h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After nearly 15 years of living here I thought it was about time I applied for a Texas state ID card, what with me not ever having had a TX driving licence. Whenever I've needed to show any photo ID (getting on a plane, attending a beer festival, that sort of thing) I've always used the green card, but some of you may remember that time I tried to use my debit card to buy a monthly bus pass and was asked for proof of identity by the woman behind the glass, whereupon I showed the green card and was told that wasn't good enough (even though it's a federally-issued document and I had to be checked out by the FBI to get it). No, what she wanted to see was a Texas driving licence, which is what most people here use for ID.

I guess she didn't get the irony of asking someone who's buying a bus pass for their driving licence

Any road up. The card arrived yesterday, so I'm officially Texan The photo's not what you'd call flattering, but it's the best you're likely to get with me

I must say a few things in praise of the people at the TX Department of Public Safety. One of the reasons I held out so long was that I'd heard tales of how you have to start queueing up at stupid o'clock in the morning if you're going to get seen that day, and how most of the people who work there are like Marge Simpson's sisters, Patty and Selma.

It couldn't be further from the truth. Not only were the people there incredibly nice, they have this thing called Get In Line Online. Following a link from the TX DOS website you get taken to a page where you enter your phone number and it tells you how long until the next available appointment.

Now, this is the only thing I didn't like about it, leastways not at first - it doesn't tell you beforehand what the waiting time is, just that 'You have 88 minutes until your appointment', but I found out later that's not so bad after all because once you're on the way, you get text alerts on your phone saying 'You have 20 minutes until your appointment', and then it gives you an option to put it back however many minutes you want to if you're running late, which I was because the people in this town don't have a clue how to use the bus

When you get there, there's a screen with the last four digits of everyone's phone number (and the ticket numbers for those who didn't use it), and the relevant wait time. It saved me more than an hour of sitting in the waiting area, *and* I was able to complete the application at home and print it out before I left

I think that's fantastic. We've come so far since that day, 40 years ago, when I had to go to the DHSS and apply for a national insurance number, all those years ago

Well, I'm glad the DPS office is easier to navigate now. I wonder how much of the improvements were put in to allay the many accusations against the Republican initiatives requiring state photo IDs for voting which they insist was just to prevent in-person voter fraud and NOT AT ALL as a means to dissuade minorities and students (predominately Dems) from voting.

Good point. And in other news today http://kut.org/post/austin-could-create-municipal-id-program

Do you get a state-issued 10-gallon hat?

If only Two, actually - one straw and one felt. One simply doesn't wear felt between Memorial Day and Labor Day, doncha know. A nice pair of cowboy boots would be handy too.

I meant to say a *new* pair of cowboy boots.