Sunday, October 2, 2022

This and that

I picked up a minor traffic ticket in September. The officer pointed out that I could request that my infraction, which came with "points" could be swapped for a nuisance ticket with no points but a higher fine.

I jumped through the hoops but did not check frequently enough. The request was approved but I failed to pull the trigger quickly enough.

The point that is interesting to the larger audience is that the "nuisance ticket" was for obstructing traffic. I was surprised to see that this infraction does not put any points on the license of the perp and consequently has no impact on their insurance rates. For that matter, if they are on their parent's policy, it has no impact on the rates that the parents pay and, in fact, it is likely that the parents will never know of the infraction.

My reaction is two-fold. Obstructed traffic often leads some less-patient or less experienced drivers to make decisions that have tragic consequences. The other reaction is that it gives protestors a free-pass to expose themselves and others to harm with no push-back. It seems to me that people who obstruct traffic should be liable for the same number of points that exceeding the speed-limit by 11mph should be exposed to and to allow the officer discretion in whether he issues a warning or a ticket.

Then, protestors will have a little bit of skin in the game and they might make safer choices.

Job-training

I signed up for three more days of job-training next week.

Naturally, I would prefer to be working a paying job but then I would have to report the income to the IRS.

Out of respect for Mrs ERJ's time, I bit-the-bullet and purchased one of the fence energizers at the local farm store. I need a fence that will keep the animals where I put them since my training will be off-site and I will be hitching a ride.

Persimmons

Persimmons are ripening. I tasted a "Journey" for the first time. It had only the tiniest bit of bitterness in the membrane that covers the seeds. Otherwise totally free of the bitterness sometimes found in American Persimmons. Seeds were very large. Fruit was smaller than I expected for a D. kaki x virginiana hybrid but that might be due to the dry year.

Lehman's Delight continues to amaze with regard to yield. I-115 and Juhl are outstanding persimmons as well. Juhl is also known as Yates.

Closures

I am chipping away at tightening up closures on the garage and other buildings.

In an earlier post about the cost of raising kids, one reader commented that adding kids does not add to the fixed cost of housing. Well, I am here to tell you that maintenance is not a fixed cost and kids can be hard-to-very hard on a building, depending on the kid.

Maintenance costs are not always visible because they are sporadic and we usually lump them with infrequent, not-recurring Acts-of-God line-items in the budget. But maintenance costs of a dwelling can be very large especially if you are not handy (or suffer from vertigo or infirmity) and have to hire everything done.

5 comments:

  1. A note to all you Liberals, Democratic-Socialists, and even you American Marxist’s, and Communists...,
    Let me help you wipe away your ignorance. You Sicko’s love to think that you hold the moral high ground on being the most Intelligent thinking, open minded and the most Unified, and non-discriminating people in the country, or perhaps even in the entire planet. With you Holier than Thou and your fraudulent feeling of diversity. You even label yourselves as “anti-racist”, and “United” But NOT so, in fact that is the farthest from the truth, in contrast if you look at history, you’ll find that the Left have a history of being Fascists, Lying, Racists.

    Do you remember when Spike Lee, that Outspoken Film Maker Racist’s spread his conspiracy theory during an appearance on CNN, said: "I don't put anything past the United States’ Republican Government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the Black people out of New Orleans, by Flooding the City."
    Spike Lee had already stated his suspicion that the United States Government were somehow involved in the flooding.
    The left forgets so soon, and they have no qualms about their double standards.
    Do these people actually Bark at the Moon, when nobody is looking?
    Joy Behar insinuates that Hurricane Ian was retribution for Ron DeSantis’ Climate Change stance! And Whoopi Goldberg backed her up! It's hard to believe, that our entertainers are that STUPID!
    And our Phony President Biden would like us to believe as he had previously accused his predecessor Donald Trump of being a “fascist” who, if not actually another Hitler. However if you look at Biden’s last HORRIFIC, and DISGUSTING, ANIT-AMERICAN Speech you would easily see a likeness to Goebbels,” a Nazi Propaganda Minister, pounding his Fist on the podium, shouting, and slamming and spreading “Disinformation and Misinformation,”, and all that Disgusting Name Calling, Finger Pointing, with that Angry Face and Horrible Bloody Red Backdrop, with two Armed Soldiers on each side. While such Rhetoric was Outrageous, and should not be happening with ANY sitting American President, Biden’s words and policies reflected the view of the Violent left, which dominates today’s Democratic Party and the Gang of HOODLUMS that we all saw last Summer, the Summer of Hell, and Riots, Tearing Down our beloved Statues, and Looting, Burning Down Buildings, , Throwing Bricks, and Molotov Cocktails at the Police, and Burning their Patrol Cars. Even Taking Over American Cities, . One headline even agreed with Biden, stating that he was “NOT WRONG” to use the Fascist labels to describe his Opponent or Adversary. and his supporters.
    And those Cities that are run by Democratic Mayors, and Governors even agreed with Biden’s way of handling this Violence. We even saw the Vice President Kamala Harris Bailing Out those Hateful Distrustful Criminals that were Caught and Arrested. Letting the Guilty ones go absolutely FREE. Free to cause more Destruction and Hate Crimes. This must be the reason so many communities are plagued by this Domestic Violence, Crime, and even Poverty. In fact we are even seeing this happening today, with the MASS Looting in Cities like San Franco, Los Angles, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, and New York.
    We can NOT allow these people to have lifestyle of crime, This is NOT they way to get out of poverty. So we must Arrest, and Prosecute Those That Are Guilty. And we MUST put the Politicians, and the District Attorney’s in office that will follow the Law, and give Due Punishment when it is warranted.

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  2. Whew! Someone "dumped their bucket!"

    Re: Protesters and obstructing traffic. I have no problem with folks using their first amendment rights, petitioning the government, and otherwise making their beliefs and feelings known to TPTB. However, the second they get in the street, obstruct traffic, threaten passersby, block sidewalks or doorways, become a physical and not just an audible nuisance, they deserve to be plowed over nice and hard. And if they fight back, any size group of them should be considered a legal deadly threat.

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  3. The liberal governments in many cities and states [ lookin' at ya Gretchen] have taken the skin out of the game in many locales . Many laws are meant to be used selectively when a cop or prosecutor wants to target a conservative or merely someone he doesn't like . For instance I was riding around with a buddy many years ago . He was sitting at a stop light and facing him was a city cop across the intersection . My bud had his left turn signal on and when the light turned green the cop waved Bernard to turn in front of him . After Bernard turned the cop zoomed up and put the light and sirens on him . He laughed while giving Bernard a ticket for failure to yield . Actually I did too . A few months after this I beat Bernard half silly with a tire iron when I found him trying to rape a sweet little gal that was naive enough to go out with him.

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  4. Interesting... and yes, kids cost money! Especially in a home... sigh

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    1. We have 1 son born in 1979. In 1986 I read an article in the WSJ that said it cost, at that time, $380k to raise a kid from conception through a 4 year degree. Almost always believing quality over quantity, the next day I made an appt with the urologist to get snipped.

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