Texans At Last!

Yee-haw!  We are officially Texans!

After establishing our mail service, we spent the last week getting vehicle inspections, insurances, titles, and registrations.  We set up our bank accounts, received voter registration cards, and became members of the Livingston Municipal Library.  We updated our address with dozens of vendors, service providers, etc.   And we now have ACA-compliant health insurance!   We have accomplished our mission of becoming Texans, but we are exhausted!    In South Dakota, we paid our mail service to act as our agents, so they did a great deal of this leg work for us.  No can do in Texas.

A Pooped-Out PoPo

No matter what you may hear elsewhere, Texas insurance rates are higher than in South Dakota.  Comparing the same two motorcycles, driving records, and coverage cost us double in Texas than in South Dakota, using Progressive Insurance in both states!  The insurance agent explained that Texas still allows 30-day insurance policies, resulting in folks letting their insurance lapse, and therefore becoming uninsured motorists.  The uninsured motorist portion of our motorcycle bill was more than the entire motorcycle policy premium in South Dakota!  Can’t refute those facts!

Now Mom and Dad have the most important thing left to do:  get drivers’ licenses.  Because of the weight class of our tow vehicle and RV, they require a special Class A license in Texas, which means taking a written and road test!  Yuk!!!  What a pain in the buttocks!   We didn’t need any special licensing or testing in South Dakota!

When we phoned the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) over a month ago, they said the written test includes general knowledge per the regular Texas Drivers’ Handbook and knowledge derived from Chapter 14 of the Texas Commercial Drivers’ Handbook.  Mom and Dad started studying like diligent students, downloading both manuals as study guides and using flash cards and practice tests found on-line. 

My parents got to the DPS office in Livingston yesterday promptly at 8 a.m., the first in the door, ready to take the written test.  Well, the DPS had other ideas.  Their computer system was down.  Mom and Dad hung around, knowing the minute they left, the system would come back up.  Anyway, they can’t schedule the road test until the written test is completed!  Finally, 5 hours, 40 minutes and 17 seconds later, the system came back up and Mom and Dad took their tests.  I’m happy to say that they both passed their written exams!  But it turns out DPS gave us bad info when we phoned—the written test is based solely on Chapter 14 of the Commercial Drivers’ Handbook.

They are both scheduled for the road test later this month, and of course, Mom is a nervous wreck!  I’m going to say a little prayer that she passes. Maybe you can do the same?

 

Thanks for listening!  Talk to you soon!