Today is Friday, April 4, 2025. I know, I said I might not be here, but here I am. I did not stay in Manhattan as I said I probably would because I was standing on my feet for over two damn hours at a DMV office on West 31st Street waiting to hand in my application for a Real ID. And here I supposedly had a definite appointment at 1:15, but that was all bullshit, as I certainly passed that appointed time within a half hour or so. I was allowed to come up to the office even though I was about 40 minutes early. I had to first fill out an application which I handed in and was given a ticket with a number on it: LU220 (I had this number for so long that I remembered it without any difficulty). I was quite shocked when my number was called within minutes; how did I know that this was only the first procedure of a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute ordeal where I stood on my poor feet for that long a time. I went to Counter 24 after eating on line for about 15 minutes; this was only the picture-taking line, not my actual appointment with a DMV clerk. I had to get off the line and wait until LU220 was called again. Luckily, I met a fellow traveler standing on her feet like I and we commiserated together for those two hours. Instead of having LU as her first two letters, she had LN. I believe her number was LN085. We were taking gentleman’s bets as to which number was going to be called first: hers or mine.

When my number was finally called, I hastened to Counter 16 and took my Strand bag and my folder containing all of my documents that I expected to hand in to the clerk reviewing my application. In it, I had my birth certificate, my moldering Social Security card, my passport, and two recent bills with my address on it. I still had some anxiety that these documents were not enough in order to get my Real ID approved, so I could get it before the May 7 deadline. I thought this because the woman who I was talking to in the office had more than five forms of identification – with tax documents with her as well.

However, when I saw the staff member assigned to my case, I could see that she was not one to be feared. I handed her my application, and she asked for the proofs of identification that I had with me, and she basically approved every one. She looked at my driver’s license and mentioned that it was expiring on my birthday this year. Oops, I didn’t notice that! I thought it was good for a few more years; I was wrong. I didn’t have to sweat over being denied this new form of domestic travel identification since she said everything was copacetic. I just had to pay for the darn thing, which turned out to be about $80. I thought it was less, but who am I to know these things. I mentioned to the clerk that my husband had no intention of even applying for a Real ID since he was comfortable carrying his passport around all the time. This is when I told her that is was usually I who was responsible for carrying these documents for the both of us and that I didn’t want to do this without this new form of identification because it’s just another opportunity to lose your passport. She laughed when I said this. Then I asked her how long will I have to wait for my new ID; she answered, “two weeks.”

When I got to the counter, I looked to my right and the woman whom I was talking to was at Counter 17. So she was called, surprisingly, at around the same time as I.

I think I left the office around 3:15; I felt I needed to have a bite to eat. So I ambled up 8th Avenue looking for a place to have lunch. I almost walked into the Tick Tock Diner, but their prices scared me away. So I selected a bagel joint instead, where I just had a sesame bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a coffee; that cost over $9, which wasn’t cheap either. I certainly didn’t need the strawberry cream cheese, that’s for sure.

After my little repast, I decided to walk to Midtown Comics, on West 40th Street. I walked up the stairs to the store’s second floor and browsed the establishment for something to purchase. I couldn’t find anything, so I exited the store and called Elliot to say I wanted to come home instead of going to see a play. He welcomed my decision to return home rather than wait on line at the TKTS booth to find a play to see. I decided against staying out because of all the documents that I had in my bag that I worried about losing if I had stayed out until 10 or 11.

When I got home, we left around 5:30 to take the subway to Elmhurst where we walked to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We decided against driving since there were no parking spots by the restaurant. This was only a few stops on the Queens local.

After dinner, we lounged around a little in the Queens Mall and walked through Macy’s. When we got tired, we exited the mall and took the subway home.

Instead of writing this blog, we decided to watch The Man Who Would Be King, based on the Rudyard Kipling novella from 1888. This adventure film starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine as two rogue ex-soldiers, former noncommissioned officers in the British Army, who set off from late 19-century British India in search of adventure and end up in faraway Kafiristan, where one is taken for a god and made their king. The film was directed by John Huston. We watched about an hour of the film before Elliot got up to say he was leaving for the bedroom.

That’s when I chose to write my blog. I wanted to provide my DMV story for your edification.

Tomorrow then marks a day of protest! I do hope to make it, as two of my group members stated they hope to participate. Now Elliot has indicated he might join me after the demonstration, so it’s tomorrow I might not post my blog, if we go to TKTS to see a play.

So have a good Saturday.

And so it went!