Small Talk: Judge's Chambers

[AngelaHunter]

21 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Being an attention-craving woman?  Besides, looks like she is buds with JJ.

Some people will do anything to try and remain relevant. I have a feeling JJ is kind and gracious to everyone except litigants and have a hard time believing she admires this vulgar, no-talent loudmouth who does standup stories revolving around her p*ssy.

Quote

Moral of the story: You're never too big or too famous to be an extra on daytime TV.

Yes, lucky JJ with her little "daytime TV" show, getting the Big Names to show up. lol

Edited December 29, 2017 by AngelaHunter

[Twiz44]

23 hours ago, Dakisela said:

S21/EP. 228 (2017)  What in the world is AMY SCHUMER doing sitting in the gallery behind the defendant directly in the line of the TV?  Ep. just started -- I guess only time will tell!

I came here looking to find out the same thing. I kept wondering if that was her.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I thought that this would interest ya'll:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nigerian-prince-email-scam-louisiana-man_us_5a47cf97e4b0b0e5a7a6e121

I super-enjoy the line under the header.

[funky-rat]

I was asked about my car, so I'll share an update.  She did have valid insurance, but it's that crappy minimum coverage stuff.  They estimated my car would be $450 to fix.  Body shop says nope - more like $625 because she cracked the finish on the bumper and it's not a simple "buff out" job.  I've used this body shop for years - it's not a "winter air in your radiator" type of place, and they are usually the best priced around.  So I sent the estimate on to her insurance with a note saying that I should not have to pay the difference because she hit a parked car, but I have no idea how this is going to play out. My insurance said they'd cover it and then fight with her insurance, but they would not cover my deductible - I'd have to get it from her insurance.

I haven't signed or agreed to anything yet.  I'm just frustrated.

[Quof]

Quote

but they would not cover my deductible - I'd have to get it from her insurance.

Did they specifically say that, or did you assume?  A good insurance company will pay for the full repair and recover all of it from her insurer, waiving your deductible because they won't be out any money.  It's their job to take care of you.

[funky-rat]

No - they specifically said they'd mail me a check for the cost of repairs, minus my $200 deductible, which I would then have to get from her insurance company.  If I was unsuccessful, they'd then take over on my behalf.  Being that Mr. Funky has been out of work, and is just now starting a new job (praise the Lord - unemployment has run out), I don't have a spare $200 sitting around, so I opted to let her insurance company handle it.  They only waive deductible if you were in an accident with another person who is insured with their company.  It is an otherwise excellent company - they have always taken care of things.

She called me at work today - they said they'll cover the additional costs (I didn't think they would - their paperwork is worded very oddly) and a rental car for 2-3 days.  So I'm breathing a little easier.

Edited January 3, 2018 by funky-rat

[SRTouch]

46 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

 

She called me at work today - they said they'll cover the additional costs (I didn't think they would - their paperwork is worded very oddly) and a rental car for 2-3 days.  So I'm breathing a little easier.

Ah, yes, the gobblygook wording of so many of these papers. I'd almost think that the wording is a trick to get us to go hire a lawyer to interpret for us.... but then I remember a case where one of the TV judges said they couldn't make heads or tails of a phone contract...

[SRTouch]

Decided this fits here better than in the episode forum:

Ok, couple days behind, and saving the new stuff 'til I get tired of the 1 a day rerun schedule. Just watched the two never-married exes who are feuding over a car that was purchased jointly and the loan in both names. Not much to say about the case itself. Have to say I enjoyed lippy new bf getting the boot, and the way Byrd escorted him all the way out. Really, reason I'm writing is plaintiff reporting car as stolen, even though she knew the co-owner of the car had the car. Defendant's comment about the only reason he wasn't arrested as a regular, guns drawn, face down on the ground,  felony type of arrest was that cop knew him...

TIME OUT FOR RANT: That got me to thinking about the recent story of some idiot in California calling Kansas cops where some innocent dude was killed because of a "PRANK". WTH, never heard of it til I read that story! Calling in a false incident to try to get a swat team deployed as a prank! What are these idiots thinking? And to think it happens often enough that there's even a name for this prank. Really!

128 cops killed in line of duty last year, over a hundred every year for decades - sometimes over 200! Every time a law enforcement officer deals with the public it's in the back of their mind that this may be the nut job with Teflon bullets waiting to see if they'll really go through his/her vest! Anyone willing to do the job deserves the respect of the public. No lip or back talk when stopped - respect and compliance with any lawful order... because there will be times when you may be stopped when the officer can't (and shouldn't) take the time to explain why you're being stopped. Yes, there are cops who are arrogant and rude, but in my view the arrogant and rudeness shown towards officers is far greater.

That said, some guy in Kansas lost his life in a cop related shooting because some idiot in California, with a history of making false reports, thought it would be fun to have a swat team respond several states away. Was the guy killed because he didn't cooperate when cops showed up? Was the cop a rookie? a drunk? Having a bad day? Just not following procedure? Doesn't really matter, SOME GUY IN KANSAS IS DEAD CAUSE SOMEBODY IN CALIFORNIA THOUGHT IT WAS COOL TO PULL SUCH AN ASININE PRANK! There ARE bad cops, there ARE bad citizens, but this incident would never have happened had some idiot not been bored and pulled out his phone!

[Brattinella]

I'm right there with you, SRTouch.  This both breaks my heart and enrages me beyond all ken.  The cop definitely either needs retraining or a different career.  The original (false) report was given as "the killer" who stated he had killed a person and had the rest of the family at gunpoint and was in the process of fueling an arson in the house.  I think it was a comedy of errors, where the purported crime was astronomical, and they didn't want this monster getting away.  It all just makes me sick.

[Florinaldo]

At least the suspected stupid "prankster" has been arrested and the investigation is going on according to the latest reports.

[Brattinella]

The correct term is "felon" not "prankster".  These publications are very irresponsible labeling him that way.

[SRTouch]

13 hours ago, Brattinella said:

The correct term is "felon" not "prankster".  These publications are very irresponsible labeling him that way.

Oh dear, let's not get started on the Four Estate's current descent into yellow journalism. Suffice it to say that there are reasons why fewer and fewer people trust today's ratings driven media - I believe about a third of those interviewed for a Gallup Survey in 2016 said  they trusted the "NEWS"

[Guest]

In fairness, he can't be called a felon by the press until he's convicted of a felony. Which, I presume, he shortly shall be. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

3 hours ago, SRTouch said:

Oh dear, let's not get started on the Four Estate's current descent into yellow journalism. Suffice it to say that there are reasons why fewer and fewer people trust today's ratings driven media - I believe about a third of those interviewed for a Gallup Survey in 2016 said  they trusted the "NEWS"

Not to start up a big debate about legalities or even legalese, but over the past several years it seems like the word 'alleged' has come to actually mean, 'We're pretty sure you're guilty, we just need to prove it in court.' A prank is covering someone's trees with toilet paper. Somebody getting shot because an idiot has too much time on his hands is....the opposite of a prank.

[funky-rat]

Just to bring some finality, my car was fixed 2 weeks ago, and looks good.  Bonus, there were some small scratches my husband put on the tailgate last year when he pulled out a folding table and the legs fell.  I offered to pay the body shop to fix that while they worked on the scratches from co-worker hitting the car. They said the entire bumper had to be repainted, and since his scratches were just barely surface scratches, they'd fill in on their own.  Bonus!

[AZChristian]

Awesome outcome,  funky.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

40 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Well, Ted Bundy's mom never stopped thinking he was a good boy.

A former colleague of mine carpooled with Ted Bundy.  Said he was very charismatic so he could understand how Ted got people to do things like get in a van to help him, etc.  When the news came out about the murders, my friend neither he nor the other people from the carpool were really surprised.  It's not that they thought he would be a murderer, but they understood how he could have done it, if that makes sense.  

[Guest]

For all you other fans of the amoral, duplicitous litigants on Judge Judy, there's a British show that's streaming now on Netflix called Nightmare Tenants/Slum Landlords. Your heads will explode from how truly awful the people on this show are. Every one of them I could easily see winding up on JJ -- you know, if JJ had a British TV show. 

[DoctorK]

1 hour ago, Giant Misfit said:

you know, if JJ had a British TV show. 

A great idea. However I don't see JJ paying to fly people across the Atlantic, maybe if she can still locate steerage accomodations in a slow steamship. After all it was good enough for at least one of my irish relatives (a great-great-great-etc.-aunt) who came over that way in 1840s, during the great potato famine.

[Schnickelfritz]

10 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

For all you other fans of the amoral, duplicitous litigants on Judge Judy, there's a British show that's streaming now on Netflix called Nightmare Tenants/Slum Landlords. Your heads will explode from how truly awful the people on this show are. Every one of them I could easily see winding up on JJ -- you know, if JJ had a British TV show. 

Great show! There is also Can't Pay: We'll Take it Away. It's about bailiffs ousting bad tenants and collecting debts for the high courts. Again, filled with JJ litigant's European cousins.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Schnickelfritz said:

There is also Can't Pay: We'll Take it Away.

Gonna get on that today! (I requested a forum for Nightmare Tenants...I must discuss those terrible, terrible people.)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

1 hour ago, Florinaldo said:

The show's staff selects the cases and the litigants. They are responsible, perhaps with some oversight from her, for which shining specimens of humanity we are exposed to. Probably one of their selection criteria is which people will make for good TV; the freakier and more disgusting the better in some cases. They too owe their gainful employment to the dregs of society that form a good portion of the show's litigants.

I take your point, but with that said it seems like a strange concept to behave as if JJ shouldn't react to the shenanigans that landed these people in her (fake) courtroom. Because you're right, eighty percent of it is a freakshow of one sort or another, but that's.....not her fault, no matter how much money she makes. Between however many lawsuits about How I Punched Your Mother and/or All My Babydaddies, it doesn't seem like Her Honor's production staff has to dive very deep to find the dregs. I don't even know if JJ has any input about who gets chosen and who doesn't, and since the litigants are the ones agreeing to air their stinky drawers on national television, if she's openly condescending in the face of their lack of shame (or idiocy, take your pick) I can't say as I blame her.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cobalt Stargazer
HOW is not WHO

[Florinaldo]

55 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

I take your point,

My point in the post you reacted to was that she often haughtily dismisses parts of the claims as not worthy of her attention, even though they may be relevant and important to the low-income people who appear before her. Which is not the same as passing judgment on some of the litigants' character (or lack thereof), oftentimes deservedly so.

[Showthyme]

Judge Judy said in an interview that she has no contact with the producers. She does not want to be influenced in any way by the case.

We have certainly seen all cross-sections of people on this show and many of them deserve the smack-down that JJ delivers. However, JJ makes a gazillion dollars a year so she should have to deal with pots and pans and the like. She is getting paid to do it. It does make a difference to low income people and people in general, who simply like their belongings regardless of cost.

I somehow ended up with 2 unopened boxes of Rubbermaid containers that I gave away on Craigslist with a bunch of other things for free. A young woman came to pick them up with two small children clinging to her legs. She said that she was escaping an abusive relationship, left everything behind and was starting over. I believed her story. She was so appreciative. Judge Judy forgets that some people are barely making ends meet so that set of pots and pans is meaningful. 

[Florinaldo]

2 hours ago, Showthyme said:

Judge Judy said in an interview that she has no contact with the producers. She does not want to be influenced in any way by the case.

Thanks for that info. That is exactly the reason I put a qualifyer in my comment as to what input she might have: avoiding contaminating the cases. Although she can certainly enforce some rules, in her contract perhaps, like "no more cell phone contracts cases!".

Edited April 4, 2018 by Florinaldo

[jilliannatalia]

On 12/15/2017 at 10:10 AM, funky-rat said:

Pray for me, JJ peeps.  I was sitting at my desk when a co-worker waltzed in with a smile on her face and said "Hey!  Just wanted to let you know that I hit your car.  But it's not bad.  I just slid in to it and knocked off some dirt (it just snowed, and all cars are covered with road muck)!  Not bad at all!".  I walked outside. She followed me.  She reiterated it's not that bad.  Yes it is.  It's scratched all to heck.  Car is 1 year old - bought it new.  Not a mark on it.  My first brand new car ever.  I turned around, and she was gone.  I called my insurance company and they started a claim, but now I need to go find her on her break, and get her insurance info.  My fear is that she doesn't have any.  She made no offer, and kept downplaying how bad it was.

How did this end up working out, Funky Rat?  Did the ditzy co-worker's insurance cover the damage, or are you scheduled to appear on a court television show in the near future to have your case resolved?

[jilliannatalia]

7 hours ago, Showthyme said:

Judge Judy said in an interview that she has no contact with the producers. She does not want to be influenced in any way by the case.

We have certainly seen all cross-sections of people on this show and many of them deserve the smack-down that JJ delivers. However, JJ makes a gazillion dollars a year so she should have to deal with pots and pans and the like. She is getting paid to do it. It does make a difference to low income people and people in general, who simply like their belongings regardless of cost.

I somehow ended up with 2 unopened boxes of Rubbermaid containers that I gave away on Craigslist with a bunch of other things for free. A young woman came to pick them up with two small children clinging to her legs. She said that she was escaping an abusive relationship, left everything behind and was starting over. I believed her story. She was so appreciative. Judge Judy forgets that some people are barely making ends meet so that set of pots and pans is meaningful. 

Absolutely. JJ thinks that because she presided over family court, she has all the perspective in the world regarding how the less fortunate live.,  Her reality in that regard is about as legitimate as Mitt Romney's wife saying that she had experienced poverty because Mitt had to (gasp!) sell some of his stocks to pay the rent and put food on their table while he was in college. I'm not in any way suggesting that Mitt Romney was even close to the worst candidate ever to appear on a U.S. presidential ballot.  I am saying that the particular comment about how Mitt selling his stocks gave his wife an inside view of poverty was especially tone-deaf, just as some of Judge Judy's comments to or about less-privileged litigants sometimes are.

[funky-rat]

8 hours ago, jilliannatalia said:

How did this end up working out, Funky Rat?  Did the ditzy co-worker's insurance cover the damage, or are you scheduled to appear on a court television show in the near future to have your case resolved?

It's all good.  They agreed to cover the damage, and I got a rental car for 2 days while they removed and re-painted my bumper (bonus - the small scratches my husband put on it around the tailgate - he was pulling out a folding table and the legs fell) got covered over!  There was no body work required for those - they were just surface scratches, unlike what my co-worker did - so you can't tell they were there, and the spot where she scraped up my bumper looks perfect.  My only gripe was the rental car.  It went through Enterprise, and they gave me this car that had 12,000 miles on it, but had holes in the carpet, was absolutely filthy inside, and someone drew all over the headliner in the back seat with ink.  There were shoe marks with mud on the backs of the back seats, so it was likely someone's kid.  And that's really a non-issue gripe, because I had a car for 2 days while mine was being fixed, but I more felt bad for her insurance company, because they paid for this car that was just gross.  When I called Enterprise to tell them to go get it, she asked if everything went well, and I told her that the car was absolutely filthy, and she said she was going to go look at it and apologized, so I'm hoping the insurance company didn't have to pay for it.

[NYCFree]

I'm currently in London. During the first days we were here I had severe jet lag and in wound up watching tv at weird hours. There was Judge Judy in the morning, Judge Judy around 4 pm, and Judge Judy late at night. I've been out and about much more, so I don't know if this is everyday, or if I hit a weird JJ extravaganza.

I've also watched the landlord tenant one (although it had a different name, started with "Rogue Landlords). 

We have done a bunch of sightseeing as well as watch tv...

[augmentedfourth]

When we were in Aruba a number of years ago, we got the same exact CBS feed as our local affiliate. (The NYC/tri-state area one, actually!) We'd go to the beach or do our excursions during the day, come back to the room to shower or nap or whatever, and then if we had some time before dinner, we'd watch the 4:00 episodes of JJ. Sometimes if we had late reservations, we'd watch a little of the 5:00 news for that little taste of home. 

[jilliannatalia]

I'm glad this section exists, because there's  legal issue that has been in the media since last summer when the accident happened that has been bothering me.

 

Venus Williams, a tennis professional  with presumably very deep pockets, was attempting to drive through a light-controlled intersection that had a fairly short green-light cycle  facing the street on which she was traveling.  She entered the intersection on a green light, but another car turned left directly in front of her. She stopped to avoid hitting the left-turning car.  She was stuck in the middle of the intersection when her light turned red. As she slowly (5 mph according to police)  attempted to make her way through the intersection, a car traveling on the intersecting street broadsided her car.  Ms. Williams did not report any injuries, but the driver of the other car and her passenger were injured. The passenger -- the driver's husband -- who was maybe seventy-five years old, sustained internal injuries and  died several days following the accident.

 

The police did not cite Ms. Williams but initially told her she was at fault in the accident. The family and estate of the deceased then filed suit against Williams.  Police, upon viewing surveillance video of the accident, then backtracked and said that Williams was not at fault, but neither did they assign blame to the other driver.

 

Various motions have been made and considered by the judge. God alone knows how long  it will take before the case is eventually settled or tried in court.

 

I don't know if I'm missing something here, and I'm far from an expert on Florida traffic law. I held a Florida driver's license when I was sixteen, but when I renewed two years later i did so in Utah.  For that matter, I've never handled a traffic case legally in any capacity.  

 

My question here is what exactly could Venus Williams have done to prevent or avoid this accident other than possibly not to drive on that day?  Another car turned left in front of her.  Had she hit that car, she would have run the risk of being charged with failure to avoid an accident.  Then, after she braked for the car turning in front of her, what was she supposed to do?  She entered the intersection legally. I believe Florida law states that a driver is not to enter an intersection unless the driver is certain he or she can make it through the intersection prior to the light turning red.  This law, in theory, is flawed, because no one can ever know with absolute certainty that he or she can make it through an intersection prior to the light turning red.  What  I'm suggesting is far-fetched here, but any number of things could happen that would prevent a car from making it through an intersection. A dog or baby could run into the street. Another car could turn in front of the driver in question. Hell, a meteor could even fall and hit one's car, disabling it in the intersection.  I understand that a driver should have a reasonable assurance of being able to proceed through an intersection prior to the light turning red before entering it if that is the law where he or she is driving, but there are no guarantees. Even had Ms. Williams ridiculously said to herself, "The law states that I must make it through the intersection, so I shall ram my car into the car that is turning left in front of me," it's possible that the ensuing collision would have left her car still within the intersection when the light turned red.

 

Sometimes an accident can presumably be the fault of both parties, or perhaps even of neither, but what do others think in this particular case? Who is at fault: Ms. Williams for failing to clear the intersection when the light turned red,  or the other car for failure to avoid an accident  when the driver went barreling into an intersection that had not yet been cleared?  (Florida motor vehicle code does state that motorists have an obligation to avoid collision whenever possible.) Anyone reading this probably can tell which driver I consider to be at fault. I'm very sorry for the injuries sustained by the driver and for the loss of her husband, but that doesn't automatically mean the other driver is at fault.  

 

The attorneys for the family and estate of the deceased want Ms. Williams' phone records to determine if Williams was on her phone at the time of the accident, as well as a list of medications she was taking at the time..  I'm not convinced that either of those factors are relevant here, as no amount of removal of distractions or of alertness impairments from Williams would have prevented the accident.  

 

To me, this reeks of a greedy attorney [who had some idea of Williams' wealth] chasing the ambulance and convincing the family of the deceased to file a whopping law suit.  Rigor mortis had barely set in when the suit was filed. I don't understand why the driver of the car that hit Williams wasn't cited for failure to avoid an accident once the available video footage was reviewed.  I get that the family was grieving and that it would have been painful for the driver to have faced the idea that she inadvertently caused her husband's death,  but perhaps this legal mess could have been avoided had law enforcement personnel more effectively fulfilled their duties.

 

I'm not an especially avid fan of either Venus Williams or of her sister Serena, but I can see well past that. Just because a driver is wealthy should not make her automatically at fault in an accident. Simply because her portfolio could probably absorb the loss of several million dollars or so doesn't mean that she should be forced to fork over that sort of settlement when it's very difficult to come up with any scenario for this case in which she would actually be at fault.

 

And finally, this is a case over which I would love to see Judy Sheindlin preside. She has a strong sense of right and wrong, and this, to me anyway, seems to be a relatively clear-cut case of right and wrong.

Edited April 6, 2018 by jilliannatalia

[DoctorK]

jilliannatalia, I agree that this is a messy situation. Williams, through no fault of her own got trapped in the middle of an intersection, then proceded cautiously to clear the intersection. The other driver may have technically had the right of way. However:

1. When I went through driver training, one point the instructor made repeatedly was the "Right of Way" rules don't tell you when you can go, they tell you when you have to yield, they don't allow you to proceed recklessly or dangerously.

2. Since Williams was already in the middle of the intersection and moving slowly before the other driver got the green light, the other driver should have seen that her path was blocked and waited, instead of blindly going forward.

I would consider it the same situation as if you car suddenly and without warning, dies in the middle of an intersection, your light turns red, and the cross traffic light turns green. That does not allow the cross traffic to say "I've got a green light" and just charge into the intersection into your car. Number one rule is to avoid collisions if possible, no matter what any other driver may do. As usual, YMMV.

 

ETA: I agree that this case smells like an attorney smelling a deep pockets settlement.

Edited April 6, 2018 by DoctorK
embarrassing misspellings

[funky-rat]

If it goes to trial, the other driver's age may work against her.  When I was 16, I wasn't feeling well and my mom gave permission for me to drive home and leave school.  It wasn't anything that precluded me from driving (like a migraine) and didn't require doctor's care, but I would have felt better at home.  I was parked on a one way street that didn't allow left turns at the end - the way I would have had to turn to go home.  But I knew I could turn right, then turn right again, and a 3rd right turn would put me in the direction I needed to go (essentially going around the block).  The first right turn put me on to a 4 lane road.  I stopped, and saw the way was clear. There was one person at the top of the hill in the 2nd lane (furthest away from where I was going to turn).  It was a brown car.  I puled out and went in the lane closest to me.  I had just barely started to accelerate (I was going less than 5 MPH and wouldn't have gone fast anyway because I was approximately a block from my first turn, which was at a red light) when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.  It was the brown car, and it was in my lane.  The elderly woman in the front seat next to me was asleep.  The elderly man appeared to be either asleep or passed out.  I immediately stopped as I was barely moving.  His rear fender clipped my front bumper, tearing it off and pushing the right front fender in to the passenger side front door.  That spun him sideways, and he then went straight into a concrete barrier that was to my right, and smashed up his car.  I freaked out.  The ambulance showed up quickly and the elderly lady was bleeding.  The elderly man was pacing around yelling about young drivers, and how I "hit him", etc.  The cops told me to stay in my car.  Finally, they put me in the back of their car so they could do some stuff to mine, and I walked back to school as the accident happened right next to it.  The gym class was standing at the fence, watching it all unfold (they came out after impact).  The cops told me the accident was NOT my fault, and they would be citing the other driver for being in my lane and causing an accident.  I told him everything I saw, and he said he knew I was telling the truth because my car was at a dead stop when he hit me, and they could tell because the impact caused a small pile of debris under my car (apparently this happens a lot in accidents) and also that he tore my bumper off, so there was no way for me to have hit him (his fender was peeled back - had I hit him, it would have been pushed in).

His insurance fixed my car (a 1986 Ford Escort - accident happened in 1989) and I thought it was done.  Then I get notice to appear in court.  He is suing.  Apparently the elderly woman had just had surgery and her incision was ripped open by the impact, and they were still claiming I hit him.  His lawyer wanted to know why I was skipping school.  I brought records to show I had permission to leave, and my mom also testified she gave me permission to go home (we didn't mention I wasn't feeling well, because even it wasn't anything to keep me from driving, they would have pounced on that).  The cop showed up to testify on my behalf, and explained the debris pile thing, and the damage to the cars told it had to happen the way it did.  The judge asked me what happened and what I saw.  I told them the woman was sleeping and it appeared the man was either sleeping or passed out.  I talked about wanting to turn at the red light so I was barely moving and then was dead stopped.  They then questioned the elderly man and all he wanted to do was accuse me of driving like a maniac, and that I hit him.  The judge started asking him about that day.  The elderly man said they were visiting their daughter in Gettysburg, and they got up early to drive back (this happened around 10 am-ish).  They made no stops on the way home (he was about 45 minutes from home when he hit me, and about 2-3 hours in to his drive overall).  The radio was off (he doesn't like to listen to it - it's all garbage).  And yes, his wife was sleeping in the front seat.  The judge said he firmly believed the elderly man dozed off because he got up early, and his wife was dozing in the passenger seat, and he drifted in to my lane, and if it hadn't happened like it did, it could have been much worse.  If he'd have been a few more feet down, he could have driven right through a major intersection where cars were moving, or he could have driven on to the front lawn at school, running someone over or hitting the building.  The guy was 78 years old.  He flat-out refused to admit he made a mistake.  After the trial was over, the judge and cop both told me I did a good job, and they told me he was fighting so hard because the state would likely take his license and even if he kept it, he'd lose his insurance, but they do take the ages of the elderly in to account when they're involved in accidents due to health issues, delayed reflexes, poor vision, etc.  So that may very well work against the person suing Venus.

Edited April 6, 2018 by funky-rat
Continuity

[augmentedfourth]

I can think of at least two instances in recent memory where I was in Venus's position, the light was clearly green when I entered the intersection, but it turned red when I was stuck right in the middle. Once was at a T-intersection, where I was making a left. Farther down the roadway, there was construction going on, so soon after I entered the intersection, everyone just...stopped. Luckily I just heard a lot of angry honking, which, where would you like me to go?

 

The other...let me see if I can describe this clusterfuck I have to navigate about six times a week, as it is in between my house and my kids' preschool. Okay, the main intersection (which we'll call Intersection 1) is a 4-way intersection for two roads running north-south and east-west. Each side of the intersection has a straight lane, a left turn lane, and a right turn lane. Immediately to the east of Intersection 1 is Intersection 2. There's a road from the northeast and a road from the southeast that feed onto that east-west road. Northeast road and southwest road have stop signs at Intersection 2. If you're traveling westbound on east-west road, you have a stop sign, but if you're traveling eastbound, you don't. (Clear as mud, right?) Between Intersection 1 and Intersection 2, there's room for about 3 cars to safely fit in those three lanes, though obviously people are jerks and more often try to squeeze in. Yes, there's usually a lot of a backup at those stop signs, but I don't know what else can really be done there.

 

So a few weeks ago, I went to pick up my kids from school, and was driving eastbound on east-west road. Green light at Intersection 1, no stop sign in my direction at Intersection 2, everything should be groovy, right? WRONG! A bus driver coming from southeast road just got tired of waiting at his stop sign, so he pulled up to stake his claim in line at Intersection 1, completely blocking everything at Intersection 2. Leaving me as the schmuck stuck in the middle of Intersection 1 when the light turned. I seriously thought I was going to die. The car two ahead of mine was finally able to inch around the %@&$-ing bus and I could at least get out of the middle of the road. There was a lot of honking and glaring and maybe an angry gesture or two directed at the bus driver. Sigh. I'm really surprised there aren't more accidents there, and I do try to avoid it whenever possible, but sometimes (like going to my kids' school), there just isn't another way.

[jilliannatalia]

8 hours ago, DoctorK said:

 the "Right of Way" rules don't tell you when you can go, they tell you when you have to yield, they don't allow you to proceed recklessly or dangerously.

2. Since Williams was already in the middle of the intersection and moving slowly before the other driver got the green light, the other driver should have seen that her path was blocked and waited, instead of blindly going forward.

I would consider it the same situation as if you car suddenly and without warning, dies in the middle of an intersection, your light turns red, and the cross traffic light turns green. That does not allow the cross traffic to say "I've got a green light" and just charge into the intersection into your car. Number one rule is to avoid collisions if possible, no matter what any other driver may do. As usual, YMMV.

 

ETA: I agree that this case smells like an attorney smelling a deep pockets settlement.

This pretty much sums up the situation.

[AngelaHunter]

2 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

I could probably build a PC from the ground up that costs $3000, but it would have to have the absolutely BEST video card available, a real good one around $1200, and a super-duper power supply and fast memory, etc.

Wow, you can do that? I'm seriously impressed. Kudos! Anyway, obviously only the best for William IV (sounds like some old-timey king) to what - play video war games? Join FetLife? Well, whatever he needed it for I just know it was money well spent, right Ms. Mudgrace?

*goes off to Google and find out what you get for 3K*

[SRTouch]

6 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

I could probably build a PC from the ground up that costs $3000, but it would have to have the absolutely BEST video card available, a real good one around $1200, and a super-duper power supply and fast memory, etc.  I think I built my last PC for about $800.

Ah, remember the old Computer Shopper - thick telephone book-ish monthly magazine full a computer component ads. Good old days of early computers - pre-windows, multiple DOS's - not just MicroSoft everything, batch files, CONFIG.SYS, & Autoexec.bat..... course way before Internet - think I may still have a couple 56k modems, my first was 300baud... use an old Seagate HD as a paperweight in my homeoffice, and have an old Logitech keyboard on the shelf that's heavy enough to be a weapon ?

[configdotsys]

30 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

Ah, remember the old Computer Shopper - thick telephone book-ish monthly magazine full a computer component ads. Good old days of early computers - pre-windows, multiple DOS's - not just MicroSoft everything, batch files, CONFIG.SYS, & Autoexec.bat..... course way before Internet - think I may still have a couple 56k modems, my first was 300baud... use an old Seagate HD as a paperweight in my homeoffice, and have an old Logitech keyboard on the shelf that's heavy enough to be a weapon ?

Did somebody call my name? ;)

OMG! Computer Shopper! My favorite mag to browse. Such memories. I was building back then too. Had a 300 baud sticking out of the back of my Commodore 64 that connected me to Q-Link and PlayNet. I remember my first PC came with no hard drive and how pleased I was to get a 20 meg hard drive that came with a controller card. My nick here is a tribute to those wonderful old days! I better stop talking now or I'll go on forever!

[Brattinella]

39 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Wow, you can do that? I'm seriously impressed. Kudos! Anyway, obviously only the best for William IV (sounds like some old-timey king) to what - play video war games? Join FetLife? Well, whatever he needed it for I just know it was money well spent, right Ms. Mudgrace?

*goes off to Google and find out what you get for 3K*

Gosh, thanks!  Yeah, I worked in a computer shop for a while and learned how to do that.  It was a 3 man shop, and I was one of the 'men'.  Fun stuff, actually.  Some people like to have a gorgeous computer case, I prefer a plain case with special 'guts'.

30 minutes ago, SRTouch said:

Ah, remember the old Computer Shopper - thick telephone book-ish monthly magazine full a computer component ads. Good old days of early computers - pre-windows, multiple DOS's - not just MicroSoft everything, batch files, CONFIG.SYS, & Autoexec.bat..... course way before Internet - think I may still have a couple 56k modems, my first was 300baud... use an old Seagate HD as a paperweight in my homeoffice, and have an old Logitech keyboard on the shelf that's heavy enough to be a weapon ?

Yep, we have some old parts in the house, lots of power supplies, HDs, I only wish I could build a laptop!

[AngelaHunter]

Wow, I'm such a noob. Never touched a computer until 2003 when we got hooked up to internet on my job.:(  My brother is like you guys - in since the beginning and I only got a computer after I made him promise he would be my personal Help desk.

I actually texted the Help Desk to ask what kind of computer cost 3K, so I'd know the requirements and tastes of William IV, on someone else's dime of course.

[Jamoche]

Start maxing out disk size, memory, and processor speed, and it's easy. I did get a $3K computer when I got laid off - but I'm a software engineer, the ones I had at work topped $5K easily, and I really did need it to keep my skills up to date while job-hunting; the one I use to hang out with you folks is much cheaper.

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, Jamoche said:

but I'm a software engineer, the ones I had at work topped $5K easily

Yes, my "Help desk" informed me it was easy to get a laptop up to 6K. This show and the posters here are so educational.

1 hour ago, Jamoche said:

the one I use to hang out with you folks is much cheaper

The one I use is a 559$ special. I save my 650$ laptop for special occasions. :p

[funky-rat]

On ‎4‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 9:12 PM, configdotsys said:

Did somebody call my name? ;)

OMG! Computer Shopper! My favorite mag to browse. Such memories. I was building back then too. Had a 300 baud sticking out of the back of my Commodore 64 that connected me to Q-Link and PlayNet. I remember my first PC came with no hard drive and how pleased I was to get a 20 meg hard drive that came with a controller card. My nick here is a tribute to those wonderful old days! I better stop talking now or I'll go on forever!

I got a degree in computer science.  Graduated in 1994.  Part of that was a course on computer repair.  None of those computers had hard drives - used boot discs.  I still have my papers on how to set dip switches, etc.  When I took advanced word processing, we used Word Perfect, and I still have the function key overlay.  And it has white out on it because at some point, the function set changed.  When I got my first "real" computer in 1993 (so I didn't have to spend all night in the computer lab), it had a 120 MEGABYTE hard drive, and I thought I was living large.  It was a Pionex 486.  That thing was a workhorse.  My first actual computer was a TI 99 4/A, and it had a tape drive (fancy!).  I learned BASIC on that.  But coding much beyond BASIC is lost on me.

[bad things are bad]

ah, but funky-rat...did you ever have to program using punch cards?? 

[funky-rat]

53 minutes ago, bad things are bad said:

ah, but funky-rat...did you ever have to program using punch cards?? 

No.  I don't go back that far.  ;)

[Zahdii]

I got my first computer in 1991.  Not knowing anything about computers, but about to go back to college and under the impression that all college students needed a computer, I relied on the salesman at our local furniture store (the only place in town that sold computers) to fix me up.  I was assured that I had the latest, most powerful, and best computer available.  For $1600, with a down payment of $200 and monthly payments of $80, I became the proud owner of a DOS 286 PC.  (I was terribly impressed that it had a modem so it could access this thing called the internet, where I was assured that the entire knowledge of the world was available, but I'd have to hook it up to my phone and dial long distance to get on, and I wasn't about to pay long distance rates for that.) 

Anyway, I happily memorized that my computer had DOS 5.0 and ran Windows 3.1, preloaded.  According to the salesman, having the software preloaded was a very good deal.  According to him, loading software was a tricky business that could easily lead to disaster, so I was lucky that my computer had the software already in place.  (It took a long time before I realized that my shiny new computer was already old news when I bought it and that loading software was easy and actually enjoyable, because the DOS for Dummies book I bought later on informed me that true computer nerds required Coke and Cheetos to do the job right.  Those people really knew their audience.)

I got it home and waited until my older kid was in school and the younger one was napping, then I unpacked it and put it together according to the instructions.  But I was terrified to turn it on.  What if I'd messed it up and somehow managed to hook the wrong cable to the wrong connector?  I could short out the whole system and that would be $1600 down the drain, maybe even start a fire and burn the house down!  I actually called tech support and made a fool of myself asking for verification that it was OK to turn the computer on.  In the end I waited until my husband got home and finally pushed. the. button.  It was almost anticlimatic when the computer didn't start to smoke and sizzle.

I loved that first computer.  I managed to screw it up many times and had to reload Windows more times than I can count.  I even had to wipe the hard drive and reload DOS a few times.  I didn't get my next computer for perhaps ten years, when I got my first mouse and on the internet for the first time.

[AngelaHunter]

Who likes to read? I love books and have read myself to sleep every night since I was about 8. Anyway, I got my first e-reader for Christmas and although I didn't think I'd like it, I now love it.

It's a Kobo and every week they send lists of free ebooks. It seems that since the rousing success of the barely-literate and execrable "50 Shades" everyone is an author, all expecting fame and fortune. Nearly every free book is about a young alpha-male billionaire (I guess millionaire will no longer suffice) HUNK with washboard abs. They are all either/and: gorgeous/a werewolf/a bad boy/mysterious or a Dom. Seems bondage and S&M are now light reading for the mainstream.

The heroine (who is gorgeous) and rich hunk always have Mary Sue/Barry Lou/fanfic names, like "Rayen" "Grif Steele" "Caine" "Rylan" "Anea" or "Ember" and they have a love/hate, tempestuous relationship that builds the sexual tension (ho!) until they realize they're madly in love and go at it like rabbits. Never saw that coming.

Great literature it is not, but popular it is. People, you too can make money churning out drivel. Why not?

So bemused was I with this endless list of gag-inducing crap I just had to save some of the covers and make up this, and yes - I DO have too much time on my hands. I could have even more if I could figure out how to get Byrd to support me.

Note: Apparently, even Old West gunslingers paraded around shirtless to showcase those abs.

Even the so-called "authors" give themselves Mary Sue names!

ETA: Notice the 4 - 5 star ratings on this swill. There truly is no hope.

Edited May 31, 2018 by AngelaHunter

[Brattinella]

3 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

So bemused was I with this endless list of gag-inducing crap I just had to save some of the covers and make up this, and yes - I DO have too much time on my hands.

Yikes!  You weren't just whistling Dixie!  I too am a voracious reader, and I've had a kindle for a long time now.  I don't have any bare-chested folks in my library, though.  I get my books from wendy's.

[AngelaHunter]

7 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

I get my books from wendy's.

URL, please? Is it only for Kindle?

Here is from my latest offering. Honestly, I took one free book that didn't look too bad and ended up still feeling ripped off. I can read better and more literate stuff on fan fiction sites.

Here is one from today's "Free" offerings. Nope, not even if they paid me. I alternate between disgust and hilarity on seeing it has "7,000 five-star ratings on Goodreads". 

Go away, shaved,bare-chested, billionaire hunks with unquenchable desire. I have to wonder how they made billions of dollars since it seems they spend their lives in the gym, pumping iron and gulping steroids:

 

 

[Brattinella]

13 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

URL, please? Is it only for Kindle?

Here is from my latest offering. Honestly, I took one free book that didn't look too bad and ended up still feeling ripped off. I can read better and more literate stuff on fan fiction sites.

Here is one from today's "Free" offerings. Nope, not even if they paid me. I alternate between disgust and hilarity on seeing it has "7,000 five-star ratings on Goodreads". 

Go away, shaved,bare-chested, billionaire hunks with unquenchable desire. I have to wonder how they made billions of dollars since it seems they spend their lives in the gym, pumping iron and gulping steroids:

 

 

May I PM it to you?  I don't want them inundated.