License to Drive
Many of you, beloved readers, may remember that I have been without my precious California Driver License for the last few months (see here and here ). Although not a huge inconvenience, this has forced me to do things like carry my passport for identification purposes and has prevented me from renting a car on more than one occasion. As I noted before, the state of California has not been particularly helpful on this matter, probably due to the fact that it is busy self-destructing and doesn't have much time to help us ex-pats out. All I could get from the CA DMV was a business-card-like object with some of my license info, a signature in blue pen, and a note saying that "the original license was reported lost or stolen" on it. Clearly, it would not do. Fortunately for me, though, Switzerland is remarkably cool when it comes to getting a driver license ( un permis de conduire ). In exchange for jumping through a few hoops, they will gladly give you a Swiss licens...