I'm always impressed when people manage to find a way to make money out of absolutely nothing, but then again, sometimes appalled at the trivialities people will pay for. Anyway, most major cities now offer "EZ-Pass" (or something similar) as a way to automatically pay highway tolls without needing to stop at the toll booth. It's a really great idea. Trouble is, the EZ-pass transmitter looks kinda ugly stuck there next to your rear-view mirror. But not anymore!!! Now, for a mere 20 bucks, you can buy a sticker from "highway image" that will turn your EZ-Pass into a whimsical personal statement. But can you actually see it through the windshield?

I've gotten quite used to the sound of traffic outside my window, but today a guy was trying to pull out of a parking place and his horn got stuck on. It just blared and blared for almost 10 minutes, which starts to make your neurons tremble after a while. The guy put his hood up and started tinkering around with things, clearly baffled. A guy pulled over and got out shouting "just hit it man!". So he hopped back into the car and started smacking the steering wheel which only caused a bit of staccato. By then, someone was waiting for him to pull out so as to take the parking space. He too hopped out of his car and started tinkering around. Traffic started to back up, and irritible drivers started honking their horns too. The caucauphany was mind-numbing. Then somehow, it stopped.

Naturally I googled some advice during this escapade. Here it is - memorize it in case this ever happens to you.

In a move designed to protect residential areas from big trucks, it's generally prohibited (with clear signage) to drive one into most residential streets in California. Moving Trucks are generally excepted. These signs are all over the place, and similar signage is common all over the country. But, until Slate wrote this very interesting article, it didn't dawn on me that the majority of big SUVs actually violate this law, which predates the craze for monster trucks.

Though clearly not the intention of the law to ban non-commercial vehicles, it would be rather amusing if they started enforcing it - every single street in Beverly Hills, aside from main thoroughfares, falls under this ordinance. Even more amusing is the fact that many big SUVs have been classified as commercial vehicles in order to qualify for a tax break, so the law does, in fact, apply to them.

Hmm... good motivation I suppose, but Jesus would probably walk. The discussion boards on this site are particularily amusing rants.

Ok, so i decided to srat writing things here again. Rode my bike in London for the first time this morning. It's less than a mile to work, and I successfully managed to get here unhurt, despite riding on the wrong side of the road three times. Serious practice needed. It's easy to remember the right, er left, side when you're cruising straight down a street, but when you come to a complex intersection it's really hard to concentrate.