Sabby Ann

I attended a very interesting presentation today, put on by the Michigan State Police, regarding speed limit law.  Most of the information I already knew, but they gave a great overview of the subject, with a handout summarizing the applicable laws. There was also some interesting dialogue between some of the engineers and law enforcement officials that were in attendance. 

The legislation for speed limits underwent some pretty big changes in 2006, and a new set of criteria for how speed limits can be established was set. Basically, the law (MCL 257.627) now says that the prima facie speed limit is based on the number of access points (driveways and intersections), and can otherwise be set higher or lower if an engineering study (conducted in accordance with standard traffic engineering principles) determines it is appropriate to do so. Engineering studies typically use the 85th percentile speed to determine what is “reasonable and prudent”, and therefore what the posted speed limit should be. There are other considerations as well (pedestrian crosswalks, hills & curves, etc.), but in general most drivers will drive at a speed that enables them to respond to safely navigate and respond to potential hazards… 

Of course, there are all sorts of exceptions that allow for fixed lower speed limits (such as in platted residential areas, business districts, around schools, through parks, etc.), and there are still maximum speed limits (55 mph/70 mph). 

Since the vast majority of speed limits are set artificially low (mostly for political reasons, don’t get me started on that!), I knew that it was pretty easy to get out of speeding ticket. There are several valid grounds to have a ticket thrown out in court, and the recent changes in speed limit laws have made it even easier to fight speeding tickets in Michigan. 

That said, something that I was not aware of was that the law (MCL 257.627 [10]) states that if a speed limit is not properly established, then the legal speed limit reverts to 55 MPH.

So, let’s say a speed limit is set artificially or improperly low (30 mph), for whatever reason, and you receive a citation for speeding (45 mph). Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), you request a copy of the traffic control order and documentation indicating how the speed limit was determined. If they can’t produce sufficient documentation, and the speed limit was not based on the number of access points along the stretch of roadway, then the speed limit would actually be 55 mph, and the ticket would be tossed out on appeal. Even if the number of access points, or an engineering study, would have otherwise determined that the appropriate speed limit should be 40 mph, the legal speed limit would be 55 (at least, until they got around to correcting the speed limit). Rather interesting how that works. 

I could go on, but I’ll save more on the subject for a future post.

Growing up, my dad always used to take out the garbage. I don’t think that I had to take out the garbage to the street even once… until I got married, that is. 

I’m all for equal opportunity when it comes to household activities - mostly because I don’t want to be the only person cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry all the time. But in general, the division of household labor still seems to be along gender lines. I do most of the laundry and cleaning, while Hubby takes care of outside maintenance like lawn-care and snow removal. So it seems only logical that taking out the garbage is a man’s job…

But when the man of the house is absent minded, and can’t remember what day garbage pickup is, or if I forgot to remind Hubby that the trash needs to go out, or if I he’s running late… Then I have to drag the cans to the road, or else wait until the following week… 

And so that’s fine, I’m a 21st century woman.  I’ll take the garbage out. And I do, really.

But then shouldn’t HE then have to bring the can back up to the house in the evening? Afterall, I bring the empty can back to the house when he takes out the trash…

It’s really a matter of principle, of fairness.

And that’s why the empty garbage can is still sitting at the road, two full days after the garbage were taken away…

I spent a few minutes today looking through my calendar, trying to figure out how much vacation time I’ll be able to “save up” (I’m limited to 40 hours carry-over, but I’ve yet to carry over anywhere near that!). Out of the 15 days (120 hours) of paid time off (PTO) I receive each year, I usually use one week for sick time and for doctor appointments, and the remainder for vacation. 

This year I’ll have to take a few days off for wedding photography. We have a couple of events booked that either require travel or that occur on a weekday. Hopefully I will be able to work four ten-hour days during those weeks, to avoid using my precious PTO (or at least to minimize how much I need to take!). 

I usually take a few extra days around the holidays, especially when they fall mid-week. For example, Christmas fell on a Thursday last year, so we had Wednesday & Thursday off for the holiday - and I used a day of PTO on that Friday. 

For 2009, it looks like every single paid holiday creates a long weekend. Here’s the list: 

• Jan 1 (New Years Day) - Friday
• Apr 10 (Good Friday) - 1/2 Day - Friday 
• May 25 (Memorial Day) - Monday
• July 3 (Independence Day, obs) - Friday
• Sept 7 (Labor Day) - Monday
• Nov 26-27 (Thanksgiving) - Thurs & Fri
• Dec 24-25 (Christmas) - Thurs & Fri 

I’ll probably still use vacation time to lengthen some of the holiday weekends, but I’m pretty happy at how the 2009 calendar worked out!  :)

We’ve been accused of eating out a lot… and we do. I don’t enjoy cooking, and when I come home from work I’d much rather lounge on the couch watching the latest episode of General Hospital. 

We have been trying to cut back some, though I’ve never bothered to track how often we go out or how much we spend. I spent a few minutes browsing through online statements, and here’s what I found from the past few weeks:

1/25:  $22.41  Big Boy 
1/29:  $31.64  Benihana
2/01:  $12.56  Noodles & Co
2/06:  $10.49  China King
2/11:  $17.77  BD’s Mongolian BBQ 

So it looks like, in three weeks time, we only went out for dinner 5 times. We spent a total of $94.87, which doesn’t seem too bad. 

To be fair though, we have had a few meals out (or ordered in) that we haven’t had to pay for ourselves. We’ve gone out a couple of times with my parents, a friend bought pizza, and another friend picked up our bar tab. 

We also each went out to lunch once with coworkers, and once to fast-food. Hubby went out to Max & Erma’s with his coworkers, and also grabbed a snack at McDonalds (not in the same day!). I went out to Noodles & Co with my coworkers, and had a breakfast of powdered-sugar donuts from Dunkin Donuts. These items add another $24.67 to the 3-week tally, bringing the total to $119.24.

We purchased our home two and a half years ago. At the time, most houses in the area had been sitting on the market for several months, and interest rates were rising. We had spent several weeks (months, perhaps?) searching property listings and viewing houses. 

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Recently I was emailing back & forth with a group of girl friends, talking about those annoying things that our significant others sometimes do. I commented that Eric never rarely cleans the bathroom and although I don’t really mind doing it myself, I can’t believe how dirty the rim of the toilet gets after just one week.

Since it only takes a few minutes to clean the toilet rim and seat, I asked Eric to just let me know (mid-week) if/when it needs cleaning. Not once did he mention that it was dirty, yet every time I’d go to clean the toilet it would be gross (at least by my standards!). I asked Eric why he hadn’t mentioned that it was dirty, and he simply responded that he “hadn’t noticed.” Ahh, boys… 

Anyways, somehow there was a misunderstanding, and I received the following message: 

Wait…are you saying you didn’t clean the toilet underside for TWO MONTHS!?! ewww ! haha. I guess it’s not one of those things that’s staring you in the face so it’s not like it seems gross.  

It turns out that the message was directed at another friend, who had also emailed a story about a male housemate & toilet-cleaning!  I’ll give her the benefit of doubt, and assume that she didn’t let the toilet go quite that long without a cleaning (perhaps there was a rotating schedule of cleaning responsibilities, and two months elapsed before it was her turn?)…

I am absolutely horrible at keeping up on housekeeping.  BUT, for the record: I have never let the toilet go two months between cleanings!

Dusting, on the other hand, …

I’ve had some money burning a hole in my wallet since Christmas, and so I had planned to go clothes shopping this afternoon. I was hoping to find some clothing for work (especially some new slacks!), so I figured that I would hit up a few stores. 

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