03/09/2000   English German
  Edition # 20  
San Francisco, 03-09-2000

Personalized License Plates
Figure [1]: Our car with the new license plate

Michael Surely you've noticed that in the USA there are cars with strange license plates. Normally, it's a number, three letters, and then three more numbers (e.g., "2ZAP438"), and unlike in Germany, it doesn't indicate which city the car is from. Instead, only the design and color of the license plate show which state the car is registered in. In California, it says "California," in Oregon, there are forests depicted. Additionally, each state has a slogan: Arizona -- Sunshine State. Hawaii -- Aloha State. Oregon -- where it rains all year long. Haha. Just kidding. But: Some license plates don't have the usual number-letter combinations, but simply read "CLINTON" or "ARNOLD" or "YEAH." It works like this: Just as you can get the license plate "M-AX 1964" in Munich by paying a fee to the vehicle registration office, in America, you can get any (I emphasize: any!) license plate for your car. This costs, depending on the design, between 20 and 30 dollars a year, which goes to a charitable cause. Now, I've always wanted to be the "PERL MAN," yes, in fact, Angelika once gave me a fake license plate with this inscription as a gift -- so I asked myself: Why not for real?

Figure [2]: Once again up close: The license plate of the PERL MAN

I went to the website of the California DMV and checked -- indeed, it was still available. You can also print out a registration form online, which you then send by mail to the central DMV office in Sacramento, California, and barely four weeks later, you receive a notification in the mailbox that you can pick up the license plate from a DMV office. I scheduled an appointment by phone, as I already knew that there is usually a long wait otherwise. This is done with an automated system, where you instruct a computer on the other end to find an appointment. You then receive a confirmation number, which you use to show up at the DMV office at the suggested time. The man at the counter almost burst out laughing when he opened the envelope with my new license plates, which had "PERL MAN" written in large letters. He asked if it referred to the rock band "PEARL JAM," and I explained to him that it was a reference to a programming language.

Figure [3]: The internet software currently still allows super funny license plates.

I also received a new vehicle registration certificate -- everything must be in order -- and went outside to attach the new license plates to the car with a screwdriver I had brought with me. Since then, I am the "PERL MAN." Everyone at Netscape knows who's coming. But there are others: The head of the computer maintenance department at Netscape, who has been around for a while and has earned quite well, drives a Porsche Carrera (which costs about $80,000 here) with the license plate "THX AOL" ("Thanks, AOL"). A former colleague of mine is a specialist in the Java programming language and drives around in his BMW M3 with "MMM JAVA" on the plate. Yes, you have to have fun. If you want to find out which license plates are still available in California, just check out http://plates.ca.gov/search . You'll see -- "PERL MAN" is gone, you were too late!

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