Alas, another five years has passed!
I know this because I got notification that I had to renew my driver's license. In British Columbia, they expire on one's birthday every five years. Last week, I set an appointment online at the Metrotown Mall office. So, today, I arrived a few minutes early at the reception counter and only a few folks were ahead of me.
The place, however, was packed as it is a major office for driver testing too. I was given a number. I thought, "Oh, crap. I'm going to have to wait here." Yet my appointment was at 10:40 and at the moment that happened, my number was visible on the electronic board of numbers next served. I was out of there at 10:42 after taking off my glasses and looking in the general vicinity of a camera.
The old license was kept and I got a spiffy paper indicating that it could be used as a legal document for driving until my new plastic card arrives in the mail. That's how it's always worked. Oh yeah, I had a pleasant surprise. Because I will be considered a senior from next month's birthday, the normal cost of CA$75 dropped to a mere CA$17.
THIS AFTERNOON
Jay and I talked a little about our upcoming travel in north eastern Europe.
We are determined to try travelling a little like we did when we were young. In the 80s, it wasn't possible to book ahead on the Internet. We used to get off an airplane, go to the city center and just look for a place to stay. In many places in the world, we headed to the main train station and always found plenty of options.
Actually, we have booked a hotel for the initial part of our stay in Berlin, Germany. And we did likewise for our final nights in Riga, Latvia. Yet, the remaining twenty nights in eastern Germany, Poland, and Lithuania remain un-booked and are completely open to whim and and last-minute fancy.
Starting in a few short weeks, we'll let you know how that works out!