One Task Accomplished

My first full day back in Ohio...

Even though Mexico City is two hours behind Ohio's time zone, I was up at dawn at 6:00 AM (4 AM Mexico City time).

A beautiful view of the parking lot from my hotel window

The forecast called for a hot day (high temperature of over 90 F) and hazy sunshine.  There was an air quality advisory due to smoke drifting south from the wildfires in Canada.

I had breakfast at the hotel... nothing special but included in the price of the room.  I then got into my rental car and drove to the nearest Bureau of Motor Vehicles, arriving shortly after it opened at 8:00 AM.  There were already a number of people there, but my number was called in a matter of moments.  I explained my situation to the young lady who waited on me... that I am now living in Mexico, but that I still pay Ohio income taxes and that I am still a registered Ohio voter.  And I want to renew my Ohio license which will expire later this summer.  I do not drive in Mexico City, and have no desire for a license there.  However I need a valid license to be able to rent a car when I visit Ohio.  It was probably a situation that she had not encountered before, but she conferred with another employee, and, yes, I could renew it.

Four years ago, the last time I renewed my license, you waited at the bureau, and they gave you the new license then and there.  Now, the state of Ohio, in its infinite wisdom, sends the license to you in the mail.  I certainly did not want the license sent to my address in Mexico.  I would literally take months for it to arrive if it did not get completely lost in the web of the Mexican postal service.  So, I gave them the address of one of my friends in Ohio.  Everyone that I have spoken to says that their license arrived in nine or ten days, even though the Bureau says officially that it takes longer.  I am hoping that it arrives at my friend's house within the two weeks that I am in Ohio.

When last I renewed my license, I got the new version that serves as "Real ID".  Ohio still offers the old type of license as well as "Real ID".  From what I read on the internet, it sounded as if you needed all the documentation for renewal of the "Real ID" that was necessary the first time around.  Well, if I could only get the "old fashioned" driver's license that was OK since I have a passport to serve as my identification.  However, the lady said that my current license was all I needed to show.  After she filled out the form, she gave me the vision test and took my photo.

I was out of the office in less than a half hour.  My first task, one of the major purposes of this trip, was accomplished smoothly and quickly.