Pet Peeves

People on cell phones. I would love one of those giszmos that block the signals from mobiles. Can you imagine their amazement of not being able to report Where they are! What's for dinner! or if you travel in the morning what their sex life was last night

Jaywalkers who think they can dawdle across any road without any attention to traffic.

Ipods MP3 players that you can hear their music !!! Oh well they will be deaf by 30.

Unreliable computers. Crappy Internet Providers called Virgin. Who on earth wants to be a customer of a company called Virgin. Who wants to fly in airline called Virgin or go in a space craft called Virgin and everytime the owner of Virgin go up in his balloons or rides a speed boat it crashes !!!!

Sales assistants who cant be bothered. Oh for the service you get in USA.

Mike

Quote from Stumpy

Since I no longer attend movies at the theater, disturbances there bother me not at all. I just wait until the DVDs are released and watch them in the peace and quiet of my home. Lot cheaper too.

I was considering doing the same thing in no longer going to theaters. Rumor has it that a group of investors have gotten together and are going to renovate the old Ritz Theater which is located downtown here in C.C. They are supposedly going to show only classics from what I have heard.

Quote from DakotaSurfer

Same way in Illinois... I was just using a placard but I lost it twice because it kept blowing off the rear view mirror hanger. So I got plates for my truck and put the placard in the wife's car. It actually bothers my wife more since she's been a nurse for 24 years. She has marched up to the customer service counter numerous times at Wally World and complained and she comes away madder after the fact since they won't do anything.

The rules are the same here... for instance I would have to exit the vehicle to use the spaces. It's like if we went somewhere and I wasn't going to get out of the vehicle we couldn't use a designated spot since she is the only one getting out. We can only use it when I am getting out.

I've seen many people have the placard or plates and are perfectly fine. I even approached this old guy once that parked in the only space left around our square. My wife and I knew it was his wife that was handicapped not him and she wasn't even in the vehicle. I told him I was handicapped and needed the space, he said I have a plate too but I said your not the one handicapped and it's against the law. He uttered some un-repeatabled phrases and walked off. So I called the police and they came, and he got a really nice present... he got a ticket that could be worth $250. I went to his traffic court appearance because I knew he'd try to beat it. The judges asked him some things like how often does your wife come with you and he said, never. Judge asked, does your wife even live with you? He said no, she's in a nursing home now and can't get out (bad hip I think). Judge asked, then why do you still have the plate, he said to run errands for her. Judge said that was even a worse offense, perjury to a state official to get a handicapped plate. The judge changed the fine to $1,000 and ordered him to get a new plate in 7 days. And to surrender the old plates to the court.

Here in Corpus Christi, that is starting to change a bit about non handicapped folks parking in handicapped spaces.

We recently got a new Police Chief (Bryan Smith) who unofficilly had been running the P.D. for several more months.

I used to shop at the H.E.B. store on Leopard street, but quit because ALL and I mean ALL< the handicapped spaces were always being taken by those who were not. H.E.B. has security guards--tell them about the violations and they do NOTHING about it. Well, times are starting to change on that.

The Corpus Christi P.D. has a Citizens Academy. Any person can go to it (as long as they are not a wanted felon/fugitive) and you go through some classes of sorts and you also get tested driving a police car. After you have done your citizens academy time, you get paired with another person and are set loose on the city. One person will carry a Polaroid Camera, the other is armed with a clipboard and a book of tickets.

Well, about six months ago, I was at one of my many Drs appointments. I happened to be looking out the window from several stories up and noticed a cop car crusing through the parkinglot. I saw it stop and two people got out (wearing civvy clothes) and I at first thought they were Detectives or someone like that. Turns out that they had recently graduated from that citizens academy and were actually enforcing that law of no parkling in the handicapped spaces.

Im not sure what the fine is here but I think it is $500.00. Anyway, I cheered them on when they left a "gift" on some persons truck--who I had remember seeing when they drove in and parked. Later that day, there were news stories on TV that talked about the C..A. program and that several pairs of graduates were set loose on the city to enforce the parking law.

Even though I am handicapped, I do not use the spaces myself. I also think it is a great law and am thinking that I might go to that citizens academy--as the handicapped parking violators have always been a pet peeve of mine.

They should give you one of those old style parking ticket scooters and go around Corpus and give out tickets. I think we used to call them Meter Maids.

That civil academy sounds like a good idea. I may have to talk to the Chief here and see what he thinks. We have a horrible problem with students running stop signs. We have a University here with 15,000 students and they are the rudest people I know. They run stop signs like there's nothing there. I'd run around town and write tickets.

Quote from DakotaSurfer

They should give you one of those old style parking ticket scooters and go around Corpus and give out tickets. I think we used to call them Meter Maids.

That civil academy sounds like a good idea. I may have to talk to the Chief here and see what he thinks. We have a horrible problem with students running stop signs. We have a University here with 15,000 students and they are the rudest people I know. They run stop signs like there's nothing there. I'd run around town and write tickets.

Hi Dakota. We have Metermaids as well and they still drive those golfcarts around. Mainly though, they only go around parts of Downtown around some businesses and the Courthouses and nowhere else.

I fully support their academy and I might start to attend their classes after I beat soem of my health issues. I would love to write out parking tickets to those who openly and knowingly, park in the wrong spaces.

I definately know what you mean about those college students, we have about as many here in Corpus Christi as well. For the most part, the students here arent so bad but, there are enough of them that are.

Earlier today, I was driving my roommate to the Spohn Shoreline Hospital and was cut off by two drivers sppeding out in rapid secession, from the Del Mar West Campus parkinglot. Damn near hit me and I swerved and hit the curb. Neither one of them cared for what they did and what happened. I lost a hubcap in the process. If the light had not turned red (one ran through it) I would have chased him down.

I say if I am gonna check myself out, I better get a hefty discount for doing someone else's job!

Quote from Stumpy

I can't imagine that all these cell-phone users talk about anything that is really, truly so important that they can't wait until they're at home and can use their landline.




That service in the USA ain't nearly as good as it used to be, Mike. I can remember 50 years ago you could walk into a store and someone would be there immediately to help you. There are some well-known chains now that employ minimal staff and you can never find someone when you need them. Sure gets aggravating. A lot of them are even going to self-checkout (automated cashiers).

Those self-checkouts are a double edge sword for me. I hate them but IBM services the Wal-Marts so it keeps guys in my line of work employed.

Yeah and don't me started about those who have like 30 checkouts and only 1 of them open when there's a whole lot of people in line....

Quote from Lt. Brannigan

Yeah and don't me started about those who have like 30 checkouts and only 1 of them open when there's a whole lot of people in line....

Don't get me started... I too hate the place with 30 checkouts and maybe 3 - 4 are manned. Plus they have 8 self-checkouts that I would love to use but they never open them anymore, they said they were getting ripped off to much. So now we have 8 worthless lanes. I liked doing it myself. The idiot cashiers usually packed our stuff like morons. Laundry detergent inside a food sack or they would mix cold/frozen items with canned goods. And with the round turntable sacks area they would forget to give us all our bags.

I heard a place that has outlawed those plastic bags... paper or cloth bags are only allowed. I'm all for that. You ever catch an idiot putting a gall on milk in a flimsy plastic bags and half way out to the car it breaks open and out goes the milk all over the parking lot. Real brains there...

(Hope nobody works at Wxxxxxx on here)

You too have problems with Wxxxxxx? (i assume you mean Walton's place?)

The mere mention of the place makes me sick. That's the place that doesn't care about handicapped spaces. Unfortunately, with gas at $3.00 a gallon we're stuck going there instead of going out of town to lets say Lowes.

Gas is outrageous, thankfully the shopping center is really close. That place of evil is a place only go when I have struck out at finding DVD's.

Hi Jim

Trust me you have customer service in the US compared to UK.

By the way petrol also known as gas is about $2.00 a litre here roughly $8.00 a gallon.

Feel better now


Mike

Quote from DakotaSurfer

.
I've seen many people have the placard or plates and are perfectly fine. I even approached this old guy once that parked in the only space left around our square. My wife and I knew it was his wife that was handicapped not him and she wasn't even in the vehicle. I told him I was handicapped and needed the space, he said I have a plate too but I said your not the one handicapped and it's against the law. He uttered some un-repeatabled phrases and walked off. So I called the police and they came, and he got a really nice present... he got a ticket that could be worth $250. I went to his traffic court appearance because I knew he'd try to beat it. The judges asked him some things like how often does your wife come with you and he said, never. Judge asked, does your wife even live with you? He said no, she's in a nursing home now and can't get out (bad hip I think). Judge asked, then why do you still have the plate, he said to run errands for her. Judge said that was even a worse offense, perjury to a state official to get a handicapped plate. The judge changed the fine to $1,000 and ordered him to get a new plate in 7 days. And to surrender the old plates to the court.

RIGHT ON, DS!!!!
Cheers - Jay

Quote from Stumpy

Taxes, per se, rank right up there with politicians and lawyers on my personal "hate" list. IMO, most taxes ain't nothin' but legalized extortion. And pols who impose such duties are the extortionists. Which is why I hate to see news articles like this.

I do quite a bit of shopping on the 'net and one of the main reasons is because most such transactions are now tax free. But if the clowns in Washington change the rules, I'll do much less internet shopping because it would remove a major incentive to do so.

I swear if they tax me any more.... I will clam them as dependants.... What right does the government have to take my money?!?!?! They do diddly for me, and every year they take away more of my ammendments!

"What right does the government have to take my money?!?!?! "

It's called the 16th Amendment and the sooner we repeal it, as if that has a snowball's chance, the better off we'll be.