September 8, 2003 - Monday

Well, I've come to a decision about my ticket. For a while, I was unsure what to do. Basically, I had 2 options... I could choose to fight it or I could pay the fee, pay for defensive driving courses, and get away with a point on my record. I had talked to some friends and family and because I kept asking the police officer for details on what I did wrong only to recieve the generic vague response, "You didn't stop" (well, duh, no offense... I kinda figured that since you're giving me a ticket. Too all police officers out there reading this, don't give people that answer since that's what you're writing on the ticket. People can read. Give them that benefit of the doubt. When someone asks you what they did, give more details, especially when they can't remember on their own. Say things like "I saw you slow down but didn't come to a complete stop" or something like that. Anyway, back to rant) I was told by friends that because the police officer, despite repeated attempts, did not clarify what happened nor volunteered any information about what I did, I could fight it in court. Aside from the fact that they thought many police officers do not show up to their court dates or because I'd put the effort to fight the ticket, the judge would rule on my side. Honestly, I realize I probably do need the ticket, at least to humble me in my driving skills, but I would have really appreciated helpful words from the police officer, more than what was volunteered. Anyway, what changed my mind about the idea of fighting the ticket was this article. According to this person's report about how he wanted to fight a ticket, I realize I have much better things to do with my time than fight a ticket. It's a lose-lose situation. I fight the ticket, I "win", but I've wasted nearly a month of my time and I still have to pay possible "court fees", including possible lawyer fees. I don't fight the ticket, or I "lose", I have to pay the ticket's fee and I have to pay for driving classes. Either way, I pay with time/money. How screwed up is that? If I ever become anything more than a lowly artist, I think I gotta look into this whole law thing. You know when people call us infidels because of our corrupt government, I honestly didn't think they were talking about our traffic laws. ^_^

[^Young^] - 2:01 AM PDT

September 9, 2003 - Tuesday

Young, YGM! I really don't think the ticket process is *that* painful... but I guess we'll find out. For readers who download music, or want to, but also want to find new stuff, or just want to give their money to deserving artists, there's a program/service I've just discovered that seems to work well... iRate, which isn't a Mac program, despite the name. It's a music client that plays MP3s; it grabs music from a central server, but all the music it grabs is, legit. The neat bit is that you create a profile by rating and ranking the music from 0-10, and the client will dutifully grab more music for you that it thinks you will like, based on your profile and the profile of other users. So far it isn't a perfect thing, but it's very neat in concept, and means if it works as expected I can find lots of music I like, without resorting to 'piracy' and without spending a lot of money. At the same time under-represented artists will get more exposure!

[^Louis^] - 3:20 PM PDT

First

Prev

Next

Today