I've been driving 40 years. "Back in MY day" driving was not like it is today. I got a driving permit at 15 and a license the day I turned 16. There are very few things more exciting than being 16 and driving...alone (i.e., no adults)! Like many of my peers, I had managed to get 3 moving violations by age 17. Today they'd revoke a license. But 40 years ago it was a visit to Juvenile Court with mom to get a stern "talking to" from the judge and mandatory . Of course, today is much different: You can't even get a license until you can prove you've completed puberty. Harsh! But, as a grandfather of 8, this seems like a good idea to me! ;-)
Yeah, I've had a few "moving violations" over the years. My worst driving year was 1996: Two speeding tickets within 6 months both for driving over 100 MPH...and on the EXACT stretch of the southbound 215 Freeway! It's probably just a coincidence that both times I was driving my 1995 Camaro Z28 (right!). By the end of 1997 I was driving a Buick La Sabre that my girls nicknamed "The Pickle".
Got a ticket recently from one of those "camera intersections" in Los Alamitos. Got the picture right in the mail along with a $500 fine!! That's more than I paid for my first 100 MPH ticket! But I got the last laugh. The picture showed me talking on my cell phone when I was blowing through the red light, but they didn't cite me for that (HA!!). Anyway, I opted for traffic school and took it online. Wow, what a breeze! I highly recommend this. Use to be mandatory to go to an actual class...all day...boring lectures...gross videos (a la "Red Asphalt"). Not today. In just two hours and $21 later, I'm done! I never read the 7 chapters, I just took the quiz at the end of each section and then advanced to the final exam. What a scam.
Well, that's all. No big spiritual lessons.
Happy driving...The Gospelot
