I logged in to our bank account to reconcile against our register, when I noticed a $302 withdrawal from the hotel where DH is staying for his conference this week.
I figured something had come up for work that he had needed cash to cover, and that he would be expensing whatever it was. Still, I called him to remind him that I need him to give me a heads-up when he takes money out of the bank account. We use credit cards and cash for daily expenses, so I usually don't keep any "buffer" in our checking account.
When I got hold of him, I found our that he had needed the money to pay for a speeding ticket!
Apparently he got pulled over for violating a construction zone speed limit (it was Sunday and they weren't working, but whatever...) and he either had to appear in court on Nov 6th or pay $750 ($600 in fines and $150 in court costs). Since we're going to be in LA on Nov 6th, he had to cough up the cash.
You have no idea how mad and frustrated I was. I wanted to yell so badly! Why couldn't he have been more careful? How could he be so irresponsible? Why has he been putting off getting his speed sensor fixed for the last 6 weeks! From where in my posterior does he expect me to produce this money?!?
Luckily, sensibility prevailed. I realized that neither one of us is perfect and it could just as easily have been me. Saying "I told you so" about getting his speed sensor fixed wasn't going to help anything and getting upset and making him feel worse about the situation wasn't going to change the anything.
So I swallowed my irritation and stayed calm. He's going to pay for about half of it out of his poker money and the rest from an expense check he should get next week. And I'm sure he'll watch his speed on the way home!
What can you do, I guess?
Being Mature Isn't as Much Fun as You'd Think...
October 29th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 01:00 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 01:27 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 01:28 pm
Sorry about the ticket ---that seems exhorbitant!
October 29th, 2006 at 02:27 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 02:31 pm
The regular highway speed limit is 65 and the construction zone speed limit is 45. DH said he was going about 70 when he crossed into the construction zone. The cop was hanging out under an overpass at the beginning of the zone. I imagine the fishing was pretty good today :-) Of course the cop was perfectly justified in writing DH the ticket, but it was a little sneaky.
So, the ticket was written for doing 70 in a 45 mph zone, which falls into the bigger tickets you get for going 19+ miles over the speed limit. The ticket itself is $600, then he had to deposit $150 for court fees in lieu of going to the mandatory court appearance on the day we were going to be out of town. At least those are supposed to be refunded. Still, $600 hurts plenty on it's own!
October 29th, 2006 at 04:26 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 06:17 pm