Virginia is definitely NOT on my list of desired places to live!

They are getting ready to enact some new laws and fines in good old Virgina…some very pricey fines!

• Driving on a suspended license: $750

• Reckless driving (such as aggressive driving): $1,050

• Driving under the influence and related offenses: $2,250

• Felony convictions (such as leaving an accident scene): $3,000

And those cost don’t include the court costs or the fines.

For instance, the civil penalty for going 20 mph over the speed limit will be $1,050, plus $61 in court costs and a fine that is typically about $200. What gets me is that “agressive driving” is considered reckless driving now. Agressive driving is strictly in the eye of the beholder.

When we lived in VA, P got a “reckless driving” charge due to sliding on ice and hitting a road barrier (he didn’t hit anyone else). So, if that happened after July 1st (say next winter) it would cost us 1,311.00 to pay it off. All because he slid on some ice and avoided hitting anyone. The police and troopers in VA classify any type of accident as reckless driving, no matter the cause. I knew someone who was rear ended and she got a reckless driving charge as well for “driving in an unsafe manner on a public street”. ????

Another friend of mine was cited for reckless driving because she didn’t wait until the person in the crosswalk was all the way on the sidewalk, he had one foot still in it, the other one was on the sidewalk.

I can understand it for people that are clearly doing those things like driving after drinking, or driving on a suspended license or doing 100 in a 55 mph zone. That I can understand. Alot of people, however, get charged with stuff just to increase the amount of the fine. And VA is clearly upping the fines for the cash, they said so. I always thought fines were supposed to be a deterrent and as a “there, have a lesson at the expense of your wallet”, not to be a cash cow for the state?  The weird part…these fines are only for VA residents.  If you have an out of state license (hello–Norfolk is the world’s largest Navy base?) the fines are totally different.  Wow..talk about hating your residents, huh?

Of course, this doesn’t surprise me. Virginia is the home of the “tax and the fine”! In order to have a car, we had to pay a city tax, a state inspection fee and taxes on our license plates every year. Luckily, we were in the military and got most of it waived..all except the yearly inspection fee. If you were a resident of the state, you got screwed. That would have been one reason why all our vehicles were registed in P’s name…he was a California resident!

I’m SO glad we live on the other side of the country. You couldn’t pay me to move back to that state. They can bloody well have it.

Another reason to love Ikea!

I was browsing today around the internet and stumbled across a web site that was all about modern furniture.  As I scrolled through the pages I was taken aback by the prices of some of the things.  Not being one that figure if it costs more it’s better, I decided to do some comparison shopping.

                                                       

The red one is 2,998.00                                                       The black one is 399.00

Design wise, they are pretty much the same. The dimensiona are very close  and the lower priced one does come in red.

                

This one is 160.00                         and this one is 14.99

It’s almost like the “other” store went to Ikea, swiped their designs, produced the stuff and increased the prices by ten times over or more in some cases.  Sheesh!

On the other hand, it’s nice to know I can have the same designer look for a tenth of the price, right?