Speeding tickets

I hate to admit it but in my younger years I had a little bit of lead in my shoe when driving. But that experience has taught me several things. Recently, I had my cruise set and went a little too fast down a hill. Sure enough, there was a cop coming the other way. I got off with a warning after following my rules. So here is my advice when getting pulled over for speeding.

1. Pull over immediately. Dont act like you dont know who the cop is pulling over. It is better to get to the side of the road as soon as possible. I have even pulled over before the cop has had a chance to get behind me. It was a speed trap and I saw the cop crank up his car. So I pulled over. I was at a complete stop before he turned his blue lights on. I knew he caught me. He knew he caught me. I only got a warning. In another instance, a cop was coming at me and I saw he was slowing down to turn around. So, I pulled over. He hadnt even turned his blue lights on. I didnt get out of that ticket.

2. Keep you hands visible. Keep the officer at ease. If you license and registration are easy to get to, then have them ready. But dont be rummaging in the glove box or purse as the officer arrives at your window.

3. When the cop asks, and they will, why you think that they pulled you over, tell them. If you know you were speeding and you got pulled over, then say so. The cop already knows. If you dont know, then say so. Too often the real answer would be "it depends on how long you have been following me." One time I got pulled over, I thought it was for running a stop sign. I got to the intersection and it was clear but a lot of traffic was coming. So, I didnt completely stop. Just afterward I saw an officer in my rear view mirror screeching through the intersection and stopping all four lanes of traffic and get behind me. He was not polite. He said "Do you know why I pulled you over, boy?" I was in college at the time, so "boy" was a little excessive. But with all that college learning I didnt know the answer to the question. I think that pissed him off more. He responded and said "I got you for speeding a couple of miles back, passing in a no passing zone, running the stop sign, and evading the police. I can take your @ss to jail now for evading, boy. But you are lucky. I am not completely sure it was a no passing zone, and you probably could not see my blue lights after you passed that car. But I got your @ss for speeding and running that stop sign." I was relieved that I was not getting charged for evading, even though in my hurry to get to the bank before it closed, I lost 6 points off my license.

4. Shut up. Greet the officer, answer the officers questions politely, and look at them. Simple statements will do. Dont volunteer extra information. Dont complain that the car is new and it didnt feel like you were speeding. Dont say that all the rest of the traffic was going just as fast or faster. Dont suggest that the cop would be doing his job better by doing something else. Dont say that the speed limit is too low where you were. Fortunately for me I dont have this problem.

5. Dont admit that you are in a hurry to get somewhere. This is the biggest mistake you can make. Having excuses of where you are going or where you need to be only means that you were purposely speeding. Dont fall into that trap. Also, dont say that you were keeping up with traffic. More than likely the cop pulled you over because you were speeding the most of all the traffic. When the cop asks why you were speeding, the best thing to say is that you were not paying enough attention and didnt realize you were going too fast. I fell into this trap (admitting I had somewhere to get to and I was late) early in my speeding ticket career.

6. Keep your seatbelt on. I cant get to my wallet with my seatbelt on. But, all you need is the officer to see you putting the seatbelt back on and think that you never had it on. It has never happened to me but just to be on the safe side keep it on.

7. Dont argue, even if you are right. If the officer doesnt accept your reason the first time then they arent the second time. It is best told to a judge. I was driving in Georgia, following a coworker. We had just turned onto a road and on the curve several miles up I could see a Georgia State Trooper coming towards us. The guy I was following didnt see him. When we hit 55 mph, I leveled off. The guy I was following sped up to 70 mph. Of course, the cop turned around. The problem is, he pulled both of us over. I wasnt sure why, but the cop said that I was going the same speed as the guy in front of me. I explained that I wasnt, that I saw him, and I was going 55. He proceded to lecture me on how he has been doing this for 15 years and that if the radar detector did not change the speed displayed when he passed both of us then we were going the same speed. He was not polite. I know I was going 55. But, I paid the ticket. I take solice in knowing that there have been many of times that I should have been caught and wasnt.

On a side note, go to court if you are worried about points. Usually, they reduce the fine and points and you dont have to say a word.

Following these rules wont prevent you from getting pulled over, but they might help you get a warning instead of a speeding ticket.

Miami and the Keys

The next trip that my wife and I went on was just three months after the wedding. I had to be in Florida for work so when that was over my wife flew down and met me in Miami. We stayed four nights in Florida City, Florida. We stayed there to have quick access to the Keys. Then we stayed four nights in Miami. The first day was a travel day and we just toured around Florida City. The next day we went to Key West. Lunch was at Bobalu's on the way in. One of my favorite lunch spots. Once in Key West, we toured the usual including the "aquarium" and the treasure museum. I let her decide since I had been to Key West often for work. Then we went to Mallory Square for the sunset festival. We met a coworker there and went to El Siboney's for dinner. Yummy. After hitting Duval Street we took the long drive back to Florida City.

The next day we slept late and toured the upper keys. We also scheduled a snorkeling trip for day three. Even though it was during winter the snorkeling was really nice. We had to use wetsuits though. The views were amazing. We went out on a catamaran and had a really nice time and got to sail back. We relaxed the rest of the day.

Day 5 was the change of hotels and we toured our way up the coast and spent some time in Coconut Grove. My wife found the Cheesecake Factory just after we finished lunch and was disappointed we didnt get to eat there. Then we checked in our hotel and got our bearings. We hit the Dolphin Mall and Texas de Brazil for dinner. Yummy.

Day 6 was a trip to the Everglades. We took a tour on an airboat and visited the "park" and alligator attractions. The alligator meat at the restaurant was horrible. I guess you can say we got caught in a tourist trap. But it was interesting.

Day 7 we got to drive up to Fort Lauderdale where we went to Butterfly World (definately my wife's idea). Then we went to Las Olas Boulevard to wind down the night. We found the Cheesecake Factory there for dinner.

Day 8 we toured South Beach and the Art Deco District. We ended up taking the duck tour which included South Beach and the island where all the celebrities have houses. It was a nice relaxing day. The next day we headed back to reality. Overall, it was really nice and warm in January compared to what the weather was like back at home!

Dukes Bar B Que

Yesterday for lunch I headed to Dukes Bar B Que inbetween Aiken and New Ellenton, South Carolina. Dukes boasts over 30 items on their buffet. A lot of people in the area prefer Dukes Bar B Que to some of its competitors since they have a larger selection of side dishes. The buffet also includes fried chicken. Some of the more talked about sides include the brocolli casserole, the squash casserole, the sweet corn nuggets, fried ocra, and mac & cheese. They also have cabbage, turnip greens, cole slaw, potato salad, rice, hash, tomatoes and ocra, fried pork skins, and the list goes on. Personally, none of the sides are that great except for the sweet corn nuggets and tomatoes and ocra over rice. The rest of the sides just dont have enough "southern" flavor for me. The fried chicken is good. My mom says it is just like her grandmothers fried chicken. That is impressive to me since I have witnessed my great-grandmother turn a live chicken into dinner.

But the important thing about this restaurant is the barbeque. The barbeque is chopped, moist, and has a pretty good smoky flavor. Since it is chopped, there are some parts that some people might find less desirable, like skin, burnt peices, or fat, but it is only a small portion of the barbeque. Next are the sauces. Dukes offers a variety of sauces including a mustard based sauce, Crosby sauce (thin, somewhat spicy, red sauce), mild (red sauce that looks mustard based), spicy (red sauce), a spiecier version of the Crosby sauce, and a vinegar based sauce. In my opinion, none of the sauces are that great and do not really complement the meat. I usually mix the mild and spicy sauces. The price has risen dramatically in the past few years, and is up to 9 dollars for lunch. It seems a little high for me.

Overall, the barbeque at Dukes is well above average, and the sauce is below average. I eat at Dukes frequently.

Freeman's Bar-B-Que

I finally made it to Freeman's Bar-B-Que over the weekend. A colleague of mine had recommended it and suggested that it might be the best BBQ in the world. It is located in Beech Island, South Carolina. The building is not much to look at, but that usually means only good things when it comes to food. It was a cold day out but it was nice, warm and cozy inside. I got a dinner plate with chopped BBQ, potato salad, rice and hash, and two slices of bread. I also got a side of ribs. The ribs were fantastic. They were already sliced and the meat was falling off the bone. The meat was tender and juicy. It still had a little fat on it, which some people might not like. The BBQ was juicy too, with a very weak smoky taste. Since the BBQ was chopped, it did have some of the lesser desired parts of the meat included (like fat and connective tissue). The sauce was red, thin but not too vinegary, and a little spicy. They spooned a little on the BBQ after they made the plate. Extra sauce was on the table. The sauce seemed to be very typical of what I have experienced in the fine State of Georgia. I like the fact that the BBQ was not sitting in the sauce. The hash was actually pretty good for my taste (which means it is not like most other hash out there). I ate all of mine and half of my wife's. The potato salad was very tasty and had the right amount of mustard. The portions were fairly generous.

The price was in line with other BBQ restaurants in the area, except that this was not a buffet and other locations offer a buffet. I ate all I could eat which included the 3 extra ribs and half of my wife's hash and rice. I would not hesitate to eat there again, but I am not sure I will be willing to go that far out of my way to get to Beech Island. Overall, the experience was better than the average BBQ restaurant.

Honeymoon

The first trip that my wife and I took together was the honeymoon. We took a 7 day cruise out of Galveston Texas to the Western Carribean. We chose Galveston because of the destinations. The first stop was on the Yucitan Peninsula in Mexico. We went to Izamal, a small town a couple of hours inland. There was a Catholic Church built on Mayan ruins. After the tour of the church, we got a horse and cart ride through the town to a local restaurant where we had lunch. This wasnt your local Mexican restaurant either. They were making tortillas over an open fire on a 55-gallon drum lid. Not sure what chemical may have been in that drum but the tortillas were great.

The next stop was Cozumel. I wasnt that impressed. My wife and I went snorkelling. It was overcrowded with people constantly bumping into each other. And, there wasnt much to see where we were. Then we toured around the Cozumel a little.

The final destination was Belize. We took a tour of Xunantunich, a somewhat recently discovered Mayan ruin. It was fantastic. We had to cross a river on a little ferry that was powered by a hand crank. The ruins were still being excavated so some of them were still covered with grass and looked like mountains.

The trip also included several days of being at sea doing what everyone does on a cruise ship. It was fun.

Isreal and the West Bank

I saw a clip on the news the other day about Isreal "invading" the West Bank. This young girl in London was protesting the fact that Isreal was sending troops into the West Bank. She protested that school children were being killed in the West Bank, and questioned why did kids have to be killed. She evidently doesnt care about the rockets fired indiscriminately towards Isreal. What about those school kids? If you protest anything, it should be the rockets, not Isreal defending itself.

Lords of the Realm II

Years ago, when world of warcraft first came out and was so popular, I spent many hours fighting orcs and waging virtual war. I liked that type of game and searched out others. I found Lords of the Realm II. It soon became my favorite. I wont say that my Master's Thesis suffered because of this game. It is a game that I still spend a lot of hours playing. A lot of hours. I dont really know why I like to play it, I must have beaten it a thousand times.

The game is pretty simple. Conquer thy neighbors. Each player starts out in a county. The happiness of the people in the county depends on the tax rate, availability of food, health, and the army draft rate. The county can produce wheat or cows for food, stone, wood, iron ore, and various medieval weapons. I usually use the county fields for wheat, since it can be stored. The wood and iron ore is used to make the weapons. The wood and stone is used to make various castles from weak palisades to strong stone castles. The most vulnerable point is when the game first starts and I dont have enough of anything to defend myself from attack. After I get enough wood and stone, castles and an army of archers are the first step. Then, when the castle is strong enough, the county has plenty of food, I have plenty of money, I build an army to invade the surrounding counties.

The game does not manipulate individual members of the county, but the game is about the overall management of the county, which is different from the first world of warcraft where each person had to be told what to do constantly. When armies meet, the game changes to a different mode where you do control the individuals in the army. Most people like the game because of this. Me, not so much.

Lords of the Realm III has been out. I have it but dont like it as much as LOTR II. I guess I will keep playing it until the software wont run on Windows TheNextCrappyVersion.

Weekends

I work a desk job. In front of a computer all day. The past several years have been busy at my office and I average 10 hours or so of overtime a week. I have no desire to get on the computer over the weekends...even if it is just to check myspace, facebook, or my email.

Date Night

Tonight is date night. The wifey and I have a baby sitter, thanks to Grandma...aka Uma. So we are heading to Macaroni Grill for some dinner without the baby. It will be nice. It seems like the only time the wifey and I get to talk is when the baby is asleep. Unfortunately, that is either when I am at work or when its time for us to be in bed too. So I am looking forward to the conversation. I think my wifey is looking forward to dinner more than I am.

Travel

Recently I visited Nevada for the first time, which is the 35th state that I have been to. My wife and I celebrated our birthdays in Vegas. The trip to Vegas was interesting, exciting, and a great way to spend our birthdays. I want to go to all 50 states. The states in red are the ones I have been to. You can make this nifty map at www.travelblog.org/VC/visited-us-states.html.

Before starting my current job, I had only been to four states. I travel for work and have been able to add many states because of my job. Several more states have been added during personal trips that resulted from of all the airline miles and hotel points I have earned from work trips. I usually try to get trips to states that I havent been to before. A month ago I was supposed to go to Maine. Then, another project needed me and I ended up going to Cincinnati. Been there, done that several times.

Luckily for me, my wife and I went to Hawaii on vacation a couple of years back. I would consider Hawaii to be the most difficult state to get to, followed by Alaska. Hopefully I can add a few more states to the list that I have been to soon. Only 15 to go.

Cabin Fever

The winter season is firmly upon us (although it is really nice and warm out earlier this week). Never do I have the desire to go camping as much as I do during the winter. It seems like the outdoors are calling to me. I guess it is because I havent been camping for several months now. But it really isnt about camping. Its about being outside. I took advantage of Tuesday evening when it was really warm out and did a few chores outside. I only had about half an hour before it got dark. But I managed to adjust the window screens, repair the screen on the front porch, get the ladder out of the shed and start working on the outdoor light that is out. That little bit settled the restless soul. Maybe this weekend will be nice...

Barbeque, BBQ, B-B-Q, Bar-B-Que, Barbecue

In South Carolina, the word Barbeque means something specific, although it can refer to many different things. I have found out through my travels that to most of the world, barbeque means anything that is cooked on a grill. I dont know anyone in South Cackalacki (its colloquial) that means "grilled food" when they say barbeque. To us, it means pork slathered in BBQ sauce. How you cook the pork and how you make the sauce is pretty varied in South Cackalacki, almost as varied as how to spell barbeque.

It is commonly thought in that SC we only use mustard based BBQ sauce. Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque (very famous yet not very politically correct) http://www.mauricesbbq.com/ and Shealy's Bar-B-Que http://www.shealysbbq.com/ are two of the most famous BBQ restaurants that use mustard based sauce. I know of a couple of other BBQ restaurants in SC that offer mustard based sauce in addition to more traditional bbq sauces, but the majority of the BBQ restaurants I have been to in SC use a tomato or ketchup based sauce.

I dont particularly care for Maurice's, although the food is not bad. There are several reasons I could say I dont like Maurice's but I will keep this post about the food and service I have experienced. Maurice's is a chain in Columbia that seems to have a restaurant on every corner. I dont know if they cook all of the BBQ in each restaurant or ship it in but, to me, it tastes like it has been sitting around for hours. Each of the restaurants I have been to, including the buffet restaurants, werent very busy and it would appear that the food has been sitting around. Most of the restaurants do not have buffet so you order and take the portioning that is given to you. For me, that is simply not enough BBQ. I have been known to go to a BBQ restaurant and eat only BBQ, a few hushpuppies, and banana pudding. At Maurice's buffet, I found the food to be old and not as appetizing. Maybe I would have to get there when they open.

Shealy's on the other hand is my favorite restaurant, although not for the BBQ. I like Shealy's for the country buffet. The fried chicken is unique and tasty, the lima beans are great and the creamed style corn is delicious. There are many other items that are great too. But the best thing of all is that there is only one Shealy's, and it is busy. Busy enough where the food is always fresh. I do get a little BBQ at Shealy's but it is a side to the veggies that I go for.

More about BBQ to come.