What Irked You Today?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Regarding Detroit and the auto industry...

Keep in mind that Detroit has been governed by crooks for many years, and that has nothing to do with the auto industry. Corrupt politicians who were badly mismanaging–even literally stealing–public funds played a big part in Detroit's collapse. I know what I'm talking about, because the same exact scenario is playing out here in Chicago.

 

So, ummmm...civics lesson. When uninformed, barely literate morons vote thieves into office for reasons having absolutely NOTHING to do with actual issues or ethics, this is what you get.

 As of 2013, less than 1/2 of the residents over 16 work, and 60% of children were living at the poverty level.

47% of the residents were functionally illiterate.

The system is broken. The idiots and thieves have the majority of the power now.

In 1960, the city is said to have had the highest per-capita income in the country. Detroit, the city that was the springboard of America's industrial might, brought to its knees by fools and crooks who probably couldn't make an HONEST living if you put guns to their heads.

That goes for the voters as well as the politicos.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

Well, we're seeing the effects of a "culture" where people with a little education are laughed at and called nerds, and a society that runs almost entirely on marketing to the brain-dead masses.

I guess America is getting exactly what most Americans really want.

The hallowed majority keep on voting for the fools who give it to them.

Looking at the fate of Detroit and what may well befall this nation, I can only think of Charlton Heston's last line in Planet of the Apes. 

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[slusher]

What irked me today!! Haggard died. And in my opinion so did country music.

Rich

Have to agree Rich but i thought it was on life support in the mid 90's. What they call country now is not country except George Strait ...

[High octane]

Yet another example of the wretched state Illinois is in, thanks to our politicians...

Used to be that you would get a renewal form in the mail when your license plate sticker was close to expiration. You signed the form, enclosed your check, and mailed it off to Springfield... and a week or two later your new sticker came in the mail. Simple, painless.

Well, because of the state's budget crisis (caused entirely by the state's corrupt and inept politicians), the Secretary of State's office no longer mails out those renewal forms, in order to save a few bucks. So now the onus is on the driver to know when his sticker is up for renewal.

They never told us of this change... never a word about how the driver now has to keep tabs on his renewal date and buy the new sticker. So you can guess what happened. Millions of people, who had relied on the mailed renewal forms all these years, suddenly were caught with expired license plates! And you know what comes next... Illinois has collected a record amount of overdue license fines, due to people simply not realizing that they are no longer getting their renewals in the mail.

You forgot to ad that the state won't be sending out notices for emission testing anymore either Harry.

[1930fordpickup]

Have to agree Rich but i thought it was on life support in the mid 90's. What they call country now is not country except George Strait ...

I called it Southern Rock with the girls singing Southern Pop. I get yelled at all the time. 

[1930fordpickup]

Yet another example of the wretched state Illinois is in, thanks to our politicians...

Used to be that you would get a renewal form in the mail when your license plate sticker was close to expiration. You signed the form, enclosed your check, and mailed it off to Springfield... and a week or two later your new sticker came in the mail. Simple, painless.

Well, because of the state's budget crisis (caused entirely by the state's corrupt and inept politicians), the Secretary of State's office no longer mails out those renewal forms, in order to save a few bucks. So now the onus is on the driver to know when his sticker is up for renewal.

They never told us of this change... never a word about how the driver now has to keep tabs on his renewal date and buy the new sticker. So you can guess what happened. Millions of people, who had relied on the mailed renewal forms all these years, suddenly were caught with expired license plates! And you know what comes next... Illinois has collected a record amount of overdue license fines, due to people simply not realizing that they are no longer getting their renewals in the mail.

Harry they changed our plate cost to go with the Value of the car/truck, because the more it cost makes a pothole.  Then one year they raised the price of our plates as of October 1st not Jan !st. So all of us buying plates late in the year paid 5 bucks a plate more than people born earlier in the year. Guy at work says, in Feb I will pay the extra 5 like you just did. I said but that is for the next year not this year.  

[Tom Geiger]

 

They never told us of this change... never a word about how the driver now has to keep tabs on his renewal date and buy the new sticker. So you can guess what happened. Millions of people, who had relied on the mailed renewal forms all these years, suddenly were caught with expired license plates! And you know what comes next... Illinois has collected a record amount of overdue license fines, due to people simply not realizing that they are no longer getting their renewals in the mail.

New Jersey did that due to a computer glitch. People for several months didn't get registration renewals.  In NJ the inspection is tied to the car, not the current owner or the registration renewal. So you can have a registration due in January and a sticker good until June.  People were accustomed to looking at their sticker to see when their registration was due as per before that change.

Add in that the state had bought all the towns license plate readers for their patrol cars, part of Megan's Law (child abduction)  with strict instructions that the equipment was only to be used for criminal activity, not minor infractions.  The towns ignored that, and both my daughter and I got tickets for expired registration late at night by officers in two different towns using the state equipment.  

When I got pulled over on my way back from a model meeting at 11pm, the smiling officer said, "I bet you don't know why I pulled you over."  I  agreed I didn't.  He then explained, "Your registration is expired, but you probably didn't know that since DMV forgot to send out the renewal notices."  He still gave me the $100 ticket.

Later on I read that if we knew, we could have taken the ticket to court for "misuse of police equipment".  

[Ace-Garageguy]

In this case, living in a sometime backwards state apparently has some advantages.

The "tag" renewal thing started to be a hassle some years back, and the state came up with a simple solution that works great.

Tags must be renewed BY your birthday, so there's no oddball timing to remember and no excuses. You can do it any time in the 90 days preceding the date. Vehicle emission inspection must be done PRIOR to applying for the tag renewal (and within the 90 day window) but when you get the inspection it's automatically entered into the state tag-computer, as is your proof of insurance.

The system has taken the loads off of the tag offices, which would sometimes have very long lines in the past. Now if you go in for something that requires a physical appearance, like a transfer or to take a disabled vehicle off the road or register a "kit" car, they usually get to you in 15 minutes or less.

 

[Harry P.]

Ok... so I bought the renewal sticker online just now... I figured it's much easier to do it that way than stand in line at the DMV. But of course, Illinois being what it is, they charge you a fee if you buy the sticker online. I was privileged enough to pay Illinois a $2.35 "convenience fee" for the pleasure of sending them $101 for a new sticker.

But that's ok. I know they will put that money to good use...

[Ace-Garageguy]

 I was privileged enough to pay Illinois a $2.35 "convenience fee" for the pleasure of sending them $101 for a new sticker.

Remember just a little while back when you got a discount on some stuff for doing it online, in theory apparently lessening the need for "people" to process a transaction?

I'm seeing more and more "convenience" fees cropping up now. Anything to screw you out of a nickel here, a dollar there.

[High octane]

A very good friend of mine passed away this morning at age 70. He's had a bad case of COPD for a few years now and knew this day was comin'. Of course it doesn't make things easier for those who love him and knew him. He was a very generous person, and when he was working he has helped me out several times when I was in need of a job. I had helped him and his wife move last summer as he wanted things to be set for his better half when the time came. The time is today and he will be missed dearly by many. May he R.I.P.

[MrBuick]

Well, we're seeing the effects of a "culture" where people with a little education are laughed at and called nerds, and a society that runs almost entirely on marketing to the brain-dead masses.

I guess America is getting exactly what most Americans really want.

The hallowed majority keep on voting for the fools who give it to them.

Looking at the fate of Detroit and what may well befall this nation, I can only think of Charlton Heston's last line in Planet of the Apes. 

 

Never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

I think economics should be required in high school, and you shouldn't be able to graduate unless you actually pass the course. I feel like many of our Country's voters simply do not understand even basic economics and therefore don't understand that "free" doesn't exist...someone is footing the bill. However, I also think that you shouldn't be allowed to vote if you rely on public assistance (because too many people just vote to keep themselves dependant) and that you should be required to do some form of community service to receive welfare (you know...earn it), so I'm just an evil, "privileged" a-hole who loves watching people suffer. 

[blunc]

whiney coworkers!!!!

Rather than ask why I may or may not have done something, they'd rather send rants to the boss.

[crazyjim]

Sorry to hear about your friend, Nick.

[High octane]

Sorry to hear about your friend, Nick.

Thanks Jim, as he had on his "bucket list" to reach the age of 70 and he did that last November.

[Harry P.]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Don't know how bad his COPD was, but sometimes, depending on the level of pain and suffering, passing away is actually better than hanging on to a lousy quality of life.

[dieseldawg142]

....

Edited May 10, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Harry P.]

^^^yes^^^^

our guvment just passed a law  when you feel it's time, they call it assisted suicide, i call it leaving on your own terms with dignity

I think we need that law here in the US. I see no point in people being kept alive artificially. What kind of "life" is it when you are hooked up to a bunch of machines and spend your life laying in bed suffering, and racking up huge medical bills?

[dieseldawg142]

....

Edited May 10, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Harry P.]

Dan, you and your wife sound like very logical people. I agree with you both 110%.

[High octane]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Don't know how bad his COPD was, but sometimes, depending on the level of pain and suffering, passing away is actually better than hanging on to a lousy quality of life.

Good point Harry and very true. He's been suffering for awhile and it was only getting worse with time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

...watched quite a few...go down in a hospital, more than death, that scares me, dying in a hospital. hooked to 50 million tubes, sick people all around you, while you & everyone else is just waiting for you to die.

... i cant think of a better place i would rather be, listening to the river, looking at the mountains.....then in some stuffy, antiseptic hospital.

MY terms when i feel it's ready...

Yes sir. 

[martinfan5]

Getting a good amount of Scalefinishes paint all over me and the plastic floor covering, and wasting all that paint. 

 

It looked like I killed a smurf.

Edited April 14, 2016 by martinfan5

[HomerS]

I don't think the board has a font big enough for me to agree with you (re: the post above about making kids take Economics and passing it)!  Schools are so focused on their core classes and 'no student left behind' that we aren't preparing them for life.  Recently my teenage son was at work when one of the delivery vans wouldn't start.  He was the ONLY person that knew how to jump start it!  Wait.....this was a catering company and there were a dozen people with no clue what to do.   This is why athletes burn through their big contract money when they go pro as the schools don't teach them about budgeting, preparing for the future and spending wisely.  

I am fifty years old and yet to use (from high school):  British Authors (unless I end up on Jeopardy), Calculus (never had to find the area under the parabola), two years of German (unless I buy a Volkswagen).  

Bring back wood shop (teach them how to use tools properly and SAFELY), auto mechanics (how to safely change a flat or jump start a car), How to balance a checkbook and set a personal budget, take home economic to learn to cook for yourself instead of making a daily run to the artery clogging fast food, how to complete a job application and properly interview.