Otter got her learner's permit this afternoon. She only missed one question on the written test, and then we had to take her paperwork to a tag agency to get the actual license. The tag agencies are the state licensed agencies where you register your car title and renew/get your driver's license or id card. Otter is now officially licensed and she is happy about it! In 6 months, she can get her regular license. We could have waited until after the driving portion of the lessons, but in order to be able to teach her ourselves as well she needed to have her permit. It looks just like a license, but it does have two spots on it that aren't on the regular license. Both have to do with her age, one has "over 21 on (date)" and the other one has "over 18 on (date)" and are so that she can't buy liquor or cigarettes. Not that she would, but the state law requires that wording on the licences. I guess that the state thinks the clerks can't figure out the math to determine age without having the answer right in front of them! And they might be right...
Anyway, I called my car insurance company and they said that with the learner's permit she will still be covered on our current insurance policy. But when she gets her actual license then we'll need to add her on. That's when the $$ will change. And it won't be cheap. It's cheaper for girls than boys, but it's still going to be a steep increase. But it will be a necessary one.
Most tag agencies are also authorized to issue a PikePass, which is a small box with electronic stuff inside it that will be read by the electronic meters on the turnpike. It attaches to the windshield of the vehicle. There is a discount on the turnpike cost if you have a PikePass and I've had one for years. Bill finally decided to get one himself. There are quite a few turnpikes in this state and the one close to us really does save a lot of time. It means that we miss several miles of stop & start traffic, lights and intersection. Bill has always resisted, he said he didn't want to pay to go to work. But with gas costs, and the atrocious mileage his van gets, it will be cheaper for him to use a PikePass and not spend a lot of gas waiting at intersections. So I added him on to my account while we were at the tag agency, but he needs a special model that they didn't have in stock. It will be mailed out, we should get it in a few days. The van windows are slanted quite a bit, and the regular boxes don't read right so he has to wait a few days before he can start using the turnpike without having to pay cash.
Ok, Froggy figured it out. My good day at work question dealing with catching up with Bill: I got a HUGE raise yesterday. Bill's comment was that I was about to catch up with him on an hourly wage basis. I'm part time but I am probably making more than I ever did when I worked full-time anywhere. I have it good there and I know it. One of Froggy's other guesses was that I'd finally finished my quilt but that isn't going to happen anytime soon!
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