IT'S OFFICIAL

I am a licensed apprentice electrician. I passed my pee test. I filled out the required forms at my new employer, was issued my shiny white hard hat and safety glasses and given a map to where I need to go tomorrow.
Getting my license took less time than the wait to get it, it seems that there is only one person to deal with all the people who come in between 11a and 1p. I don't know about you, but this seems to me to be the time when the most people come in for permits , licenses and what not(on the lunch break) and you'd be properly staffed to deal with it...oh, wait, it's the city of Austin. Now it makes perfect sense.
35 minutes wait and a short form and $11.00 later- pow!- I am licensed by the city as an electrician. Amazing...really though, apprentice is latin or something for gopher. So it's not some big hairy deal. Well,yes it is...I am embarking on a new career path. We'll see what happens.
The pee test was interesting simply because I was giving the sample instead of taking it from someone. The technician was a girl with lot's of tattoos and she was really cool.
What struck me the most about all of this was I have never had to get a license for any job I've ever had , nor have I had to submit to a pee test before. It was like some initiation into a club or something to me. I wondered when the robes and candles and big paddle were gonna appear. So much regulation that at the same time seemed more like just going through the motions.
Anyhow, here I am at the gate, hard hat in hand ready for the big day.