Norman Highlights

 Here are a few highlights from our first week or so in Norman:

Highlight #1: Somehow we have managed to go to Walmart almost every day:

Friday: Milk and strawberries

Saturday: Cable modem for internet

Monday: Mustard and salad dressing

Tuesday: Towel rack (apartment didn't have one in bathroom)

Wednesday: Return towel rack (maintenance installed one for us), picture hanging hardware

Friday: Redbox (located inside Walmart)

Saturday: Mop

So, in the ten days we've been in Norman, we've gone to Walmart on 7 of them (and that includes two Sundays).  Lucky for us, Walmart is just around the corner.

As a side note, on one of those Walmart trips, I saw a lady walking in with a hand full of one dollar bills and a smile on her face.  I mentioned to Sarah that if we were in Vegas that lady would either be walking into our out of a casino, but here in Norman when people have a few extra dollars, they run to Walmart with a grin on their face.

Highlight #2: Oklahoma doesn't have a DMV.  

Instead, they have tag agencies (privately owned businesses that you can get vehicle title and registration from) as well as the Department of Public Safety (DPS).  So, on Monday, Sarah and I got to the tag agency before it opened, thinking there would be a huge line like at other DMVs and there was nobody there.  We drove over to the DPS building and there was a huge line, so we decided to head back to the tag agency before anyone saw us and figured out where the shorter lines are.  We got there just before it opened and were the first ones in line.  We registered our car and got our new Oklahoma title per Oklahoma state law (which we got in the mail on Wednesday or Thursday - talk about efficiency).  Since everyone there was so nice, we decided to ask if we needed to get an Oklahoma driver license or if we could wait until our Utah licenses expired.  They said legally we didn't need to change them but that the Norman police are pretty picky and only give you 10 days from when you move to Norman to change your driver license.

With that warning, we decided we would try the DPS early on Thursday morning since I had TA training on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It opened at 7:00am, and when we got there at 6:30 there were about 30 people in front of us in line.  We didn't find this out until hours later (since it isn't posted anywhere in the building), but apparently the first hour (7-8am) is for scheduling driving tests, followed by people who failed the test and wanted to retake (walk-in basis).  Then, once all of those people are scheduled, they start going through everyone who had taken a number.  (Even though there were about thirty people in front of us in line, we were the fourth one to take a number because everyone else just stood in the line to schedule a driving test.)  They finally got through the scheduling at about 9:00am and we were out of there by about 9:30, but it would have been nice to know that we could have grabbed a number at 7 when they opened and come back two hours later.  Thank you, DMV, I mean, DPS.  I guess no matter what you call it, they are always the same.

(I felt really bad for the guy in front of us in line.  He is a gymnast at OU and had to leave at 8:00am to go to practice.  He traded his number with someone when he was leaving so he could come back after practice and hopefully they wouldn't be past that person's number.  I hope it turned out for him.)

We also met a couple other people who had just moved to Norman for school, one of which graduated from BYU and we're having them over for dinner tonight, so I guess the DPS can't be that bad, right?

So, I guess that's another highlight in Norman: You make friends, not enemies at the DMV DPS.  Oh, and in case you're curious, after you get a piece of paper from the DPS, you take that over to the tag agency and then they actually process getting you the new driver license.  All the wait time is just to get your information in the government database before you go get the driver license from the private tag agency.

Highlight #3:  I managed to beat the individual challenge on Blockus

For our Friday night date, we played Blockus.  After playing each other a couple times, we decided to do the individual challenge together (get all of the pieces on the board, following the rules for piece placement).  Sarah gave up after a few attempts, but I wouldn't go to bed until I figured it out.  Once I was victorious, Sarah decided it was blog worthy, so here it is: