$172 later I have secured my unrestricted driver license! I am extremely happy. The original suspension was supposed to go until October of this year but for some reason it was lifted.
I am actually eligible for my Commercial Driver License which was an even bigger shock. I opted to obtain the Class C today because I was not prepared to take the written Class A test. I took the written test for the Class C and it was a piece of cake, but the Commercial test is a bit tougher when you haven't kept up on the little things that change year to year.
I can go back into the DMV at any point and upgrade it when I am prepared to take the written test. I will also need to get a Medical to put on file as mine has expired.
Things are looking up and moving forward... more to come..
I had my day in court today. Due Process was served once again in Tehama County as I was lectured at length by the Honorable Judge King before he re-instated me in the Right Road Counseling Center DUI Program.
I was not guaranteed this outcome though and all things considered it turned out as well as it could for me.
It went something like this...
5:30 AM
The sound of my own voice wakes me up.. I ended up recording myself on my cell phone because I was growing immune to the alarm clock. The Waaaa-Waaaa-Waaaa was just not doing it anymore. You know what I mean right? That most annoying droning sound alarm clocks have which at first is set to just the right frequency to get under your skin. The frequency that we grow to hate more and more each morning. The frequency that has sent many alarm clocks to an early grave as they shatter into pieces against the far wall of the bedroom...
Yes, that frequency. After a while you don't hear it anymore. Some people have two different clocks so they have to get up to shut one off. Instead I recorded my voice on the phone and used the file as the alarm sound. It works great!
'Get Up You Fucking Piece Of Shit.. I Said Move Your Ass... NOW...', It never fails to waken me from even the deepest slumber. I roll over and shut it off. Slowly I drag myself out of bed and get ready for court. Yay. The landlady drove me in at 7:15 AM as I didn't want to be late for this. We pulled up in front of the Tehama County Superior Court at 7:30 AM sharp.
I had been told by the county clerk to appear today at 8:00 AM however I couldn't find my name on that list they tack to the wall next to the door.. There was no record of me.
I looked again.. People vs. Javier Villalobos, People vs. Edna Jones, People vs. Oscar Gomez Jr., etc., but not me.. nope, I wasn't listed. Not good. I saw a bailiff and asked him about it. He told me that he would call over to the clerks office and find out what was going on.
8:00 AM
We shuffle into the court room through a door that was labeled Dept. 1, which to me looked just like Dept. 2 or Dept. 3 for that matter. Drab, formal but not fancy. A lot of uncomfortable looking wooden seats built on metal frames that bolted to the floor in rows. Gold braided ropes to mark the seating area off from the rest of the room. A few ugly and not-so-well maintained wooden tables, then more braided rope. A jury box off to the left on a raised platform. To the right was a shitty little fold out table and chair where the court reporter sat.
At the far end of the room facing out was the judges chair. The chair was plush and sat behind a tall not-so-well maintained wooden podium. Two doors, one to each side of the judges podium. The left one had a sign that said JUDGE, and the right one had a sign that said JURY.
The whole room was covered with a piss-gold indoor/outdoor carpet. We were told to leave the first row of seats open. I went to the second row and sat. The seats were uncomfortable. I looked over at the bailiff who I had spoken to outside earlier. He was watching us find our seats but seemed to sense I was looking at him and turned at that instant to look directly at me. He leaned over and spoke to a woman seated at one of the ugly tables. She looked up at me and then began riffling through folders. Finally she spoke to him and he turned to me again and asked my name. I gave it and they both looked down at the folders again. In a moment he walked over to me and said that the county clerk had forgotten to put my name on the roster. But not to worry I would just be a late add-on he explained.
9:00 AM
The judge finally enters the court room. The bailiff announces his arrival. Court is now in session. In the last hour a small group of lawyers had straggled in a few at a time and they were seated in front of the first gold braided ropes. The first cases to be heard were apparently the ones in which the lawyers were representing people. This went on for some time, quite some time. I saw my lawyer during all of this as he was representing another case this morning. He was too absorbed to notice me. Most of the cases were of a DUI nature, a lot were exactly the same as my situation. It gave me a chance to see how the judge was reacting and what his overall disposition was. He seemed to be tolerant for the most part, however some of the defendants were less than respectful or had poor attitudes and weak excuses. In these instances he actually had some of them arrested on the spot.
10:40 AM
The judge called a 5 minute recess. We milled around outside and stretched our legs. I updated twitter and then went back inside. The room was thinning out now as quite a few cases had been dealt with. I was beginning to think that last minute add-on meant last case of the day. Turns out I was right.
11:14 AM
Aside from two people who were sitting in the front row waiting on paperwork I was the last defendant in the room. The judge called me. I stepped up and he asked the District Attorney for a synopsis and recommendation, as he had done with everyone all morning.
The DA brushed over his documents and then looked perplexed. 'I've never spoken to this man, nor do I have a file on him your Honor..' The judge turns to me and is about to say something when the woman sitting at the ugly table says, 'He was a last minute add-on your Honor.' The judge nods and looks over my case file briefly then looks up and while eyeballing me over the top of his glasses he asks me the same questions he's been asking everyone all morning. 'Do you understand that you have violated the terms of your probation?' 'Yes Sir.' 'Do you understand the consequences?' 'Yes Sir. 'Do you wish to retain a court appointed lawyer and continue this case at a later date?' 'No Sir.'
So ultimately I end up explaining my situation and the judge re-instates me to the program with a long lecture about how serious it is that I don't show up in court again.
I intend to comply. It was 11:36 AM when I finally got out. All in all it could have been a lot worse.
The point for me is to keep a journal of events that take place in my life and document them. I do this in the same way some people might write in a diary each night before bed. The difference is that those diaries are private, my blog is not. That's just fine with me. That's they way I want it. Which brings up another question.. Am I writing the truth or do I embellish?
I post many things on the blog. Therefore it's not a simple matter to say everything I post is either fact or fiction. It depends to a large degree upon what is being posted. Most of my posts are of a personal journal nature. These postings are quite factual. More than just translating the facts, a lot of what goes into my posts are my innermost thoughts or feelings as well. My emotions, as best as I can describe them, go into these journal entries.
Sometimes things happen in our lives that are embarrassing to say the least. These incidents get shoved to the recesses of our mind. We remember them, but we hope others will forget.. That's normal. What about the people who keep secret diaries? Do they write down those most embarrassing moments? Probably some of them at least, after all it's a secret diary right? So what about a format such as mine where it's not a secret? Do I just omit certain things that happen to avoid embarrassment? Do I lie to the blog and change the facts in my defense?
I could. However keeping true to the original point of this journal I won't. I can't destroy the integrity of this blog by hiding things that I may not be comfortable with. To document these events is the primary reason of doing the blog in the first place!
With that said folks, I fucked up yesterday. Not a minor snafu, oh no... It was big. I was on the fence for a brief moment as to whether or not to post about it. Integrity prevailed, you can't lie to the blog.. so here it is......
I'm officially an ass.
I've been saying over and over how committed I am to putting these DUI classes behind me.
"I'm not gonna be late.", I said in the beginning. Then the other day I had the 47 second scenario. I renewed my convictions on this matter and made another firm commitment to be on time. Then what happens? One week later I totally forget to go to the class all together.
How in the fuck does that happen?
I didn't even think about what day it was until I was in town with the landlady to get dog food and a few other items. I have a gift card for Burger King that I got at work. I asked her if she wanted something to eat, my treat since I have this card. She said sure and we headed over to BK. Burger King is on the same street that my DUI class is on and as soon as we pulled onto that street my mind does what minds tend to do.. I suddenly thought of my DUI class and then with a rush of adrenaline I realized what day it was.
It hit me hard and fast. After I finished cursing, I asked if she could take me over there so I could see how much trouble I was in. She took me over and I went inside.
Now first off let me say I know that this was entirely my own fault. However the people who run The Right Road Counseling Center are some of the biggest assholes I've ever dealt with. Arrogant. That's the best word to describe them. Granted they get to deal with some people who just can't be dealt with any other way. But there's no excuse for all the eye rolling and heavy sighing as they quite obviously don't care what you have to say. That includes anytime you even inquire about anything for informational purposes.
Well that's fine. Karma will sort that shit out soon enough..
In any event, I walk in and ask how much trouble I'm in. The lady at the front desk actually ignores me at first and then finally looks up with an exaggerated expression of stupidity on her face as she tells me she doesn't even know who I am. She knows. But she has to act like an ass so that her position of authority over me is reinforced. It's like they have a code they're required to follow:
No emotion is to be displayed
Always make the student wait before addressing them
Don't EVER let a student speak to you in anything but a submissive tone
All students are here because they screwed up, they deserve whatever happens to them
Always remember, You call the shots, not the student. Don't tolerate any excuses, it's not your fault
And of course they make more money each and every time a student makes a mistake.
So we finally get past all the bullshit and I am told that because it's been more than 21 days since I attended a class that I have violated my probation and must return to court. How did that happen? Simple really, They were closed for the holidays so I missed a class there.
Yes, even though they are closed, it's my responsibility to reschedule the session or I am in violation.
Then I was 47 seconds late the next week. Finally I spaced out my session the week after that as I explained above. That makes 22 days since I attended. Now I have to go back to court and explain to the judge what happened and ask to be reinstated in my classes.
The system is intentionally designed to be difficult at the very least. The more times you screw up, the more money the system generates. So that's where I am with this. I called this morning and got scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday at 8:00 am to try and resolve this. I am at the mercy of the court. Kicking myself for not remembering but despising the system at the same time for making it so hard to comply.
I must be on the receiving end of some shitty karma.. what did I do?
That list could be a blog unto itself.. lol
So I head out on my bike this morning for my DUI class which starts at noon. It's about 10 miles and I wanted to make a stop at Home Depot to check the schedule on my way. I padded the time so I wouldn't be late. Ever since I started these classes there has been a notice posted on the front door that states:
'Effective January 1, 2008 there will no longer be a grace period. Anyone arriving even 1 minute late to class will be turned away and have to make up that session as well as pay a late fee.'
Well I never really gave it any thought because I'm committed to putting these classes behind me. I'm not going to be late so it's a non-issue for me. I haven't been late at all, rather early to each of my sessions.. until today.
Today I was 47 seconds late.
They turned me away. Ok, it's not like they didn't warn us ahead of time but c'mon!
47 seconds?
I roll up in front of the place, lean my bike against a post, walk in and stop at the front desk where a lady is sitting. I should have just gone in. Instead I stopped and asked if I could still attend my session. What was I thinking?
She looks up at the clock on the wall, I follow her gaze.. 12:00:47
'Yeah! Who's your counselor?' she asks with a quizzical look.
'Miles' I reply..
'Oh, it's actually 12:01 so I can't let you go in...' she says with an exaggerated frown tilting her head to the left as if she's ever so sorry to have to inform me of this sad news..
The moment it took for me to ask and then have her reply pushed the time to just past 12:01 and now she was truning me away!
I was seriously angry, both at myself for not being more prompt but also with her for being so petty. I asked if she could just cut me a break this time as I have not had a tardiness issue since beginning these sessions.
Nope. She's really very sorry though.
I inquire if there's anyone she could please ask as it wasn't even a whole minute.
Nope. She's really very sorry though.
Wtf? So I turned and walked out before I said anything that would get me sent back to court. I hopped on my bike and rode off. I ended up at Starbuck's 20 minutes later and stopped for a mocha which I sipped outside while pondering this whole episode.
Here's the thing - I could make calls, write letters, bitch my ass off about this and probably nothing good would come of it. Probably bad things would happen instead. Things like 'Watch that asshole Dave, he's a problem..', or 'We checked with the DMV to verify that you only need to take the 90 day First Offender Program and unfortunately they need you to complete the Second Offender Program.. We're really sorry but our hands are tied...', or whatever else they can think of to manipulate the situation.
So I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to be more careful and make sure I'm early from here on out. It's really the smartest choice. I can't afford to make waves at this point. I'd like to think that I have some wisdom. A younger version of me would probably have gone ballistic at the moment instead of leaving quietly. Then the young me would spend huge amounts of black energy on plotting the destruction of this obviously evil & assinine organization that feeds on the unfortunate souls who become snared in their web.
Karma really does have everything to do with this, and all things both good and bad that cross our paths each day. I'm far from being able to see light at the end of the tunnel but my eyes are open and my head is clear.
I'll just keep moving forward ever so slowly and watching the signs as they appear.
Wow.. I fucked up today.. I got up, did some stuff around here and then got my things together and headed out on my bike to my DUI class. I figured it would take about an hour or maybe a little less to get there. I'd rather be early and not press myself than ride hard just to make it in the nick of time.
So I rode into town, passed Home Depot, took some back alleys and shot out on the main drag. I crossed the overpass at I-5 and coasted down the other side. Checked my watch, no sweat I'd be about 10 minutes early.. I figured I'd stop at the gas station next door and grab a bottle of water.
I pull up at my final destination with 5 minutes to spare.. no problem. I secure my bike and head inside. I ask the lady at the front desk which room I should report to. She tells me she has no idea. So I ask my counselor. He checks some papers and says, "Oh - you don't need to be here on Fridays until January 11th". I look at the schedule and sure enough, he's right.
Fuck.
I just rode 10 miles for nothing. So I left, cursing myself for not reading the schedule more carefully. Now what? I could just head home, but the original plan was to meet my landlady at 3 pm over at the kerosene place so I could refill my containers. It was only 12:15 pm right now.
So I called her and asked if she could come into town early and meet me. It cost me 5 bucks but she said she would. So she met me and I got the kerosene and some dog food for Thor then we headed back.
I rode into town again at 5 pm to go to work. All in all, I put 15 miles on the bike today.
I went to my first DUI class today. We had to watch Sandra Bullock in 28 Days. It was a fairly good movie, I think I almost rented it once.
I rode my bike into town, left here at 11 am and arrived at 11:43 am. It's probably 8-10 miles, I'll have to find out. No rain which I was grateful for. One of my shifters isn't working right and so I can't shift into the higher range of gears normally. This is a problem because it affects my endurance. A new shifter will cost me close to $100 so I haven't replaced it yet. Today for some reason it shifted into the high gear range which made the ride a lot easier. Since I'm looking at a year of doing this I think bicycle maintenance just jumped to the top of the priority list. I'll have to budget it in and replace the shifter. I take good care of my bikes normally anyway, but that shifter hasn't been that big of a problem for me until I started riding almost daily. Now it's always in my face as I have to run in the lower end which makes me have to pedal faster all the time.
After they released us from class I rode over to a little shop called Wild Oak where I purchased some different incense sticks. I got Egyptian Musk, Morning Dew, and something else that I can't remember at the moment. Then I headed over to the vet where I was gonna meet up with my landlady for a ride home. She had an appointment for one of the rescue dobes. I was a bit early so I ran across the street and hit the roach coach up for a chicken burrito. These guys do a killer burrito, 3 bucks and it fills you up. Awesome. I finished my lunch and then went back over to the vet. She was there and when they finished we stopped at the post office and then came home.
It's supposed to rain tomorrow and I have a few leaks on the roof I'm getting tired of so when we got back I hauled the ladder out and went topside to fix them. Every time I fix one it seems like two more crop up..
Anyway, I got a couple of podcasts up finally and will probably begin recording the next one tonight here in the Trailer Life Studios... You can listen or download the podcasts from the podcast page and soon they will be available on iTunes.
Well I'm officially entered into the system at the Right Road Counselling Center for DUI victims. I'm taking the First Offender DUI Class for 90 days. Every Wednesday and Friday from 12-2 pm I go and sit in a stale room with other sad souls to share my thoughts.. whatever. I'll do what they want and just get this over with. I paid the enrollment fee of $61 that I owed but I will still need to make 3 monthly payments of $124 before I can complete this shit.
So I sit there with this other person, a woman who claimed she has never been in trouble ever before in her life and we listen to the counselor whose name was Miles as he went over our orientation. He read all of the rules from a packet which we both received and then we had to fill out documents... it was 1:00 pm before we finished.
Two things that came up though that kinda pissed me off, first I'm sitting in the office as Miles goes over my DMV printout and he comments that I had a prior DUI in 1999. Then he tells me that I need to be taking the 18 month Second Offender DUI program.
Bullshit.
I was convicted of a wet reckless, not a DUI this time. The court order is for a First Offender DUI Class. Well Miles disagrees and tells me that even though the court ordered the First Offender Class that the DMV is not subject to the courts rulings and that he guarantees they will require a Second Offender DUI Class for 18 months.
Is the DMV some kinda Kangaroo Kourt?? Fuckin Bastards. What kinda shit is that?! I asked if we could just go with the First Offender Program and that I would make some calls. If it turned out that he was right then I would transfer into the Second Offender Program (Additional Fees and higher cost naturally). Miles agreed and before we started the orientation I placed a call to my lawyer who was not available. I left a message and he called later when I was at work. According to my lawyer, Miles is full of shit. He called Miles himself and straightened it out. He told me that this is the third time he's had to call Miles to explain how it all works.
Great, so anyway, I'm still at the counselling center and have just left a message for my lawyer. We do the orientation thing and when that 's finished I have to go sit in another office with a counsellor named Susan. I'm not feeling too warm and fuzzy with the whole thing. In the orientation Miles told us that if we make less than $1080 a month we can request a financial review to see if we qualify for extended payments or reduced fees. So I ask Susan for a financial review because at 16 hours a week at Home Depot I can guarantee you I don't bring in $1000 a month.
Susan just says to bring in some check stubs. No explanation of how I can qualify, what I need to do or anything. She's almost indifferent and seemed as though I had distracted her from more important things...
I will be bringing in check stubs.
After the DUI class registration was finished it was 1:00 pm and I pedaled my ass to work. My shift was originally from 9 am to 6 pm so I asked one of the managers if I could work until closing to make it up. Dale approved it and so I didn't lose any hours today. I work tomorrow from 6 pm to 10 pm and then I'm off until Saturday.
I returned my saw and got 3 cans of kerosene and a carton of cigarettes. I still have some cash left to get me through so that went well.
I woke up at 7:20 this morning -- it was 38 degrees outside.. and it was 40 degrees inside. There's a huge draft coming from the floor behind the bed because the paneling has been torn off and there's a hole in the floor there. I'm gonna try to fix it soon but today I'm busy all day.
First I have to get my Ridgid worm-drive circular saw and find the box that it came in. I'm returning it to Home Depot so that I can buy some more kerosene and still have enough money for my DUI class registration at 11:30 am. I love that saw and hate to return it but if I don't keep this heater running I'm gonna freeze to death in here before long.
It kills me how the price of kerosene has gone up in the last 3-4 years. I bought this Toyo Stove in 2002 and at that time you could get a 5 gallon can of kerosene for around $20. To refill it cost around $12 so my electric bill through the winter was consistently about $28 a month. Of course I was buying the kerosene on top of that but still.. I could make a 5 gallon can last about a week so add another $50 to my heating cost and I was still only paying under $100 a month on heating/electricity.
Today the price for a 5 gallon can of kerosene is $35 and to refill it costs $20. I had insulation before in the house I owned so it was way more energy efficient to run the heater. In this trailer I go through about 2 gallons in a day IF it stays off after I go to bed. That makes it REAL hard to get out of bed in the morning when it's 40 degrees inside.
Fuck.
Anyway, I have to register for the DUI thing today and try not to get an attitude with these assholes. They already jacked up the registration fees on me and said they made a mathematical error... wtf? I just wanna be done with this so I'm trying real hard to play their little games. I only have to do it for 90 days.
I'm getting a ride to Home Depot to return the saw and then across the street to fill 2 cans of kerosene. From there I will ride my bike across town to go register for the class and then when I'm done I'll ride back to Home Depot and go to work until 6 pm tonight. Then I ride my bike back to the trailer and call it a day.
