Utility day

Today was dedicated to utilities. It took me more time than I expected it to, but it was a good experience. The concept of marketing in the States is so much more developed than what we had back in Israel. See, in Israel - a very small country where everybody knows everybody - you always know where the best price is or at least where to find the best price. Price is the #1 factor when purchasing. Right after that is reputation which quickly flows from mouth to ear and therefore is almost equal to relationship (past or present relationship you have with the seller or provider of service). For example, we all hate our cable operator (in Israel we have one cable operator* and one Satelite operator). They "forget" to tell you that the special deal you're on expired and simply charge you more without notifying you repeatedly. The digital TV gets stuck a lot. The box set has A detector for food so that whenever you bring food to the TV room, the VOD stops working. I guess it's because it's not healthy to eat and watch TV.
The cable company is called HOT and there's even a website called I hate HOT

Back to the point, due to a long lasting (bad in this case) relationship with the company I'd prefer not to use their services. However, if the prices are seriously lower (like 33% than the competitor Satelite TV) I may get cable.

Today I experienced a different way of making decisions. I was connecting to my power provider and when I was done, was automatically transfered to a partner that can refer me to different service providers. Since I'm moving in, this is logical that I'll need these and rather than searching for them, they just appear at the other end of the phone line.

Another experience was when i was comparing quotes for my car insurance, getting one quote, I wanted to seek other's to compare. The customer service rep almost left me no choice but to agree that he calls me back in an hour, which is logical, and thanked me for allowing him to, which was weird. Before he let me go though, he spent like 30 seconds on selling me the strong points for getting insurance from the company he works for. He did that so convincingly that in my mind a feeling of trust and the idea that they are always available for me 24/7 and will actually help when I need them existed. Thinking back these were exactly the points the rep repeated with much charisma.

Maybe in Israel we don't know how to do that. Maybe we can't bullshit or we all know it's bullshit so we feel that it's stupid or empty. I ended up buying from that guy although his quote was a few bucks higher than the competition.

I meant to write that the day was productive, but the fact is that I only managed to get renters insurance and some furniture purchased. I still have a lot of summer reading and 2 prematriculation tests to do before I am allowed to take classes. I'll be renting a truck (yes you can drive a truck in the States with the same license!) and driving to Charlottesville with all my stuff to my new apartment (that will only be available the day after). Meanwhile Camp Darden** is still up. We drove to C'Ville*** on Friday to attend a party which was a lot of fun. Class of 2010 seem like a terrific bunch.

* There used to be a few companies, but they all united to one company - I think it was just admitting that there really isn't any competition so why fake it - but it's just my opinion
** Group activities of Dardenites in C'Ville during prematriculation such as pool/parties, bowling, pubs, golf, etc.
*** Charlottesville, VA

Culture Shock

Efficiency, Openess of mind and plain good service.
But today, I'll talk about something else. Something completely unrelated.
Ladies and gentlemen, the DMV.
Got there early before it opened to find out that I'm not the only smart guy in Fairfax county.

They require two forms of ID. Yes, one is not enough because there's no way you can fake two IDs. One, maybe, but two... no way!
Since the only official US document I have is my passport and since my Israeli drivers lisence is not accepted ("according to the law, sir") I was offered to bring in my official transcript from the university. Since I won't have these for a while, until the semester that hasn't started yet will end, this was not a good solution for me.
They had no problem accepting a lease agreement that I printed out by myself for a lease that hasn't yet begun as proof of my residency. I even registered as a voter in the state.

At this point I should probably explain why it was so important to get the license. I'm buying a car and I need to get insurance. If I have an in state lisence, the rates drop by like 40%.

At this point I was told to bring in my birth certificate. I think I had a puzzled look when I was thinking [ok, just hang on one sec, while I go buy a $2000 plane ticket, fly over to my mom's house (only about 12 hours flight) and rush over back real quick )]. I said I'm not sure I still have it, and she replied that I must have it since I couldn't get a passport without it. Since it has been about 30 years since I got my first passport I wasn't really sure we kept it.

When they mentioned the selective service card (somthing I was only first aware of it's existance 2 months ago) my eyes glowed and I rushed back to my mother in law's home to find it.

Since I also found out that they don't really perform driving tests there, I found me a new DMV office and drove there.

I got lucky and received a good education session when I tried to figure out my weight and height in pounds and feet. The lady decided there's no way I can be 5"10 and must be 5"8. "Sir, when people try to help you, you listen and don't write down anything. Now go and fill a new form and come back".

When I turned to go back and fill the form again, she called after me "what did you just say?!" Since I didn't say anything I turned back and asked "what did I just say?" and she said "ok" so I guess it was ok.

I got back to discover my selective service card is not accepted there. It would have to be sent to Richmond and I'd have to wait 2 weeks for their response if they agree to accept it. I got to speak to the supervisor after waiting for her for 15 minutes during which I noticed the slow pace the people were working there. Efficiency was also noted when they had 10 computer stands for taking tests, but only 2 were being used. (yes, they were functional). After almost giving up on the argument with the open minded and understanding supervisor, realizing I'll have to wait to get my student ID card and maybe they'll agree to accept it as a form of ID, it hit me - my Israeli passport!

After some discussions, they agreed that this is recognizable by the USA and off I went to wait to be called to take the computer test.

The eagle has landed

So here I am. After 30 years of exile, I'm living in the States again. Interesting enough (or not) I'm not that far away from where I took my first breath in the world at a hospital in the Dirstrict of Columbia. First few days have not been very productive.
In half an hour we'll be driving to the DMV in hopes that they won't make any trouble on account of my not having any proof of being a resident of the state, since my lease only starts in a week. Fingers crossed.