, the company got shut down, the owners got ran out of the state, and the whole thing was just a big mess.
Fast forward to yesterday. After spending two hours in line at the DMV (mostly my mom's fault since we didn't go first thing in the morning, even though my sister had an orthodontist appointment early in the morning, so IDK), we were told we had everything we needed -- except for the CS-1. The certificate of completion we brought with us, which we thought was the CS-1, didn't do any good. We were given a number to call to see if we could obtain a CS-1; when we got home, it turned out that number was for another DMV division, and we could only get the answering machine. We called numerous times that afternoon, but we still kept getting the answering machine, which meant that either the office was closed for vacation, or they couldn't (be bothered to) help us. We then called the driving school that replaced the old one, and we were told that they didn't keep records from before 2008, which meant that the 38 hours I spent taking classes might as well never have happened.
The only option left is for me to take driving classes. Again.
The (potentially) good news out of all of this is that I can take the bare minimum of 8 hours of classes to get the CS-1. The driving school we called is offering two four-hour classes this Saturday and the following Saturday in a nearby town, which will fulfill the minimum. Which. Is going. To suck. I seriously don't know what I'll do with myself in that amount of time. But at this point, for us to do anything, it needs to be done. The best case scenario is this: I take the classes, I get the CS-1 (hopefully sooner rather than later, though I can always ask), I go to the DMV first thing in the morning one day, I give them everything they need, I pass the first part of the test, and I wait until next summer (or perhaps even April vacation) to take the on-the-road test. If I pass the knowledge test (i.e. getting 20 out of 25 questions right), those results are good for two years, so I can get away with it. Hopefully, that should work out.
I know I'm spending way too much time over something as relatively trivial as this, but this whole situation has been just that irritating, and there's nothing anyone can do at this point to make things better. I could blame the old driving school for putting us in such a situation, I could blame the DMV for having such a rule in place, I could blame my parents for waiting too long to get started on actually doing this (because they were "too busy" or too lazy or "forgot" or some shit like that) and being totally incompetent at doing the necessary research, I could blame myself for not pushing my parents hard enough to help me because I needed their help and I couldn't do it without them, I could blame the ~*~bureaucracy~*~ because that's just the satisfying if cliché thing to do, etc. etc. etc. But pointing fingers isn't going to do anything any good. The only good thing for me to do today is relax, watch all the things I've been meaning to watch, prepare myself mentally for tomorrow (advice, anyone?), and try to forget this whole thing ever happened.
And because I'm talking about RL stuff, I might as well mention this: the iPod Touch and new printer laptop came in today. I couldn't convince my parents that I didn't need them; they're convinced that I can find a use for the printer (which is smaller than the one I had, and is wireless), and they agree with me in that I could probably sell the iPod for extra cash if need be. The laptop printer itself isn't supposed to come in until early next week; after that pretty soon, I'm gonna have to start deleting and moving stuff off the old one so I can give it to my sister. If you see a lot of linkdumps within the next couple of days, that's pretty much why. The only other good thing to mention is that my family and I plan on going to Mystic for its outdoor art show on Sunday, which I talked about here when I went last year. Hopefully that should be fun!
But yeah, between this, work, not getting enough sleep, and not commenting on people's entries like I'd like to (I plan on getting better at that soon, seriously), this has been, and still is, the Shittiest Week Ever, and I just hope next week is better. -_-;