You Wanna See My Driver's License? or The Joys of Governmental Bureaucracy

First off, bonus points to anyone who can tell me what movie the first half of the title came from. Since Brett and I have decided to become a military family, I guess that we are going to have to get used to dealing with the annoying red tape and long lines that come with it. Thankfully the people in Cape May (USCG boot camp) are very nice and willing to work with us. Somehow they found out that I'm going to be having a baby before Brett comes home and were working with him to get me on military insurance before that happens. First, you have to be entered into DEERS (the military dependent database). That part was easy because Brett took care of it there at boot camp before he called me to give me more info.

Second, get a military dependent ID card. Slightly more difficult. I had to drive all the way to Fort Worth (about an hour away) at 6:30 in the morning, pay $5 to park downtown, and then find out that I had the wrong address. So then I had to drive to the Naval Airbase, which took me an hour when it should have taken me 20 minutes because my directions were wrong - twice. The first time they got me lost in downtown Fort Worth, what with all the one way streets and such. The second time they took me to the east entrance of the base instead of the front entrance, which I wasn't allowed to enter. I finally got there by following some very sketchy directions given to me by a guy at the ID office. I thought there would for sure be a huge line and I would have to wait for hours since I had gotten there an hour after opening. Thankfully there was absolutely no one in line and the people at Cape May were very quick about faxing the paperwork that I needed over. We got all the info entered into the computer, and then the guy told me to switch chairs so he could take my picture. I was sitting in the chair for 60-90 seconds, and I was wondering what was taking him so long and started to wonder whether or not I should ask him if I should smile. Apparently not, because after a while he said, "We're all done." What? Mug shot anyone?

I was slightly miffed at not being told that the picture was being taken, but my sister and sister-in-law had the same experience. Their pictures weren't much better. Then I got stuck in horrendous traffic on the way home. But the point is that I came away with my ID.

Third, fill out and fax in Tricare paperwork. Done. Since I got it all faxed yesterday I will be on military insurance before Noah is born, which means he's free! Yay!

Also, I finally got a letter from Brett yesterday! He said that nothing could have prepared him for what it is like, and that it is worse than the movies, but that he loves it! He said he's doing really well, he loves his company commanders, and that he is enjoying himself. If you're interested in seeing what boot camp is like and watching his actual company commander yell at people, go to YouTube and type in "It's Just Eight Weeks."