The hard drive on my computer now contains a copy of the California Drivers Handbook. The 2005 version, of course. I will be studying the rules of the road intensely for the rest of this month, not because I could possibly be a better driver than I already am, but because the DMV requires a written test to renew your driver’s license, if you’ve already renewed by mail without a test for two consecutive five-year periods.

That’s all fine, and I don’t mind obeying the law (or taking the test), but I’ve grown a little more concerned with each day that passes without a notice from the DMV to renew my license. You’re supposed to get it two months before your birthday. Here I am with less than a month to go, and I’ve had to take matters into my own hands. You know how much I hate doing that.

So I checked the DMV web site and found that I could make an appointment online. Unfortunately, the first appointment they had available was April 1, just a week before my birthday. That’s bad news because it puts the pressure on me to pass the test on the first try.

You can miss up to three questions on the test and still pass, and you get three chances to pass it. I’d better pass it on the first try, though. Otherwise I’d have to stand in line at the DMV without an appointment to take it again. That could be an all-day process, and I don’t have any days to spare. I barely have hours to spare.

I also have to pass the vision test, and that’s a bit of a concern as well. There’s no redo on that one; either you can see or you can’t. I hope I’m having a good eye day on April 1, as well as a good hair day. They’re going to want a new picture, too. (And I’m probably going to have to change the “Hair Color” designation on my license from “Brown” to, well, something else.)