My driver’s license expired last Tuesday. I only had it for five years before the expiration date and I still failed to get it renewed on time.

So I stroll on in to the DMV on Friday anticipating an extra late fee for not having been timely with my renewal. And then the lady at booth number one hit me with the harsh reality of being late: I have to retake the driver’s exam.

You would think I would have learned after I failed COM 105 for turning in a paper late, which resulted in me retaking the class. This literally felt like deja vu I never hoped to experience.

After charging me $35 to take the exam, she handed me a 100-page pamphlet to review the rules of the road. I immediately thought, “I’ve been driving for five years, I know my street signs.”

I skimmed through the first 20 pages, which reaffirmed my decision that the contents were common knowledge. The nice woman at booth number four informed me that I need an 80 percent to pass the written exam and sent me to take the exam at a computer.

I really should have considered what may have been on the following 80 pages. The first 10 questions of the test involved numbers. For example, “how far should you turn off your high beams from an approaching car? A. 100 feet. B. 200 feet. C. 300 feet. D. 500 feet.”

Realistically, I’ve never put a number value on this practice. I just get a little panic every time I see an oncoming vehicle while I’m driving with my brights on and immediately turn them off. For those of you who don’t know, it’s 500 feet.

Long story short, by question 29, I had eight incorrect. If I got one more question wrong, I would fail. I had 11 more questions until the end of the exam. Anyways … I passed. Barely.

So then I walked back up to booth number four to schedule my driving test. After hastily informing me that the DMV did not perform same-day driving exams, the employee told me they don’t have any openings until April 4.

She said I could call the local driving school, which could give me the test for an additional $35. Of course they were closed, so I waited until the next morning. The nice lady over there proceeded to tell me that they don’t have any appointments available until April 6.

So essentially, I don’t have a license for the next week. When this all occurred, it was a week and a half. At Foundry this weekend, I showed the bartender my passport. This is really awkward and formal.

Moral of the story: Don’t let your license expire, especially if you live in a small town. Because you’ll end up without convenient identification for two weeks.