Day and night today. I went to the car dealership to get my AC looked at, and it took them about an hour to find a rental car for me. My guess is, had they started working on the car the second it got there, they could have had it done in that hour plus the time I'm going to waste driving back and forth 25 minutes to the dealership.
Then I stopped off at starbucks and their system was rebooting - not down, but rebooting - so I got my coffee for free. No "you'll have to wait on the system to come up" but "it's on us today... how about a donut to go with it?"
I would have preferred those experiences the other way around, but I will take what I can get.
... as it was the day it was drawn.
Communism and socialism are still bad. Someone needs to tell that to the, uh, well, both parties.
I don't understand people who pump and run.
I know that the penalties for stealing gas are fairly stiff, but rarely enforced. I mean, can anyone else think of some other 30 dollar item that will get your license revoked when stolen?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to high penalties any more than I am in any case where a large but difficult to enforce penalty is used in place of a smaller but enforceable penalty.
And I don't really have a solution. We certainly can't ask the police to track down everyone who steals 30 dollars worth of gas, though for what reason we can't do that, I'm not sure. I guess it's too much like doing their jobs. Granted, yes, they have a lot to do, but honestly, that doesn't phase me. I don't stop fixing bugs in code when I get too many bugs to fix in 8 hours a day, and I'd be out of work real fast if I did.
I guess when you get past the talk about penalties and enforcement, it comes down to this: I don't understand why people steal gas. At some fundamental level I am incapable of grasping the concept of stealing gas. Maybe you forgot your wallet? Ok, go talk to the attendant, and come back and pay him. I'm sure he'd rather make a deal than have you run off. Maybe you always pay with your credit card, and this time you meant to go pay inside, and forgot? I guess that happens to everyone once in a while - which is why I'm against an insta-penalty that's crazy harsh. Not for 30 bucks. I say, if you pump and run by accident, you get a bill for the price of the gas plus, say, 25 or 50 bucks. Accidentally driving off without paying, I view in about the same light as bouncing a check, and it should have about the same penalties.
It's the true gas thief that I don't understand. Society is bound together by certain natural laws, certain things that speak to the core of every human being and which make it possible for us to live together. You don't kill and eat babies. You don't set fire to someone's house just to watch it burn. You don't lie down in the middle of the street naked. You don't steal gas.
I cannot grasp what goes on inside the head of a deliberate gas thief any more than I can what goes on inside the head of a serial killer. In that sense, I don't see any difference between the two. They are both people who operate outside the laws of society, and not in the normal sense. Drug dealers operate outside the laws of society, but I understand why they do it. Serial killers, I can't even grasp. Is it some sort of twisted sexual thrill? Are they posessed by demons? Do they hear voices? I figure that once we crack serial killers, we'll have pump-and-runners pretty much nailed too.
Until then, I don't know what to do with them.
Today on the radio I heard that the town of Speedway has passed a new ordinance which will have them searching all rental properties in the town about every 2 years. The councilwoman on the air defending the proposal said that this was to "ensure the properties are up to code" and to "help prevent crime". After all, 2 of the 3 homicides in Speedway so far this year happened in apartments.
She went on to say that the property owner and the renter will be present for these inspections.
What the law actually provides for is advance notification of the time of the inspection. There's a big difference. When the opposition guest on the radio asked her about that difference, she said "well, you can just go in to work a little late if you want to be present for your inspection." Not "we'll reschedule" or "we'll work with you".
When asked why they wouldn't just inspect every home in Speedway, she said that that was totally different, and didn't make sense. I'm still trying to figure out why they're so different.
Makes me want to rent an apartment in Speedway and start a hookah collection, just to see what the inspector does about that while I'm at work.
I mean, is there anyone out there who doesn't consider this a major violation of privacy?
What in the nine hells is wrong with the state of Indiana?
I moved here, in part, to get away from Washington DC, a city in which crime is ubiquitous and in which the residents are legally barred from defending themselves.
Then I wake up this morning, and the first thing I hear is that seven people were shot in their home last night - including three children.
Ok, crime is everywhere, usual blather here about how I hope they find him. In fact, I think I'll go one step further and say that I hope he reaches for a weapon when the police corner him. That would save us all a lot of time.
Anyway, after hearing that news, I decided that it was high time for me to get a concealed weapons permit. I work with an ex-special forces guy, so I figure weapons selection isn't going to be a problem, I just need the license so I can get the ball rolling.
So I drive downtown to get the form. First of all, you have to have a 15 dollar money order and 10 dollars cash to get it. Annoying, but that's just a trip to the post office. Oh, except I got a money order for that 10 dollars. Ok, that's 10 dollars thrown away, no big deal.
Then I get the form. I have to have the thing TYPED, and then NOTARIZED. Who owns a typewriter in this day and age? Not me. Not Kinkos. Not any library within a reasonable driving distance of my home.
Then I realized that before I can get the thing, they'll probably want me to have a driver's license in the state. So, come monday, I'm going to plan on spending about 4 hours on the road or waiting in government offices, getting this crap done. My current plan is to pack up my Passport (which I hope hasn't expired), my cell phone bill, my ssn card, and my old VA driver's license, and head to the DMV. Then downtown to the central library to borrow a typewriter. Then hopefully to some nearby bank to get it notarized. Finally, I might be able to turn in this stupid application.
I'm just saying, typewriter? If they want to make guns illegal, why don't they just make guns illegal? I'm a law abiding citizen of this country, and furthermore, I have a government-issued security clearance. I mean, you'd think I could jot some things down in a clear hand, and they could type that into a computer, and that would be the end of it.
*correction: the DMV isn't open until tuesday. How nice of them.
*Note: if you're going to say "I filled out that form, and I didn't have to type it", don't bother. I've gotten that response from three people, and I have to tell you, while I would like to buy in to your reality, I'm holding a pretty instructive piece of paper from the marion county sheriff.