Help is on the way for Frankie. I can feel it.
These closing words of the April 20 post came to pass, I’m happy to report.
Frankie, to recount, is the woman in hardship whose car was broken into for an object of no value to the thieves (an employee case of materials).
She drives a 1985 car. After she called five auto-glass places and was told that that window is no longer made, her sixth call was the charm.
The fellow was extremely helpful and servicing. After searching his database of sources, including junkyards, he called her back. (How many places would offer to walk the miles?)
The good news is that he located a window! The bad news is that it’s in Arizona (a distance away) and would need to be ground-shipped for an extra $100+.
Still, she got the help I knew I knew was coming and imminently her new window. Excellent.
As for the $500 fine for the missing work case, her employer hasn’t decided. She did file a police report to back her up. We’re keeping fingers crossed.
gah!
Seattle’s famous for many things. The Space Needle. Gloomy skies and rain. Pike’s Marketplace. The stupidest snow policies on the planet. Traffic cameras.
They’re proliferating like rabbits as counties, including now (my) neighboring Pierce, see them as the cash cows that they are. They’re being installed in spots unsuspected and/or those certain to yield hefty returns, i.e., a curve requiring an abrupt deceleration from 45 to 25.
I got caught.
Caught isn’t the right word as I was unaware that I was doing anything wrong. I was driving the posted (residential) speed limit not knowing that a school-zone speed limit remains in effect even after the kids have left. There were no flashing lights, students present or signage indicating school-zone hours. I don’t even know until what time the school-zone limit remains in effect, do you?
Decades of driving and I’ve never had a speeding ticket. The fine isn’t cheap either. Under the circumstances, I’ve requested a mitigation hearing as well as a court date in May, citing my relocation. Will see whether the court will oblige. More fingers crossed.
Damn! Just when I thought I was in the clear and free to leave. Now, I’m ashamed to say, it is I who needs the Force’s vehicular help that I beseeched on behalf of Frankie. From the ethers I must materialize a considerable sum.
Five years here and Pierce County has certainly lived up to its name. The adage “you can’t win for losing” holds true.
Barefoot Blogger 
Apr 28, 2011 @ 14:49:47
Usually, school speed limits are in effect until 5 or 5:30, at least around here; it’s often posted on the sign, but in such small letters you nearly have to hit the sign before you can see it. I drive through about three or four daily shuffling the minions to and from school, so I see these signs a lot. Not that many people pay all that close attention around here; I see people all the time zip through if kids aren’t actually within view, and I myself am guilty of that crime now and then. How bad a fine are we talking? I remember having a discussion with my main man in Seattle a few years ago and being flabbergasted at the various costs of vehicular ownership. I can’t imagine the ticket prices being any more reasonable.
Apr 29, 2011 @ 14:51:44
@Brandon – I was trucking 8 miles over the limit @ $13 a mile. This is Pierce County; dunno whether the rate is identical or higher in King County. Oh yeah, vehicular costs are outrageous (and the worst in Seattle/King County). The cost of my annual tabs for a car that’s eight years old is what I paid when it was brand spankin’ new in Utah. Add to that the costs of emissions tests every other year and the forced purchase of a new license plate every seven years and you’re lookin’ at serious bucks even for even a beat-up clunker. Almost makes you long for the ol’ mules and horses of yore.
Apr 28, 2011 @ 16:09:14
Here school speed zones are kept 24/7. I still forget though…especially when there’s three or four schools close together.
Hope the Universe plays fair with you and Frankie. š
Apr 29, 2011 @ 14:54:02
@Klopp – The universe is fair, people aren’t. And ever there lies my comfort. Check out the update on school zones an’ stuff!
Apr 28, 2011 @ 18:13:00
Where I live speed limits in school areas (and in most other areas) also remain in effect 24/7.
The advantage of this is that one does not have to think about what day or what time of day it is…
Anyway, hope everything turns out good for you!
Apr 29, 2011 @ 14:56:05
@fotografzahl – As indicated in the latest post, I’ve learned quite a lot in the past 24 hours about school zones ‘n’ stuff. Strange how things happen sometimes. š