Plate 0′ Shrimp

I just received my new automobile registration and sticker from California DMV. In it was a slip of paper titled “Be Sure to Insure!” It says:

“Here are some things you need to know about recent vehicle liability
insurance changes:

• On January 1, 2006, all insurance companies were required to report
  insurance status to DMV for all private use vehicles.
• As of July 1, 2006, law enforcement and court personnel have access to DMV
  records to verify that your California registered vehicle is currently
  insured.
• Effective October 1, 2006, your vehicle registration is subject to
  suspension if the liability insurance is cancelled, OR if your insurance company
  has not electronically provided evidence of insurance when you purchase and
  register your vehicle, OR if you provide DMV with false insurance
  information.

These chances provide you with increased assurance that fewer uninsured vehicles will be on California’s roadways.

(REG 1100, Rev. 8/2006)”

Well, I guess, that’s a good idea in general, but a couple of things bug me about it.

1. All this information bouncing back between law enforcement and your insurance company is without your knowledge and out of your control.
2. Should your insurance company mess up in providing this information to the government, YOUR registration could be suspended.

My family’s particularly horrible experience with Fremont Swim School makes me inclined to warn others in Fremont against choosing this swim school. The advertisment you may have seen shows a happy child swimming alone in a spacious pool. The impression this ad gives couldn’t be further from the reality. When we first arrived we were dismayed to see a crowded pool filled with what looked liked 30 children of all ages in and around the pool. Chaos.

My son’s “swimming instructor” couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14 and immediately proceeded to have my son attempt to swim the length of the pool multiple times using a floatation device without the normal lessons on holding your breath, floating, kicking… nothing. Seeing my son struggle to breath and keep his head above water, I immediately stopped the lesson and asked for my money back. The teenager manning the desk said the person I needed to talk to was on vacation for two weeks. When I called back, nobody knew anything.

Fremont Swim School is a poorly run, possibly unethical company, offering a poor service. Don’t subject your precious children or yourself to this business.

I received my Vehicle Registration Renewal Notice a few months ago, and as is my custom, I put off renewing it until about a month before it was due, even though it required a SMOG check. I’ve been through this a few times, and thought I had it all figured out. In the past, even if I had failed the SMOG check, like with my old American cars, they’d just make an adjustment, I’d pay some more money, and I’d be on my way in the same day. Little did I know the significance of the words “Test Only Center.”

First thing I did was got a list of shops in Pleasanton that do smog checks and got quotes. They ranged from $64.40 to $98 (a bit more expensive than last time I had to get a SMOG check). So I called back one of the $64.40 shops, Harry’s Auto Repair, to see when I could bring my car in. Any time, as long as my Registration Notice didn’t say “Test Only Center” on it. It did. So back to my search info, and luckily one of the other “cheap” shops, EPPS Test Only Center, was, well, a Test Only Center.

EPPS has a very sparse office. The light wasn’t even on, but since it was day I guess the ambient lighting was enough. Nobody was there, so I pushed the intercom button a couple of times, and a guy showed up, took my paperwork and was off to test my car. Not much to read while waiting except for the wall full of information from the Bureau of Automotive Repair about how you can get State assistance in paying for repairs if you are directed to a Test Only center on your Registration Notice. So that’s what I read.

When he returned, the SMOG guy informed me that my car had failed and began to explain what I had just read on the wall. Yeah, I already knew that, so he just gave me the paper work.

I took a little over a week after filing my application to receive the “Letter of Eligibility for Repair Assistance.” It came with a list of repair stations that you have to use. The only one in Pleasanton is Harry’s Auto Repair. So, letter of eligibility in hand, I called Harry to set up an appointment. No appointment is necessary, but since Harry is required by the State to keep my car on the premisis from diagnosis to completion of repair, it will take about a week to get my car back. He says the State can be a pain to deal with. And since the State will not reimburse for rental car, and my registration is soon expiring, the fun has just begun.

They made me color in my comic for the second edition of the ADP production newsletter. Here it is all colorful:

“I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951)