Be It Ever So Messy, There's No Place Like Home: The "Adventures" of a 50-Something Southern California Mom - who used to be interesting... and her teenage daughter.
They don't allow you to take photos inside the DMV, so I have no illustration for this post. That's not a big deal, as everyone already knows what this place is about.
A few years ago, I laughed at Kevin Smith's TV series "Reaper," about a kid whose parents sold his soul to the devil. He had to report to a minion of Satan, who worked at the DMV. The joke, of course, was that this place was the portal to hell.
It's actually not that bad -- if you have an appointment. We made ours a couple of weeks ago, over the Internet. So the queue we waited in wasn't long. Also, there was stuff to look at on HDTV monitors placed strategically around the building. It's mostly PSAs about driving hazards, insurance requirements and the joy of buying personalized plates - but there are also ads for local businesses, as well as the number you can call to place your ad here. I suppose it's effective, captive audience and all.
Did you know that the DMV has a smartphone app? I guess I should forgive myself for being unaware, since there are few cool apps for my Blackberry. But if you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, you can use it to make appointments, check out wait times, and even take sample driving tests - which I think is pretty cool. And I learned about it while standing in that line today.
My 16-year-old daughter is taking her driving test. I'm kind of a nervous wreck. I have faith in her. But I think I'm projecting a little. I remember how afraid I was when I took my test. And I know she's feeling a little bit nervous, too, so I'm feeling that as well.
The procedures have changed since I was a teenager. The most obvious ones are the restrictions on young drivers now. But I was surprised to learn that they no longer require you to take the written test first. Apparently, it's now considered redundant to take it again so soon after passing it to get your permit.
Did I mention that Megan is in my car RIGHT NOW with the DMV guy who will decide if she's a good enough driver for the state of California? I'm glad I'm not in the car with her. I'm also sad. She is on her own - as she will be increasingly as she marches to adulthood.
UPDATE: She passed her exam. And after driving home, she announced that she would run to the store for me -- alone. She just returned.
"That was weird," she said. And then she retreated back to her room to tackle her homework.
I was still working IN THE ZONE when I received another email from the Ford Motor Company:
Ford Teen Driving Safety Campaign Joins Variety for Power of Youth Event
Ford is one of many automakers that sponsors a teen safety program. I dragged my daughter to one of their events a few years ago, and now that she's actually able to drive, I have been waiting for them to come back to Southern California so she can experience it behind the wheel. I signed up on their website and everything, and was a little bit miffed that I had not received an invitation to sign up for their event on Saturday.
So I did what any other mother with a contact would do: I sent off a wheedling email, asking if there was any way we could attend this event that was closed to the public. And my contact there was good as gold: she got us in.
But I really should have read the initial email with the press release.
And I should have realized that something was up when we pulled into the driveway at Paramount Studios and the guard asked, "Are you guests -- or talent?"
That was my first clue that this Ford Teen Safety event was not what I expected.
The second clue was when we arrived on the scene to check in and discovered a scene that looked like this:
There was a banner welcoming us to Variety's Power of Youth event. It turns out that this is an annual party the venerable Hollywood trade publication throws to honor the entertainment industry's youngest philanthropists and showcase their favorite charities.
I really should have read the rest of that press release.
We were near the entrance of one of the lot's fake standing city streets. I was supposed to look up another Ford contact at their tent, and could see it -- but first, we needed to get through a registration line, which consisted of about a dozen really beautiful youngsters -- all dressed to the nines -- and their parents.
In front of us was a gorgeous, skinny girl -- who appeared to be about 12 -- wearing about a pound of makeup and high heels that were killing me just to look at them. In front of her was a gorgeous African-American woman (who I guessed was a few years older), also wearing dangerously tall shoes. A young woman who looked a lot like the oldest daughter on Modern Family squealed an excited greeting. They hugged.
I glanced at my daughter, who was wearing cut-off shorts, a t-shirt, sneakers and no make-up.
Did I mention that it was about a hundred degrees on Saturday? I was feeling really sorry for all those young girls in full makeup and heels.
"This is not what I expected," my daughter said.
Me neither. "You know, there's a really good chance they won't let us in," I told her. "If not, we'll just do something else," I said.
An event worker went through the line distributing Cartoon Network-branded sunglasses. Cartoon Network was one of the sponsors of the event, as was Ford. Workers offered bottles of chilled water to those of us in line. We took some.
My contact at Ford was good as gold. We were on the list, even though we had no right to be there. We were given our badges and wristbands and made a beeline to the Ford tent.
The Jonas Brothers were there, being interviewed along with a kid in a wheelchair. I took a photo as surreptitiously as I could -- and captured a shot of the Jonas whose name no one can remember.
There was a lot going on with the teen celebrities and the Jonas Brothers and the like, so the Ford safe driving team were very welcoming, even eager to be interviewed and take us for a safety demonstration. It turned out that Saturday's presentation was on the dangers of texting and driving -- something I would have known if I had read that press release. This is why my kid is genuinely surprised in this video, when the instructor orders her to take out her phone and start texting.
Once I shot that footage, my job was done. We were free to wander around and enjoy the party, but neither one of us could shake off the feeling that we had crashed an event where we didn't belong.
We stuck around long enough to take a few more photos.
There was an Allstate booth where everyone was invited to pledge not to text and drive, so we stopped there. And when I grabbed Friday's copy of Variety, which touted the event -- and revealed that one of the honorees was indeed, Sarah Hyland, the actresss who plays Haley on Modern Family. We stopped at the Ford booth one more time so I could get one more interview... and then, we made our way back to our own car to drive home. We had to walk down some steps to get there, and I'm really clumsy and have a bad habit of falling down stairs (even wearing flat shoes), so I always do this really, really slowly -- so I totally blocked another young event attendee, who wanted to go up.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?" my daughter whispered.
It was Mark Urie, a favorite of hers when he starred in Ugly Betty. He has a new CBS-TV show, Partners.
"Well, that was your first Hollywood party," I told her. "I bet some of the photos will be in People magazine. Not of us, of course."
She was fine with that. And so am I.
But next time: I really have to read those press releases.
The 4WD died on my husband's Pilot yesterday, and our trustworthy (and inexpensive) Honda specialist is out of town for the weekend. So the huz took my car to work today, and I'm housebound.
That's not exactly a bad thing: Not driving to and from the high school (30 minutes each way in traffic) gives me an extra couple of hours for work today. I am getting things done. This is something you would not know from the amount of attention I've given this blog of late. Just because I've been absent doesn't mean I haven't been hard at work -- just toiling away at projects that you haven't yet seen.
And yesterday, I got to do some legwork for another AskPatty automotive piece: Ford was holding a kind of open house, where invited writers could just hop into any of their current models and go for a spin. I spent a couple of hours just driving everything from an electric Focus to the Escape and Edge... and one of my all-time dream cars:
As they say: It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
My daughter came home from school on Monday with a handful of flyers advertising driving schools -- and thus began yet another rite of passage.
Back in ancient times (40 years ago, when I was her age), Driver's Ed and Driver's Training were both offered through the high school. In fact, the former was a required course of all 10th graders. This, of course, was before the passage of Proposition 13 and the gradual elimination of programs that do not add value to a student's college application.
We families are now footing the bill for the required education a young driver needs to be issued a license at 16. Maybe that's the way it should be; after all, we're the ones who are using the service. But another way of looking at it is that having educated drivers benefits everyone in the State. I'm also told that kids who have taken the courses and obtain their licenses at 16 have a better driving record than people who wait until they're 18 (and are not required to have the state approved training).
I don't have any statistics for that -- it's just something I've been told. I don't want to find out otherwise, so I'm just going to leave it at that.
Anyway, she will be 15 and one half in a few days and has decided she's ready for this step. I think she's ready, too.
I'M the one with the problem.
Don't get me wrong: I think she will be a careful and responsible driver.
It's the hit to my pocketbook that has me seeing stars.
The cost of online driver's ed plus the required six hours of hands-on instruction a teenager needs to obtain a license at 16 runs from $400-$500. Friends have advised me that classroom instruction is superior to independent online study; that option costs considerably more.
By booking her training off one of the flyers she brought home, I received a nice discount: I felt relieved to be charged just $350. (She said she preferred the flexibility of studying online, and she is pretty disciplined, so I feel good about going with that option.)
But the cost of the training is just the tip of the iceberg. Once she gets that license, we will need to deal with insurance.
I was happy to pretend this wasn't a looming issue...
...but today was the day I planned on paying monthly bills -- and our bank is having some issues with their computer system.
As of 3:00, I still was unable to get into their system. Fortunately, I only had one bill that can't wait until Monday: Our auto insurance premium. And as I waited until the last minute to pay (typical!), an old-fashioned snail mail check might not get there on time. So I called the insurance company and paid by phone...
...and while I had them on the line, I asked them to give me an estimate of how much I will need to budget for a newly minted teen driver.
The good news: While she is on her learner's permit, there is no additional cost to us. She's now been added to our policy in that capacity.
But when she gets her license, our premiums are going to DOUBLE. Instead of paying $2400 per year, we'll be paying closer to $5,000.
The premium would be somewhat less if we buy her a car of her own (with the understanding that she will not get behind the wheel of either of our vehicles). However, we'd still be on the hook to buy her a car, so the savings aren't going to be that much.
So... the kid can get her license. But it may not do her a lot of good.
Having never been to Catalina, I wasn't sure what to expect. The facts I had at the top of my head were:
The island once belonged to chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, who also owned the Chicago Cubs - and for many years, was the site for their spring training.
Avalon may still be a mecca for Cubs fans, as evidenced by some of the baseball memorabilia in the souvenir shops. Plus, the Avalon Museum is currently running an exhibit recounting the history of the Cubs on the island, and has some really nice tchotchkes for sale in their gift shop.
Catalina Island is the only spot on the West Coast where bison roam freely.
The animals were imported to the island back in the 1920's for a film shoot and then left behind. In the decades that followed, the herd grew to about 600 head - which was an unhealthy number for both the animals and the humans who shared the island. Currently, Catalina Island is home to about 150 descendants of that original herd, and they often pop up in unexpected places - like the children's play area above.
Automobiles are outlawed on Catalina Island; everyone gets around on golf carts.
This one isn't completely true - but Avalon is the only California city where automobile ownership is restricted. Residents who wish to import an automobile may have to wait as long as 10 years... and can't even think about bringing one vehicle to the island until two current ones have been taken out of service. So the main mode of motorized trasnportation is by cart - which works well in the tiny town:
It was startling to see this in action. We shared the boat with what appeared to be the high school basketball team, riding back home after an away game (Avalon's K-12 school is part of the Long Beach Unified School District). I watched in amazement as each of these kids was picked up by waiting parents, all zipping around in little carts.
In practice, the carts make the town seem somewhat friendlier, as you can easily see and wave to the drivers -- none of whom are likely to run you down when crossing the street. There is cab service from the ferry landing to the hotels (which wasn't entirely necessary to the waterfront one we were staying at, but might be useful for one of the ones that were located up the town's steep hillsides). And if you want to explore the rest of the island, you can go on a bus or Jeep tour... possibilities I'll highlight in tomorrow's post.
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