Carol Pierce has been employed by the Los Ba&#241;os Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV, office for the past 37 years.</p><p>In her recent retirement, she's come to a conclusion.</p><p>"I'm not going to miss anything about my job," Pierce said.</p><p>Correction.</p><p>"I'm going to miss the people (employees) here...we've become family," she said. "The job itself; I'm ready to leave."</p><p>For a majority of her employment, 29 years, Pierce has become known as the "DMV lady." </p><p>She has been the only primary license registration examiner in Los Ba&#241;os since 1980.</p><p>"I started working at the DMV in 1972, doing clerical duties, part-time," she said. "And in 1980 I was part of the very first training class of examiners that included women."</p><p>Pierce, who grew up in Los Ba&#241;os after moving from Germany when she was 2 years old, said she didn't enjoy being a license test drive examiner in the beginning.</p><p>"It made me sick. I literally vomited in the beginning; driving with strangers," she said. "It took me a while to get used to it.</p><p>"We were lucky if we had four to five drive tests a week," she said. "Now we schedule 15-17 (tests) a day."</p><p>It was an easy test to pass with Pierce, if you were on time, had behind-the-wheel training and could take the awkward silence and concentrate on the road.</p><p>"The majority of (drivers) were good; by the time they get to me, they usually know how to drive," Pierce said. "I think I had a fairly low failure rate. A majority of people pass their test."</p><p>What sometimes made the job more stressful, Pierce said, was how she was treated on some occasions.</p><p>"If people failed, instead of admitting they failed, they'd get mad at us and say 'you failed me,' she said. "It's not the examiner; it's the person taking the test that failed."</p><p>While Pierce said she generally maintains an easy-going attitude in each of her tests, some things, like tardiness, can affect her demeanor.</p><p>"I can be irritated, and stern, but you pass or fail because of what you did," she said. "We have the same criteria for everyone."</p><p>"You're not supposed to do any talking," DMV Office Manager Sharon Mueller said of an examiner's duties. "The only thing you're doing is giving directions."</p><p>In her time as an examiner Pierce has seen drivers from ages 16 to 100.</p><p>"And repeat drivers," she said. "I remember one person telling me 'you gave me my drive test when I was 16, too.'</p><p>"I've given so many tests; thousands," she said. "Parents, children, grandchildren. It's a big family thing sometimes."</p><p>Pierce was positive she'd given at least 33,000 tests since 1995; she's been averaging 200 drive tests per month since then. Prior to '95, the DMV wasn't getting a steady Monday through Friday schedule of appointments.</p><p>Pierce also has been in her share of driver-test accidents.</p><p>"But only two were my drivers' fault," she said. "And I've been in the most rotten car in the world to the fanciest car. I remember a fancy corvette with nothing but buttons; you couldn't get out unless you pushed a button," she said.</p><p>Mueller said Pierce's commitment to the local office will be missed.</p><p>"For someone to be an examiner for 29 years is amazing," Mueller said. "That's a lot of time in the cars. We depend on her a lot. All the other jobs, other people can do those, but only Carol (Pierce) can do the one she's doing.</p><p>"She's done a great job," she said.</p><p>Pierce said even though she's looking forward to the spontaneous retirement days ahead, she's going to miss being a part of what many people called "the best DMV."</p><p>"It's nice when people come in and say that," she said. "That type of stuff I'm going to miss. When people say 'everyone is so nice here,' or 'you guys are so quick.' I love that."</p><p>And she said she's tried not to take her work home with her, but she's caught herself directing and correcting drivers she's been a passenger to; family and friends alike.</p><p>However, she does practice what she preaches.</p><p>"I think I'd do better on my drive test that I took when I was in training; I got a 99," she said.</p><p>Pierce said in her experience administering tests, she's seen a wave of changes in criteria used to test drivers; from changes in parallel parking to three-point turns and mandatory knowledge of hand signals. And, for another, she's determined that the set route for drivers in Los Ba&#241;os isn't long enough; it needs to be longer and more strict, she said.</p><p>"To me it's not enough. You can test them better the longer they drive," she said.</p><p>One thing Pierce said she remembers in her time at the DMV was giving Tony Dutra, local businessman, a junior permit; a "special" license to drive.</p><p>"When he was in high school, before he was 16, he couldn't get a license, so we gave him a special license to drive to and from school; his parents didn't drive and he lived way out in the country," she said.</p><p>Dutra said it was the first junior permit case they had seen, which was some time during the late 1960s.</p><p>"Junior permits are very uncommon," Pierce said. "There are strict guidelines and in all the years I've been here, I've seen three." </p><p>Pierce's humbled take on the last 37 years of service at the Los Ba&#241;os DMV office is no match for Mueller's confidence in a hard-working, dedicated employee and friend.</p><p>"She doesn't like to be put in the spot light," Mueller said. "But Carol is an icon."