The 2024 cars and trucks with the optional cat protection package:
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Many years ago one of my neighbors was stealing my newspaper. Delivered daily AM, thrown on driveway, so you know it was many years ago … lol … To deter this theft I started tossing 4 or 5 papers out on the driveway the night before, so thief had to search through all of them the next AM to find the current issue. Helped, but what stopped it completely was when I woke up extra early, grabbed todays paper, then put another older paper out there with today’s headline page, the rest of the older paper filled with dog poop, maybe a decoy cat filled with dog poop??? … lol …
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Only thing the VIN on the cat would do is provide here to ship it back to if they find it.
Worse comes to worst, buy an EV, you’ll never have to worry about having the cat stolen off that vehicle.
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They can prosecute the thief if he can be linked to the scene of the crime. An unmarked converter in a car trunk is circumstantial evidence.
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Don’t any of you watch the TV Shows CSI (in reruns…) or the new one, CSI Vegas. "All the police departments would take that “unmarked” catalytic converters and run the full spectrum of tests, Microscopic Examination of the Cut ends to determine the exact model of blade used to make the cut, spectrum analysis of blade material, complete analysis or foreign material on the exterior, with an emphasis on Fiber material from gloves, clothing, trunk mats and carpet, pollen and dirt to determine the origin of the cat, and even DNA…
I am sure your police department would be more than happy to complete these tests. I know my county Sherriff would… His sole mission is to Serve and Protect…
Dunno how things work or don’t work in California but around here, the deputy finds 6 cut off converters in the car, plus correspondence with a scrapper in New Jersey. The guy is given free room and board and a chicken dinner for a few days. The county attorney takes a look and decides to prosecute. A unbiased jury of peers is selected from us tax payers, and both sides present their evidence. The guy doesn’t know where the cats came from and the jury doesn’t believe him. Guilty. Transferred to better long term accommodations. So around here the jury decides and the prosecutor brings cases where he thinks a law has been broken. If your prosecutor has been bought off, un buy him and fire him or her.
Now if the prosecutor is too aggressive and not fair, he is fired um voted out like a few years ago. I also remember a case way back where a guy caught another guy with his wife and shot him. He was not prosecuted. I don’t remember, temporary insanity or something, but fair is fair. The public wishes are granted.
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Off topic but I’m curious to know what people think about this situation? Stoplight camera violation malfunctioned and the judge won’t dismiss the case ?
This was one of lehto’s law youtubes. His point was there was not enough information to make a judgement. He noted there are specific time frames and procedures that must be followed and if you miss them, your right to object can be very limited. If you are sent a summons you have to respond to it, otherwise you are deemed guilty. There was no information about what actions the people took and why the judge rejected it. The plate readers can be wrong but you have to follow their procedures like it or not.
I received a summons for a parking fine on a car I had sold six months before. I had to go to the courthouse of the county in question and complete an affidavit with proof I had sold the car. Yeah sure I lost a half day doing it and then another half day at the DMV forcing the transfer of the title. So I lost a vacation day but that’s what you have to do.
I received a parking ticket for a car that was 400 miles away… lol … ticket was written in San Diego, but car was in San Jose. I wrote the court a letter with proof car was in San Jose, ticket dismissed “in the interest of justice”. No apology though, sort of rude.
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I doubt that the letter came from a person. Would a form letter apology really make a difference?
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Yes. Form letters are less personal, agreed, but they are composed by actual people.
Can you imagine how many times a day they get people claiming their car was never there or other excuses?
When I first moved to MA and registered my cars, I got a notice of delinquent parking fines within a few months for one of them. I didn’t even know where that city was, I had to look it up. The court date was imminent as this was “a last notice to appear”. I called and explained my situation and they said, “it’s all taken care of” and that’s it. I was leery and went on to ask if I didn’t need to show up for the court date. They just repeated the statement above. I didn’t expect any apology, just relieved that the matter was dismissed without any further hassle…
Count your blessings, it could have been a nightmare of bureaucratic entanglement taking a lot of time and frustration to resolve…
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They did realize it was a paperwork snafu on their part and retracted the ticket. That’s a good thing. An apology would have been the better approach imho though. I’ve had a half-dozen opportunities to holiday in San Diego since, but visited only once after the incident.
Me thinks you might be just a little too sensitive. I got a ticket on my 50th birthday after volunteering all day and the guy never wished me a happy birthday. Then I got a ticket from the Indiana patrol for close to $200, just a couple days before Christmas and the guy never said merry Christmas. Then I got a letter from the irs for my 2018 return closing the case and she never said sorry for the two years of dysfunction we put you through.
So like I told my wife, take it like a man and forget about it. We’re from the government, we don’t care, we don’t have to care. Now if the judge has a kid trying the case, and he’s an idiot . …elephants don’t forget.
lol … I made that mistake not long ago. Contractor came by to make an estimate on something, we got to talking about his accent, where he was from, talk reminded him of his youth, then he said it was his birthday, but I forgot to wish him happy birthday. He gave me a high $ bid … lol …
A vin on a cat might have helped the guy who bought the hellcat. For cross reference.
I had a doctor’s appointment on my last birthday and the staff always verifies your identity by asking for your full name and date of birth. I thought I would be “cute” and I responded with my name and for date of birth, I said, “Today…”
The receptionist did not look amused and repeated, “DATE OF BIRTH”
I gave her my best puppy dog look and muttered, “72 years ago today…”
She said fine, please have a seat and you will be called shortly…
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No sense of humor. When they say fine though, they don’t mean fine. They mean you just went to the back of the line and will be called about 5:30.
You might be partly right about “Being Fine…”, but when I retired, I took off my watch and when I’m out and I need the time, I just glance at the Smart phone…
However, for appointments, I usually ask for early appointments so that if the doctor is caught up with an involved appointment or there is an emergency, they are more likely to occur after my appointed time…
Since I am retired, I am seldom in a rush to get someplace and I do not book multiple appointment on the same day. I volunteer at two local libraries and a senior center giving computer classes and I never schedule anything on those days…
I also bring my Tablet with me when I go to appointments to keep myself entertained. I have a subscription to “PressReader” and I have access to over 7,000 newspapers and magazines from all over the world. Granted, the material comes from over 150 countries and they are in over 65 languages (they even have 9 publications in “Zulu”). But, Reader’ Digest comes in 5-editions (USA, Canada, UK, Asian-Pacific, and India – all in English…) and it’s a blast reading all the various versions of “All in a Day’s Work”, “Humor in Uniform”, “This Happened to Me”, and the various “Life’s” stories…
I really like the “folksy” way non-writers write, in the Asian-Pacific Edition (Australia) the writers write like they speak with all the whimsical expressions we’ve come to love but think, (what did he just say???)
And there are a couple of hundred magazines on new, used, and vintage vehicles, cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, etc…
I also preload various movies and YouTube Videos. And if I get really bored, I can log onto the Internet and catch up on the latest postings on “CarTalk” LoL…
But truth be told, when it is 30-minutes after my appointed time, I go back up and ask if I should reschedule my appointment “since the doctor is so busy” and that usually gets me in right away.
lol … reminds me of episode on first season of tv show Curb your Enthusiasm. Larry gets in argument with another patient when that patient arrives at the office early and get’s Larry’s appointment time , Larry has to wait. Larry asks receptionist since he was on time, why does he have to wait? She frowns, “please be seated!”
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