I'm down, I'm up, I'm down again--'way down. Got the "courtesy letter" about the traffic ticket and the fine is FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY DOLLARS!
I was just stunned. Who sets these fines and how can they be fair? It wasn't vehicular homicide, I simply slowed to 20 at a red light, saw nothing was coming and turned. Yes, I should have stopped, but almost five hundred bucks!? Boy, what a stinker.
Luckily, I didn't open the damn thing until after I met the widow support group for lunch. They're nice and I liked them a lot. Most are considerably younger than I am (well, that includes the general population, I guess), but friendly and welcoming. There was one exception who, wouldn't you know, sat directly across from me and monopolized the conversation as much as she could, all about her monumentally boring life, of course: she just turned sixty, her daughter was married twice, son ditto, grandchildren--aagh! Luckily, I was able to turn my attention to others after a time and enjoyed the talk. They meet once a month for lunch and once for dinner--same restaurant, which is simple for me to get to, so good and I'll join them for dinner on the 19th.
After that--and opening the letter--I took a swing to a few apartment possibilities, but didn't tour any for various reasons, mostly because they were horrible. Aside from that, I just cleaned up a bit while mentally formulating the letter I'm going to send on appeal: old lady, just moved here, limited income, terribly upset, etc.
Hope it works, damn it.
THURSDAY AND THE MARCH OF TIME--OR SOMETHING...
I got up determined to spend the day catching up and I did--to some extent, anyway. Wrote out a more Christmas cards, wrapped the presents f...
2 comments:
Rosemary,
Was there a sign....no turn on red? Or is it not allowed to turn right on red in CA?
That fine is exorbitant, in my thinking. Hope your appeal letter works.
I went to court when cop said I turned left on a red light. Light was blocked by bright sun. No one anywhere around. It was Thanksgiving. I told the judge no one could have seen that light. The cop argued he saw it. I said "he saw it because he was seeing it from a different angle than I". Sun blocked my vision, and I took reasonable precautions before turning...like you did. I got off, but I still had to pay the court costs which were less than the cost of the fine. Rich was with me and told me how to act. If you don't win, you'd be paying court costs on top of the fine. It's a gamble.
Pat, thanks for the comment; see my entry of Wednesday.
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