Speaking of continuity, one thing I really liked in California was this:
I had moved from L.A. to Chicago, which I thought would be for a much longer time than it actually turned out to be, but I ended up being moved back to L.A. after just a year and a half. So I went to the DMV to get a new drivers license. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was DELIGHTED to find them giving me back my former license number ... which will be burned upon my brain for eternity.
And why is that, you may ask? Either the delight or the burning upon the brain?
Because in the 70s and late-80s, when that took place, one's DL # was used as check writing I.D. - and more - everywhere. You didn't pass a check at a store or anywhere else without writing your DL # on it. It was a way of life. I suppose if checks were still a thing, this would still be the case. But one came to know one's DL # by heart. I last lived in CA in 1989, but you could wake me in the middle of the night in 2024 and I can still rattle it off.
And my CT one? I sort of know it, but I'm never secure in thinking it's right and when I need to give it to someone in person or online, I have to look at it to be sure. Whole different way of life.