Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Incredible Increasing Traffic Ticket

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Found at Divine Caroline

That’s right, you’re not seeing things. A basic $200 fine for not having proof of insurance almost quadruples in Sacramento County, with much of California using the same tactics to fill empty coffers, and other states doing likewise. And you thought King Einon’s road tax was bad.

The Orange County Register explains in detail where the fees go, but that’s not likely to make you feel any better.

“Soaking traffic violators for the cost of state programs has a long history in California.

The first penalty assessment was set in 1953 at a rate of $1 for every $20 of base fine. In those days, for example, a $60 fine would be subject to a $3 penalty assessment, for a total due of $63. The extra $3 went to pay for drivers’ education programs in schools.

The legislature apparently found this funding source irresistible. Over the years, penalty assessments have grown to $26 for every $10 of base fine. Today, a $20 fine is increased by $52 in penalty assessments.

But wait – there’s more. After the penalty assessments are tacked on, there is a 20 percent surcharge, or another $4 on a $20 base fine. On top of that, there is a court security fee of $30, plus the conviction assessment of $35. And don’t forget the $1 night court fee, which you pay whether you go to night court or not.

All together, the penalty assessments, fees and surcharge jack up the cost of a $20 ticket to $142.”

So for the love of Mogg’s holy grandfather, be careful out there. The law of averages states that you’ll probably get pulled over by a revenue-hungry officer for something at some point, whether you did anything wrong or not, but be careful and don’t give them the excuse they’re looking for.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Toxic Hoses

Posted on by The Old Wolf

I love to garden. And when you’re out working in the hot sun, there’s little that’s more refreshing than getting cancer a cold drink from the garden hose.

Wait, what?

Needed a new hose the other day, so I trotted down to the local hardware store to pick one up. Found a good-quality, non-kinking hose, and when I got home and started unpacking it, I saw something that disturbed me. A lot.

I hadn’t noticed this little “advertencia” on the front at all – notice how it’s not terribly accentuated. On the back was a new sticker added:

Lead? Harmful chemicals? In my hose? Even if I didn’t drink from it – which is beyond stupid – what makes these people think I’d want to spray that water on my veggies?

So I took the infernal thing back, and went looking for a drinking-water safe hose. Turns out the only thing I could find was a flimsy little marine/camper hose, and all the thing does is kink, kink, kink – but at least the water it dispenses is safe for human consumption. Nothing else was for sale… no other options.

I had been meaning to post about this for a while, when today I came across this article from Time magazine, and I saw that other people were thinking about it as well.

Thinking about the least common denominator in society, how likely is it that people are going to read these notices? I mean, I just barely happened to see them. I might have hucked the hose wrapping into the trash without a second thought, and I’ll bet most people do. And everybody drinks from a hose… I mean, sheesh – it’s what we do.

The irresponsibility of this is mind-boggling. I talked about it with my hardware store (they carry stuff from the DoIt suppliers, and that little font change is because otherwise it looks like “Dolt,” which based on the overall quality of that brand may actually be more appropriate) and they told me that’s all they can get. From where I sit, these products don’t belong on shelves anywhere. You can’t tell me that modern technology can’t manufacture a durable, kink-proof hose that’s not full of carcinogenic chemicals… it seems like sheer laziness and gross insouciance to me.

So if you weren’t aware of this, at least read the labels carefully the next time you bring home a garden hose, especially if you have little ones who will be playing in the garden. Do your research – there are choices out there. I sincerely doubt this is a matter of enough national importance to get our lawmakers to take time to look at, but that’s a shame – because they should – it’s a crime to market something so ubiquitously that you know is going to make people sick.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

None of the above

Posted on by The Old Wolf

The Twitter Political Index.

This very unscientific measurement is intriguing in a way, because it reflects my own state of mind with regards to the upcoming election. I voted for our current president because the alternative had Palin in the mix, and the only Palin I have good feelings about is Michael, and you know, Obama rocketed to success on hope and change and wow a black American president, and now four years later his relative inexperience is translating into allowing a sharply divided congress to screw us all over on a daily basis which seems to be the only thing they are good at, and yes this is a run-on sentence and no I don’t care.

Then there’s the presumptive challenger. Unless the convention pulls a real surprise out of its hat, the GOP nominee will be Mr. Romney, and I thought he looked pretty solid and that his business savvy would be just what our nation needs to pull us all out of this horrible depression, and I use that word deliberately, but then he opens his mouth and all these terrifying things keep falling out of it, and I’m left wondering what’s wrong with our country that we can’t field two candidates with a sense of honesty and decency and fair play and who want to build a world that works for everyone and not just the people on their side of the aisle, and I realize that our political system is broken and I’d like to throw everyone out and start over and this is going on too long and I still don’t care.

I won’t give up. I won’t give in to despair, because my grandchildren deserve better, but I have to say that for this year, I’m not hopeful – and the Twitter index seems to state that most other folks aren’t either.

The Old Wolf has spoken and spoken and spoken.