My very first moving violation

I guess it was bound to happen...you know, based on odds and stuff. Still sucks, though.

I was driving to work - I don't usually, but I had to run some errands in the morning. I was irratated about being late, and I looked at the clock, and thought to myself, "I bet I can make it to work by 10." Well, I was heading over the Maryland bridge, when I saw police car lights behind me.

"I better pull over and let him pass."

"Hmm...guess he wanted this lane, I'll pull over again"

"Oh, no, he's pulling me over!"

I stopped, turned off the car, and rolled down the window.

"I clocked you driving 74 km/hour going over the bridge, which is a 50 km/hour zone".

"oh." I mean really, what else was there to say?

The police officer asked me for my driver's license and registration, and then checked them out. Upon handing them back to me, with my ticket, he was almost apologetic, and certainly very nice and polite. I had been afraid he was going to scold me, but he did not. Nice man. He suggested that if I pleaded guilty with a reason, as this was my first offence, I would get off with a warning.

Well, yesterday I went to try to take care of the ticket. The magistrate said I was going way too fast, and she could not let the ticket go. However, as I am a full time student, she cut the charge in half. I guess that is better than nothing.

As for demerits on my license...I guess I'll see what happens when it's time for renewal.

Regardless, I have learned my lesson and have been trying to carefully watch me speed. A speeding ticket on my history? How embarressing!

Newspaper article forthcoming

I am super excited! I am part of a training program for Ph.D. students and Postdoctoral fellows in the health sciences. We have meetings twice a month and we were given the task of taking science to the public in an interesting, informative manner. My group decided to write an article about Bird Flu (or Avian Influenza) concerns and publish it in the local media. The kicker is that we have been doing this, on and off since November. The article is only about 1000 words, and there are four of us working on it, but we needed to get the rest of the groups input and approval, so it has dragged on in an ongoing effort to make it "perfect". Certainly, the majority of articles in our local media do not take this much effort.

However, we have finally submitted it, and the editor apparently loved it. Yay! He called to say that it will be included in a two page feature spread. So, look for my article in the Thursday, March 23rd edition of the Winnipeg Free Press. If I can find a link, or someone sends me one, I will post it.

Everything you learned in Kindergarden is NOT true

So, you know how there's a book called "Everything you need to know you learned in Kindergarden"? Well, remember how back in grade school they said that if there's a fire drill you should leave immediately and not grab any of your stuff? Not true.

This morning there was a fire something at work...I don't know what it was all about yet. So the alarm sounds, and being the good girl I am, I went to the marshalling station, and then exited the building. Well, I guess it was more than a drill, because after we had assembled in a neighbouring building, we heard it was going to be an hour or two before we were allowed back in. I had no jacket, no car keys, no money, no phone.

We walked across the street for coffee - one of the other girls in my lab lent me the shell of her jacket, and we begged money off whomever we knew. It seemed like almost everyone from our building had gone to Tim's. Then, I went to the library and looked at the new journals, then got really bored and tired of it all. We all periodically called back to see if anyone had been allowed back into the building.

Finally, we decided to walk back to see if we could hear any news. Seems that they had just (15 minutes prior) allowed everyone back in. So, in all we had been evacuated from 10 am until 12:30 pm.

The lesson I learned is that next time there is a fire alarm - I grab everything.

Tina is getting reconstructive surgery

About a week and a half ago, the bf and I were heading home from dance class (we are learning the Social Waltz and the Night Club Two-Step - it's pretty fun), when a car turned left, into me. I did not see the other van untill he started his turn, so my options were limited. I moved into the parking lane, as no cars were parked in that section, but, being a largish van, he turned wide and swung into my rear side. The other driver did not know I was there until he hit me. My rear fish tailed a little, but I did not lose control of the car, and thus managed to avoid being hit up the curb and into a tree.

We exchanged our info, and the next day, I called AutoPac and made my claim.

Yesterday, I had my appointment for the damage to be appraised. I was anticipating a couple hundred dollars worth of damage, as the majority of the impact was on the left passenger door - there is a small dent/bumper smear on the panal behind it and on my bumber. The door definatly needs to be replaced - I never opened it, for fear it would not close again, and am actually quite lucky the glass didn't shatter. The door is bent inwards quite a few inches.

But, the actual estimate was over $1,600. Incredible! About $300 for parts, $300 for paint, and $1000 for labour. Thankfully, the other driver made his statement so I do not have to pay my deductible. I made an appointment with an autobody shop, and sometime next week, Tina will be getting fixed up.

It makes me glad the damage was not worse - I could not get a car as good as Tina with the money I would get from a right-off. If they had told me it was not worth it to fix my '94 Tercel, I think I would have told them to forget the whole thing, and just buy a new door myself - or just leave it.

But as it is getting paid for, I will appreciate being able to soon open that door!