Who is this?

After a lovely wedding and honeymoon, we have finally started back into normal life. So I'm back on the blogging trail.

Observations from the recent/ongoing experience of changing my name...

1. Our marriage license doesn't say what my new name is. Nonetheless, it somehow gives me the right to change my name, so I have to tell each different agency what I want my new name to be. It appears that I could give different names to everyone! Very strange.

2. To my surprise, the people at the local social security office were very gracious and efficient. So here's a little plug for under-appreciated government workers.

3. Monday is not the best day to go to the DMV.

4. When I asked the lady at the DMV to remove my "corrective lenses" restriction, she gave me a quick eye test but didn't bother to check whether I was actually wearing contacts or not. Seemed shady to me.

5. Considering that approximately half the population of this country will change their name within their lifetime, the requirements are surprisingly inconsistent. Some credit card companies will change your name over the phone. Others want you to mail in a form and attach a copy of the marriage license. Amazon lets you change it to whatever you want, but United Airlines wants to see the request in writing with a copy of the marriage license. For some reason my gut says this is more to protect their non-transferable frequent flier miles than to protect my right to board an airplane...

6. I sure hope I don't need a social security card in the next few weeks, because it is scheduled to arrive in the mail at some point in the future. Same for the new car titles and various other things. It's weird to give up all these important documents and not get them back right away. Apparently that's how the passport process works too. Yikes.

7. My two employers have different processes for name changes. One wanted a new W-2 and the other just let me enter it on a web site. But neither one wanted to see any proof. Astonishing.

8. We have way too many accounts everywhere.