Mark Frauenfelder:
I've received lots of email about my wife's
catch-22 traffic ticket problem (in short, she is trying to pay
the ticket but the court won't accept payment because the ticket
hasn't been entered into the computer system yet. And the reason it
hasn't been entered into the computer system, apparently, is because
the officer who issued the ticket didn't enter the date in the date
field).
I'd like to thank everyone who wrote to me about this. We got rid
of the messages boards on Boing Boing over a year ago, and I'd kind of
forgotten how nice and generous 99.9% of Boing Boing's readers are!
It's inspiring and uplifting to get email from so many exellent
people.
I thought you'd be interested to read the advice I've received
about this so far. There are lots of ideas, but the four most common
ones are:
1. Get a lawyer.
2. Get a cashier's check and pay the fine with it (sending it by
certified mail).
3. Contact the officer who issued the ticket and ask him what the
status of the ticket is.
4. Contest the ticket, because it is invalid with a date on it.
Our next steps: we are going to call a lawyer friend who has dealt
with ticket problems before, and we are calling AAA, which apparently
has a department that helps people deal with traffic tickets.
Here's one thing that might help (click on thumbnail for
enlargement). When my wife went down to the court to attempt pay the
ticket yesterday, the clerk gave her this "Proof of Appearance"
statement. Hopefully, it'll convince the judge that we tried to take
care of the matter.
Update on my wife's Kafka-esque traffic ticket dilemma
Grok Headline matches for Update on my wife's Kafka-esque traffic ticket dilemma
A Kafka day at the Los Angeles traffic ticket office
A Kafka day at the Los Angeles traffic ticket office01/05/2005 10:26 PM Mark Frauenfelder:
In November, my wife, Carla Frauenfelder, was driving home when a Los
Angeles Police officer pulled her over. He ticketed her for making an
illegal left turn.
The next day, with her ticket in hand, I entered the url for the
website listed on the ticket (lasuperiorcourt.com). I wanted to pay
the fine and sign her up for driving school so our car insurance rates
wouldn't increase. The website couldn't find the ticket. I tried
searching for it both by entering the ticket number and by entering my
wife's driver license number. No luck. So I called the phone number on
the ticket. The woman who answered said there was no record of the
ticket. She said my wife would have to drive to the ticket office on
Penfield St, in Chatsworth to take care of it.
So, my wife drove there on January 5th and showed the woman at the
counter the ticket. The woman entered the ticket number and nothing
came up. She scratched her head for a minute, and then noticed that
the police officer forgot to write a date on the ticket. Apparently,
that screws everything up.
The woman told my wife what the fine is (about $135), but told her
that she could not accept payment for the fine, because the ticket is
not in the database. My wife is not allowed to attend driving school,
either, because the ticket isn't in the database.
The woman instructed my wife to call the court every day, to find
out if the ticket had been entered into the computer yet. Once it
shows up, she is supposed to drive to the ticket office the very next
day to take care of it. And once the ticket has been entered, she is
going to be hit with a penalty and possibly a warrrant for her arrest,
because once the information goes into the computer it'll see that she
hasn't paid the fine yet, and it will be flagged as delinquent. My
wife will then have to explain the situation to another helpful city
employee.
My wife asked the woman how it long will take for the ticket to be
entered into the computer system. The woman said she had no idea. My
wife asked her if she is going to have to call every day for the next
several years. She shrugged and said "Well, it might take a week, it
might take six months, I don't know."
My wife asked again if she could just pay the fine and have it
apply to the ticket when it finally does show up. Woman: "Nope."
I'm at a loss for what to do here. If you have a good idea please
email me and let me know if
you do!
Woman Gets Ticket While Stuck in Traffic (AP)
Woman Gets Ticket While Stuck in Traffic (AP)09/03/2004 09:56 AM AP - Renathe Opedal was hopelessly stuck in traffic during rush hour
when an overeager attendant slapped her a $73 parking ticket.
"Schlotzsky's reports 40 percent of customers consider Wi-Fi and
Web browsing as factor in visiting: As the chain has expanded to 38
company-owned and franchise stores mostly in the South that offer
in-store free computer access and Wi-Fi, their latest market research
shows a significant uptick in awareness.
The company reported that 40 percent of customers surveyed
considered Wi-Fi and computer access a factor in their decision to
come to Schlotzsky's, while 6 percent said Wi-Fi access alone was why
they were there....
But the CEO wasn't a geek; he liked seeing entire families or
sports teams or groups of parents and kids come in and spent time
using the high-speed connection. It's important to recall that a small
but significant minority of Internet users have broadband; for the
rest, Schlotzsky's offering is a profound (and free) pleasure.... [Wi-Fi Networking
News]
This screams libraries to me! We already provide the high-speed
access and the computers, so why is it so difficult for library
directors to understand the benefit of adding wireless to the mix?
Maybe we just need the financial and marketing resources to do
these kinds of surveys and promotions, but then it's a chicken and egg
scenario, isn't it? It doesn't really matter if wireless users are the
chicken or the egg, because they should be library users.
More on twinkie-oid food and sushi-esque chocolate
More on twinkie-oid food and sushi-esque chocolate02/01/2005 08:38 PM Xeni Jardin:
Last week, in the throes of a low-carb-induced delirium, I posted a
bunch of stuff on BoingBoing about high-concept chow. Twinkies, sushi,
chocolate, and combinations thereof. One of those entries pointed to a
photo of "savory twinkies" by reader Ranjit Bhatnagar; he has now very
kindly blogged the recipe for us all. He says, "Of course, it really
comes down to 'Wrap cheese with polenta, bake, and serve,' but it was
more fun to do a photo essay." If you look closely at the recipe
photos, you can see a few clumps of snow from last week's New York
blizzard. Link
to Ranjit's recipe, and Link
to a beautiful collection of "produce scans" on his blog.
Speaking of odd food, here's some Hello
Kitty-shaped sushi (thanks numlok), and there is a chocolate
cake disguised as a giant head of cabbage. (thanks, heidi). Special
thanks to all the readers who submitted that
website about people in Japan who carve elaborate designs in the
flesh of watermelons -- but I'm kinda holding out for the website
about people in Japan who carve elaborate watermelon designs in their
own flesh.
a Michael Moore-esque video smearing Bush09/14/2004 06:36 PM DNC is now running a bizarre attack ad .. lower themselves to videos
like this .. DNC Video: Fortunate
Son
democrats.org/fortunateson/index.html track this
site | 6 links
Microsoft to unveil EyeToy-esque camera for the Xbox 360
After chit chatting for a few minutes, he took me to a
small room - no wider than my outstretched arms - at the far end of
which stood one of those classic red English phone booths. We stepped
inside - a bit cramped - and Danny lifted the receiver and dictated a
passphrase of some sort. Presto - the rear wall of the booth opened,
and we stepped into - nerdvana.
From a cramped phone booth into massive pure-white-lit space
two-stories high, adorned with all manner of things strange and
beautiful. Over to one side stood the Terminator-like skeleton of a
forty-foot dinosaur, its 15-foot pneumatic legs gleaming and exposed.
Nearly blending into the walls, itself painted movie-set white, was a
tricked out Hummer-like RV refitted as a communications/command center
- complete with built-in kitchen and bedroom. The space was a great
big project lab, with happy geeks combing over various assemblages of
wiring, motors, processors and plans like ants on a summer picnic.
It's Willy Wonka's chocolate factory for geeks.
eNom, Inc., the #1 Reseller Registrar, Announces the Launch of Traffic Vista, a Website Traffic Analysis Tool
eNom, Inc., the #1 Reseller Registrar, Announces the Launch of Traffic Vista, a Website Traffic Analysis Tool09/01/2004 04:06 AM eNom, Inc.(http://www.enom.com) launches Traffic Vista, a
comprehensive website statistics service which enables users to
monitor and analyze their website traffic. The service allows users to
know exactly where their visitors are coming from and what search
terms their visitors used to reach the users’ website. [PRWEB Sep 1,
2004]
Traffic Responsive Driving Direction Can Be Your Immediate Answer to High Fuel Cost And Traffic Congestion Problems
Traffic-UK.com Delivers Targeted UK Web Traffic To Client Websites
Traffic-UK.com Delivers Targeted UK Web Traffic To Client Websites06/15/2004 02:12 AM The key to driving an Internet business is to create an effective
marketing strategy that generates actual visitors. Traffic-UK.com
guarantees to deliver 10,000+ UK web visitors, targeted by sector, to
any page on a client’s website. [PRWEB Jun 15, 2004]
Blake not guilty of wife's murder
Blake not guilty of wife's murder03/17/2005 02:54 AM US actor Robert Blake is found not guilty of killing his wife after
more than a week's deliberation by a jury.
McCartney attacks wife's critics
McCartney attacks wife's critics02/05/2005 09:52 PM Sir Paul McCartney breaks his silence over people who criticise his
wife, Heather Mills McCartney.
Ex wife's plea to murder suspect
Ex wife's plea to murder suspect07/24/2004 07:43 PM The ex-wife of Mark Hobson urges him to give himself up to police
investigating two double murders in North Yorkshire.
Court Upholds Wife's Right to Complain (AP)
Court Upholds Wife's Right to Complain (AP)07/08/2004 01:59 PM AP - A woman has the right to complain about her ex-husband —
even if he finds it annoying, the state Supreme Court ruled.
Mark Hacking Charged With Wife's Murder (AP)
Mark Hacking Charged With Wife's Murder (AP)08/09/2004 04:50 PM AP - A first-degree murder charge was filed Monday against Mark
Hacking, who allegedly confessed to relatives that he shot his wife in
the head and threw her body in a trash bin.
Utah Husband Charged in Wife's Murder (AP)
Utah Husband Charged in Wife's Murder (AP)08/02/2004 10:29 PM AP - A man whose credibility began crumbling the day he first reported
his pregnant wife missing was arrested Monday in her death, just
before his scheduled release from a psychiatric ward.
Man Admits Faking Story of Wife's Death (AP)
Man Admits Faking Story of Wife's Death (AP)02/15/2004 12:01 PM AP - A man believed to have been the victim of a cruel prankster who
told him his wife had been killed in Iraq has admitted concocting the
story and was arrested Sunday, authorities said.
Man Held for Faking Wife's Death in Iraq (AP)
Man Held for Faking Wife's Death in Iraq (AP)02/15/2004 02:31 PM AP - A man believed to have been the victim of a cruel prankster who
told him his wife had been killed in Iraq has admitted concocting the
story and was arrested Sunday, authorities said.
Utah Man Arrested in Pregnant Wife's Disappearance (Reuters)
Utah Man Arrested in Pregnant Wife's Disappearance (Reuters)08/02/2004 03:51 PM Reuters - A Utah man who was admitted to a
mental hospital after reporting his pregnant wife missing has
been arrested in her murder, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick
Dinse said on Monday.
Japan prince absolves individuals over wife's woes (Reuters)
Japan prince absolves individuals over wife's woes (Reuters)06/08/2004 07:29 AM Reuters - Japan's crown prince says he had not meant to single out any
specific culprits
when he complained -- in words that rocked the royal court and public
-- of pressures on his wife, but
he added that steps were needed to make her life more bearable.
EZ Traffic From Google And Yahoo Traffic
EZ Traffic From Google And Yahoo Traffic06/01/2004 06:37 PM WebProNews,KY-3 hours ago ... exposure. By optimizing the graphics on
your own pages (see below) you will likely increase the overall
ranking of your page at Google. ...
The DVD Dilemma!
The DVD Dilemma!04/20/2004 03:15 AM Everyone from the MPAA to Sony are pushing for new formats and there
are many companies that are on one...
Dilemma Over New Flu Vaccine
Dilemma Over New Flu Vaccine12/15/2003 05:51 AM Vaccine experts deciding on this season's flu shot had to choose
between using last year's formula, though a new strain was building
strength, or creating a new vaccine and risking complications, delays
and possible shortages.
Delta's Dilemma09/09/2004 02:41 PM The airline wants to be a low-fare carrier. Maybe.
The LinkedIn dilemma
The LinkedIn dilemma12/16/2003 03:01 PM
Here's what stopped me from writing an endorsement for somebody on LinkedIn today: the requirement
to define our relationship as one of these choices:
The same kind of thing stopped me from joining the identity-badge
party at the Digital ID conference recently. I'm bugged by forms that
invite or require me to specify the unspecifiable. Particularly when
Google already knows the subtle truth of the matter. For example, the
signup for nTag asked me to state
my interests. But I already do that all the time. Everything I write
is a statement of my interest in something. Should it be my job to fit
those interests into the Procrustean bed of somebody else's form?
...
Calif. dilemma
Calif. dilemma08/07/2004 07:06 PM USA Today Aug 8 2004 0:01AM GMT
The Democrats' dilemma | csmonitor.com11/19/2003 08:03 AM "WE COULD COME PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO A ONE-PARTY STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE COULD WIND UP WITH TWO MORE ANTONIN
SCALIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” .. The Christian Science
Monitor .. The Democrats’
Dilemma
csmonitor.com/2003/1118/p01s03-uspo.html track this
site | 9 links
The 80-Cent Dollar Dilemma08/27/2004 01:40 PM Whitney Tilson shares how he protects his portfolio in uncertain
times. Grok Description matches for Update on my wife's Kafka-esque traffic ticket dilemma GrokA matches for Update on my wife's Kafka-esque traffic ticket dilemma
Update on my wife's Kafka-esque traffic ticket dilemma
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry:
Last week, in the throes of a low-carb-induced delirium, I posted a
bunch of stuff on BoingBoing about high-concept chow. Twinkies, sushi,
chocolate, and combinations thereof. One of those entries pointed to a
photo of "savory twinkies" by reader Ranjit Bhatnagar; he has now very
kindly blogged the recipe for us all. He says, "Of course, it really
comes down to 'Wrap cheese with polenta, bake, and serve,' but it was
more fun to do a photo essay." If you look closely at the recipe
photos, you can see a few clumps of snow from last week's New York
blizzard.