Mr. MC's Blog

Last Friday, I left work early for a doctor’s appointment. As I was driving towards Hwy 101 Northbound entrance from Trimble Rd westbound, San Jose, CA, I saw two car already crashed. One small pickup truck had been flipped over, and it hit a light pole, and stopped. Another Lexus RX300 also hit the pole, and stopped, but not flipped.
I believe one of them ran the red light, and as they collide, the lighter pickup flipped over. I think it was fatal since the top of the pickup had been 50% damaged, and collapsed. The Lexus RX300 seems to be fine since only the front has been folded.
I used to run the yellow a lot, but I recently started to run the first half second of the red light. After I saw this accident, I know I must not run the red, or the yellow.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

Just a friendly minder, during rainy days, remember to turn on your headlights, check your windshield wipers, and replace them if possible. As for the selection of windshield wipers, there is no need to get the most expensive one since you will have to replace them every year. Just get those between USD$4 to USD$8 each from WalMart.

Also, make sure your headlights, brake lights, and brakes are functioning properly.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

If you wonder where you car have traveled to, or you want to know its current location.You may consider installing a GPS tracker from Brick House Security.

This product is called “LiveWire Unlimited™ Fleet/Car GPS Tracker” which is a true real time hardwired GPS tracker. According to its product description, “With LiveWire, you gain real-time visibility and control over your mobile assets. Livewire is, without a doubt, the industries most powerful GPS tracking and communication system. This is the only GPS system that provides TRUE real-time locations online. The location of your mobile assets are updated every 5 seconds on LiveWire’s high quality mapping protocol. If you want the fastest most powerful GPS Tracking System Look no further. Best of all, because this unit wires directly to the vehicle’s electrical system, it transmits signals continuously. No need to recover the device to replace the batteries.
Watch instantly as your car moves turn-for-turn on the map.”

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

My friend introduced me this website, Getaround, where I can rent a USD$120K Tesla Roadster for USD$75 per hour or $900 per day. I think it’s a cool idea to rent this for an hour or two hours on your birthday. Take some photos, and have fun ! You don’t have to be rich to drive one.

Then, they also have BMW 328i Coupe for USD$15 per hour, and more.

Try it out….

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

In the past, fixing a fix-it ticket in California is simpler and cheaper. Just fix whatever needed, and look for a cop on the street, and asked the cop to sign off your ticket, then, visit the court and pay about USD$25.

I recently got a fix-it ticket, and it is a bit more trouble, and expensive (USD$15 more, total: USD40.00). To fix it:

1. Fix whatever needed on the car.
2. Visit a police station during their office hours, pay USD$15, and an officer will check on your car with those fixed items. An officer will sign off your ticket at the back. The cops no longer check this on the field or street.
3. Mail the signed ticket to the court, and pay an extra USD$25.

Here are my advices:

• Call the police station to find out if they handle fix-it ticket or not. Ask for their office hours and address. Also, ask for all required documents before you go there. Avoid large city’s police station since they are always business.
• Make copies for all documents:
  
  
  
  
  
• Pay by personal check only
• Always ask for a receipt. Don’t leave without a receipt !

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

Last weekends, I saw two M1117 Armored Security Vehicles on Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA (Eastbound), and on De Anza Blvd, Cupertino, CA (Southbound) on two separate days (Sat and Sun). They seem to be patrolling the area around Apple Computer’s HQ at Cupertino, CA. I think they are there to secure Apple during Sept 11 period. While I drove by those vehicles, I could see 4 or 5 armed guards (Army-like) inside each vehicle. They are all serious, and they seem to be searching for something. They keep checking their surroundings while cruising.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

This morning, while I was on Hwy 101 southbound in San Jose, CA exiting onto Trimble Rd, there was a long line on that circular freeway exit. For most exiting drivers, they will just follow the line closely, but if one does not leave enough room for the back, what if the driver at the back could not stop on time ? That freeway exit is pretty dangerous. The reason is that 50 feet before that exit, there were cars also entering into the freeway from Trimble Rd at an accelerating speed, so, the safely exit, one has to merge right between those accelerating cars, then, immediately slow down to a complete stop when the exit line is extremely long. It is always long during busy hours.

I have a habit of leaving two car spaces between my car and the front. I would wait for the car from the back to show up, and when it approaches and if it could does not have enough room to slow down to a complete stop, I then have at least two car spaces to advance forward, and therefore, I create more room for the car to slow down safely. This morning, I also realized that the car in my front was also dong the same thing. A very smart and safe driving habit. I think this is part of defensive driving behavior.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

Oh man, I wished I find this HealthyStuff.org website before I ordered my Britax Advocate 70 CS car seat, oh, should I call it the “Britax Advocate 70 CSP where P stands for POISONED” ??!!!

What should I do ? Return it back to Amazon, and restart the whole car seat selection and purchase process ? It’s like as if US Immigration restarted my US Citizenship application…

I know my daughter loves to lick that clip and belt of the car seat. On the clip, it has 1012ppm of Bromine, and 17ppm of Lead. None of these are good stuff!

By the way, Graco Comfort Sport has an overall rating of 0.2 (the safest), and it is around USD$200, about USD$100 cheaper than Britax Advocate 70 CS. I really have to re-define the term “safety” for a car seat. Safety does not only refer to vehicle collision, but it also refers to how much poisoned chemical it has been made up with.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

So, I finally bought the Britax Advocate 70 CS car seat for my 10 months old and weight 21 pounds daughter. I ordered it from Amazon for $303 (no tax, and no shipping fee). I received it within a week. Then, I would have it installed properly by a certified PST (Child Passenger Safety Technician) at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Standford, CA.

By the way, the technician recommended to seat rear-facing until 2 or 3 years of age, the longer the safer.

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com

Say you got a speeding ticket (NOTICE TO APPEAR), and you find that the cop had mistakenly recorded (written) the following information incorrectly:

• year/make/color of your car
• violation code (i.e. CVC 22349 instead of CVC 22350)
• the location/your traveling direction where you violated the traffic law
• insurance company name / policy number
• court appearance date (i.e. WHEN: Date___ Time___)

Based on our experience, about 5% to 15% of the tickets contain mistakes or typos. And, about 100% of our Defendants think that these are the “grounds” for their ticket dismissal or appeal. Let me tell you a story, and you will change your thinking.
A few years back, around year 2009, I always visit the Trial de Novo trial at the Palo Alto Courthouse (Palo Alto, CA) on every Wednesday morning from 9 AM to 11 AM. The Trial de Novo trial is an appeal traffic trial for Defendant who was found guilty at the Trial By Written Declaration. These Defendants at the Trial de Novo trials are experienced ticket fighters. Most of them are very experienced. (i.e. They beat 5+ tickets before). In one case, the cop and Defendant both showed up, and at the beginning of the trial, the cop requested the Judge to amend (change) the violation code since he made a mistake in the first place. The Judge then asked Defendant if he would agree with such change. As an experienced ticket fighter like this Defendant, of course, he would object to such change. Then, here is the catch, the Judge then asked Defendant: “On what basis that you object to such change ? Which code, which law ?” And, the Defendant just could not figure this out, of course, he is not a lawyer, he does not study law. So, the Judge allows the cop to change the code, and asked them to re-visit the court for trail after two weeks.

I then went home and research for codes or laws that could be used as basis to raise an objection to such change at the last minute. I found that you may, during the trial, object to such change pursant to California Code Of Civil Procedure Section 471.5.

The Officer should follow the proper procedures where the Officer must:

1. File the change of the ticket with the court house
2. Serve the Defendant (you) with the amended copy of the ticket

And, if you have never been granted a Continuance, you must tell the Judge that even if the Officer followed the above procedures, your right for Speedy Trial (45 days) will be violated.
Request the Judge to dismiss the case, or request the Officer to follow the procedures otherwise.

If the cop follows the procedures in the first place, you will be served with an amended copy of your ticket (usually the same cop), and you will receive the Courtesy Notice much later.

Please remember that mistakes made by the cop are not excuses (“grounds”) for your ticket dismissal, and don’t be tricked by the cop and Judge !

Mr. MC
The Founder of MotherCopper.com