The process required to snag your POV back from the government once it arrives is quite simple, three little steps as a matter of fact. The soldiers arriving here are taken through the "welcome to a different way of life" course and shown the ropes and in-processed. During this in-processing, it is explained to them that they must obtain a new driver license over here because the rules are different and it IS part of the steps allowed for during in-processing. Guess who didn't take that step? So I arrived here fully three weeks after Rob, got myself and Felix in-processed in roughly a week (minus the part that Rob was required for, of course!) and then discovered that our vehicle had arrived ahead of schedule. I asked Rob (in a ridiculously excited way, no less) to find out what was required for us to get the car so that we could get on the ball about it. Five days passed, no info from Rob. On Tuesday morning, I happen to be on post in the transportation office trying to find my household goods (now that's an adventure for you!) and while I was there, I asked where the driving info could be found. Turns out that information was right down the hall, so I went and asked my questions: how do I get the license and how do I get my car? The answer: take the class (given Wednesdays and Fridays at 1400) then take the test (administered daily at 0900 - don't forget to PASS) and you'll have your license. Take your license and insurance with 20 American dollars and 5 euros to get your car registered and you're done. Simple, right? oh.my.freaking.geez. Not so much.
The first problem was that I made an error: I switched the days in my head and believed that the class was on Tuesdays and Thursdays at which point I figured it would be perfect, I could take the class Thursday afternoon and the test Friday morning, then go register the car Friday afternoon and all would be well in our world. Whoops. On Wednesday I happened to be up there again and since I couldn't find my sticky note with the dates and times, I went to the office to verify and they set me straight. Crap. I already needed to ask a neighbor to watch Felix after school for this, the last thing I needed was to tell her the wrong day!
The second issue was, of course, finding someone to take care of Felix because the class would prevent me from picking him up from the bus stop. That problem was relatively easily fixed by a chat with my neighbor, plus two bus rides and a longish walk. A major plus? The longish walk didn't take anywhere near as long as waiting for that silly transport bus does! The school requires that anyone authorized to pick up students from the bus be listed on a card attached to the backpack and IDs are checked prior to releasing students to caregivers. This means I have to go up to the school and get the card made and make sure my neighbor knows to bring her ID with her and what time to be there.
Third hitch: proof of insurance. I know this doesn't seem like something spectacularly difficult to get, but it kinda is when you're on bus/bike/foot and have very limited time to accomplish greatness in a day. The first step is to get temporary proof of insurance because the actual insurance cards cannot be issued without the tag numbers but the tags are not yours without insurance. Catch 22 right? So, I get the temporary insurance statement emailed to me, but I refuse to jinx myself by printing it out until after I've passed the test - I'm superstitious that way and I'm fine with it!
Friday comes and I take the class, then come home determined to study like crazy to make sure I don't fail. Rob's supposed to help me study because he needs to learn this stuff too so he can get a license. No studying Saturday. Light studying Sunday right before he leaves. Then Felix quizzes me until I know it all backwards and forwards. Love that kid!!
Monday morning I get Felix on his bus and run up to my bus stop arriving five minutes early, which means I have about a 15 minute wait. I study some more. I get on post at about 0820 and I have time to kill, so I check the mailbox on the way... I sign in for the test at 0835 then sit down to wait and continue studying. Those signs are absolutely spectacular. The entire testing group is signed in by 0855 and the test is finally handed out at 0935. Really? Seriously... they were making noise about computer issues, but the test was taken and graded manually, so I don't know what the computers had to do with us starting the test 35 minutes late. Anyhow, we had an hour but were told that most of us would be done well ahead of that and not to over think it. They were right, I finished in about 40 minutes and turned it in terrified that it was gonna come back with a bunch of red marks all over it. I probably only waited ten minutes (a few others finished before me) but it pretty much felt like forever. I went back into the testing room to occupy the baby who had decided to start fussing so her mom could finish taking the test. When I walked back in, two people had failed, one was being handed a license and my test was being graded. I only saw her mark one wrong, but I don't know if that was the only one I missed... what I do know is that she looked across the room at the lady who was making the licenses and said "Bueno, pass" and I said "oh thank God!". Glad I could give the room a giggle! So I was handed my license and I went downstairs to print the temporary proof of insurance. Since the test had started late, I knew I was going to have time issues getting to the car thing, so I rushed out to the bus stop and then texted Rob to tell him I passed. Pretty much everything here closes for two hours around lunch time, generally from 1100 - 1300 give or take an hour on either side, so I went home and put away the mail, started a load of laundry and finally walked up the road to the registration office.
Here comes the fourth major issue: I don't have a POA for my own car. You know, the one I own jointly with my husband and therefore should not need his permission to register here? Yeah, that one. Well, I didn't take into consideration that the sponsor is in control of 100% of everything and the spouse/dependents are non-entities (silly me, what was I thinking?!) so I was informed that while I could obtain the license plate numbers required to get the actual insurance card, I would not be able to register the car without him present or a POA in hand. Great, because it's just soooo easy for me to convince him that finishing the in-processing of myself and Felix will prevent him from having to take time off from work frequently.... (yes, extreme sarcasm should be noted here). So I get the license plate numbers and the phone number for USAA's London office, then I start walking back fast because it's almost time for Felix's bus to arrive. While I'm walking, I call USAA and set up for the insurance card to be overnighted to the car dealership immediately off post where every soldier has to have the insurance card sent. I am told it will arrive by 1030 on Tuesday morning. Now all I have to do is convince Rob to get time off to come with me to do the car stuff.
The first problem was that I made an error: I switched the days in my head and believed that the class was on Tuesdays and Thursdays at which point I figured it would be perfect, I could take the class Thursday afternoon and the test Friday morning, then go register the car Friday afternoon and all would be well in our world. Whoops. On Wednesday I happened to be up there again and since I couldn't find my sticky note with the dates and times, I went to the office to verify and they set me straight. Crap. I already needed to ask a neighbor to watch Felix after school for this, the last thing I needed was to tell her the wrong day!
The second issue was, of course, finding someone to take care of Felix because the class would prevent me from picking him up from the bus stop. That problem was relatively easily fixed by a chat with my neighbor, plus two bus rides and a longish walk. A major plus? The longish walk didn't take anywhere near as long as waiting for that silly transport bus does! The school requires that anyone authorized to pick up students from the bus be listed on a card attached to the backpack and IDs are checked prior to releasing students to caregivers. This means I have to go up to the school and get the card made and make sure my neighbor knows to bring her ID with her and what time to be there.
Third hitch: proof of insurance. I know this doesn't seem like something spectacularly difficult to get, but it kinda is when you're on bus/bike/foot and have very limited time to accomplish greatness in a day. The first step is to get temporary proof of insurance because the actual insurance cards cannot be issued without the tag numbers but the tags are not yours without insurance. Catch 22 right? So, I get the temporary insurance statement emailed to me, but I refuse to jinx myself by printing it out until after I've passed the test - I'm superstitious that way and I'm fine with it!
Friday comes and I take the class, then come home determined to study like crazy to make sure I don't fail. Rob's supposed to help me study because he needs to learn this stuff too so he can get a license. No studying Saturday. Light studying Sunday right before he leaves. Then Felix quizzes me until I know it all backwards and forwards. Love that kid!!
Monday morning I get Felix on his bus and run up to my bus stop arriving five minutes early, which means I have about a 15 minute wait. I study some more. I get on post at about 0820 and I have time to kill, so I check the mailbox on the way... I sign in for the test at 0835 then sit down to wait and continue studying. Those signs are absolutely spectacular. The entire testing group is signed in by 0855 and the test is finally handed out at 0935. Really? Seriously... they were making noise about computer issues, but the test was taken and graded manually, so I don't know what the computers had to do with us starting the test 35 minutes late. Anyhow, we had an hour but were told that most of us would be done well ahead of that and not to over think it. They were right, I finished in about 40 minutes and turned it in terrified that it was gonna come back with a bunch of red marks all over it. I probably only waited ten minutes (a few others finished before me) but it pretty much felt like forever. I went back into the testing room to occupy the baby who had decided to start fussing so her mom could finish taking the test. When I walked back in, two people had failed, one was being handed a license and my test was being graded. I only saw her mark one wrong, but I don't know if that was the only one I missed... what I do know is that she looked across the room at the lady who was making the licenses and said "Bueno, pass" and I said "oh thank God!". Glad I could give the room a giggle! So I was handed my license and I went downstairs to print the temporary proof of insurance. Since the test had started late, I knew I was going to have time issues getting to the car thing, so I rushed out to the bus stop and then texted Rob to tell him I passed. Pretty much everything here closes for two hours around lunch time, generally from 1100 - 1300 give or take an hour on either side, so I went home and put away the mail, started a load of laundry and finally walked up the road to the registration office.
Here comes the fourth major issue: I don't have a POA for my own car. You know, the one I own jointly with my husband and therefore should not need his permission to register here? Yeah, that one. Well, I didn't take into consideration that the sponsor is in control of 100% of everything and the spouse/dependents are non-entities (silly me, what was I thinking?!) so I was informed that while I could obtain the license plate numbers required to get the actual insurance card, I would not be able to register the car without him present or a POA in hand. Great, because it's just soooo easy for me to convince him that finishing the in-processing of myself and Felix will prevent him from having to take time off from work frequently.... (yes, extreme sarcasm should be noted here). So I get the license plate numbers and the phone number for USAA's London office, then I start walking back fast because it's almost time for Felix's bus to arrive. While I'm walking, I call USAA and set up for the insurance card to be overnighted to the car dealership immediately off post where every soldier has to have the insurance card sent. I am told it will arrive by 1030 on Tuesday morning. Now all I have to do is convince Rob to get time off to come with me to do the car stuff.
Tuesday morning arrives and once again I'm rushing from Felix's bus stop to my own. This time Felix's bus is late and mine is early, so I have to sit and wait for the next one. No big deal, we can't get the car stuff for a couple hours anyway. I get to post and link up with Rob, who needs a bus pass. We head out to the store where he can get the pass and stumble upon a bar along the way... we stop in so he can have a beer and I can take pics.
When he finishes his beer, we head on to the bus stop and make our way out to the registration office. At this point, I need to remind everyone that Rob hates walking places with me because I'm short and have a hard time keeping up with him. The walk from the bus stop is approximately 3/4 of a mile, so no big deal, but poor Rob's gotta walk slow for me (and I don't walk slowly... I'm just not 6 feet tall!!) and randomly my purse gets snagged on my the button of my back pocket so he has to rescue me from that as well. I swear, these things NEVER happen when he's not around, but as soon as he is a bunch of stupid stuff happens just to create irritation, I'm sure of it!! We finally arrive at the registration office and get started on the paperwork (sign this, dot that, cross the other... triplicate please) and after awhile, most of which is spent with me filling out forms and him texting people at work, our mission is accomplished: we have tags! At this point, we are informed that we will not be able to get our fuel vouchers until the car has passed inspection... on post. Before we can go on post, however we have to go do the cursory inspection and install the plates and the insurance card so we're legal to drive it to post to get it inspected. Slightly more time consumed. Finally, the car is legally driveable and we head up to post. As we're getting to the all-important bridge, I realize that I don't know how to get to the drive-in gate because I've always taken the pedestrian gate. Good thing I've got Rob and he's actually been through the other gates!! As soon as we get on post, he ditches me to go back to work even though he's got the whole day off to take care of the car situation. I get in line to have the car inspected and pray that this won't require a POA also. Thankfully, it doesn't and 45 minutes later (I was 4th in line) I was ready to go back to the registration office with the passed inspection notice so we could get permission to go back on post and buy fuel vouchers at the PX... and that's exactly how it happened, except that we had to stop in between getting permission to buy vouchers and actually buying them to pick Felix up from the bus. All of this driving was done on fumes essentially, since we're not allowed to ship a vehicle with more than 1/4 tank of gas in it. It's a very good thing that we only had to drive about 15 miles total. Yes, I just opened Google Earth and used the ruler tool to trace the exact route we took in the car that day... I find it quite amusing!
We parted ways after purchasing the fuel vouchers and I was just tired enough that I decided not to try to figure out how to use them until the morning. Wednesdays everything's open normal hours, so I wouldn't be having issues with times, just figuring out the vouchers.
All is well now... we have a car, which means that Rob can finally move in with us and I can finally go massive grocery shopping. Appropriate that Rob and food are linked like that...
"Fosters, Australian for Beer"
Whore house price sign from the 1930s
When he finishes his beer, we head on to the bus stop and make our way out to the registration office. At this point, I need to remind everyone that Rob hates walking places with me because I'm short and have a hard time keeping up with him. The walk from the bus stop is approximately 3/4 of a mile, so no big deal, but poor Rob's gotta walk slow for me (and I don't walk slowly... I'm just not 6 feet tall!!) and randomly my purse gets snagged on my the button of my back pocket so he has to rescue me from that as well. I swear, these things NEVER happen when he's not around, but as soon as he is a bunch of stupid stuff happens just to create irritation, I'm sure of it!! We finally arrive at the registration office and get started on the paperwork (sign this, dot that, cross the other... triplicate please) and after awhile, most of which is spent with me filling out forms and him texting people at work, our mission is accomplished: we have tags! At this point, we are informed that we will not be able to get our fuel vouchers until the car has passed inspection... on post. Before we can go on post, however we have to go do the cursory inspection and install the plates and the insurance card so we're legal to drive it to post to get it inspected. Slightly more time consumed. Finally, the car is legally driveable and we head up to post. As we're getting to the all-important bridge, I realize that I don't know how to get to the drive-in gate because I've always taken the pedestrian gate. Good thing I've got Rob and he's actually been through the other gates!! As soon as we get on post, he ditches me to go back to work even though he's got the whole day off to take care of the car situation. I get in line to have the car inspected and pray that this won't require a POA also. Thankfully, it doesn't and 45 minutes later (I was 4th in line) I was ready to go back to the registration office with the passed inspection notice so we could get permission to go back on post and buy fuel vouchers at the PX... and that's exactly how it happened, except that we had to stop in between getting permission to buy vouchers and actually buying them to pick Felix up from the bus. All of this driving was done on fumes essentially, since we're not allowed to ship a vehicle with more than 1/4 tank of gas in it. It's a very good thing that we only had to drive about 15 miles total. Yes, I just opened Google Earth and used the ruler tool to trace the exact route we took in the car that day... I find it quite amusing!
We parted ways after purchasing the fuel vouchers and I was just tired enough that I decided not to try to figure out how to use them until the morning. Wednesdays everything's open normal hours, so I wouldn't be having issues with times, just figuring out the vouchers.
All is well now... we have a car, which means that Rob can finally move in with us and I can finally go massive grocery shopping. Appropriate that Rob and food are linked like that...
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