I have seen a little old Japanese lady cycling at night on a major road, no lights, no helmet, while holding an umbrella with one hand and using her shoulder to prop her mobile phone to her ear.

I applauded as she went past. I'm mildly surprised she didn't wave.

From the actual bill via the Iowa General Assembly's website:

A license costs $10, is valid for five years, and appently there is no test to obtain one.

The licensing agent gets $1 of the license fee, the other $9 goes into the general road use tax fund. A replacement license costs $2, with all of that going to the road use fund. All of the information collected on the license (licensee's name, DOB, address, signature, date issued, and number) goes into a database. A list of license holders is available to anyone who wants to pay the fee for it, once a fee schedule is established.

Next they should have a pedestrian license. After all, they cross the streets sometimes.

I need to find out if farmers need to be licensed to drive their farm machinery on these same roads.

IMHO, a 2 ton tractor pulling 4 tons of grain cause a a bit more damage than a freaking bicycle. The only damage I can imagine that results from bicycles is the result of the chemicals used to clean their operators blood and brain matter off the roads when some dumbass creames one...

In which case we'd better start requiring deer to have licenses to cross roads, since bloody car-deer accidents are about 1000X more common than car-cyclist ones around here.

Deer don't sue.

If they can legislate for licenses, maybe they could just legislate that if you screw up on a bike and get squished by an SUV, it's none of the states fault.
Maybe that's what the licenses are all about. Next person to get squished ... "Oh, riding without a license, were you, eh? Don't look at us!"

I almost thought it might make sense, until you said there's no test.

Now, if there were a test of the knowledge of bike riders to make sure they know their rights and responsibilities...that would be a bit different. Otherwise, it's just putting their hand out.

I imagine it's like the PA registration renewal where it says by signing the registration you acknowledge you've read and understand the liter laws.
Kind of a ULA that proves you were aware of the risk of getting creamed, and the County can't be held responsible.

Some jerk called me at work today and threatened to file a complaint against me with my state Secretary of State notary division. The issue isn't an improper notarization; he says I refused to comply with a request for records. He sent me a certified letter with the request, which I did not get around to picking up. Whatever, I'm totally happy to provide a copy of my records (and I always keep meticulous notary records), but the guy is just a jerk. The kind of guy who thinks he knows the law and quotes chapter and verse at you, belligerent and threatening.

And he plans to show up at my office tomorrow. Oh, joy.


Clod: class action suits are extremely complicated, even for the lawyers. There should have been a representative Plaintiff or Plaintiffs to handle the responsibility of the paperwork and keep in touch with the lawyers.

Yeah, there were two of them. Turns out they're just morons--they have defended the current situation as hunky dory because they weren't expecting to get any of their salary back anyway. They fundamentally do not understand that whatever chance they have of getting this class action money is exactly the same chance they had of getting their unpaid salary. Personally, the cynic in me suspects that those two people didn't manage to file their B-12s with the court on time claiming their wages, so this is a better situation for them... and only them.

Rugrats

Sorry, Ms.Clod--hope you eventually get some money out of it.

My notary complaint situation escalated today with a face to face confrontation. That makes two--count 'em--sobbing hysterical episodes at work for me this week, ugh. (That is why I didn't become an atty!). The guy's probably going to file a complaint against me with the SOS. I can't imagine that anything will come of it, but it's still FUCKING UPSETTING!

He's not worth my emotion--but as much as I intellectually know the world is full of jerks, deep down inside I don't understand people like that. I don't understand mean people, people who deliberately set out to make trouble for others, or who are deliberately being combative and obnoxious. Guess I'm just too nice of a person. :(

I went to an AA meeting on Saturday. Bored me rigid. Only one person even mentioned the temptation to drink, the rest of them were talking about their childhoods and how wonderful AA was and how it saved them.

But I am aware many people get on with it, and get on well, so I thought I would give it another go in another location tonight. Only to find the time on the internet is not the same as the time in my booklet. Hmmmm. And the address they use both in the booklet and online does not correspond to any location recognised by any map online - they give the name of the hall and the only results in google for that name are on the AA website. The hall isn't mentioned on the website of the church I think the hall is attached to, but said website isn't fully up to date (their next Alpha course apparently starts in September 2007) and much of it is still under construction so I can't rule it out.

So when I leave here I need to go via the location in order to check it out, which means I'll be later home and then have to rush before I go back out again. Which is tempting me to leave it for another night, but then part of me says that's putting it off because I don't want to go... Argh.

Go early and sit on the front steps drinking from a paper bag until they show up.;)

:mad: Can't sleep, it's nearly 3AM, and I start work moving furniture from 8-5 tomorrow morning.... so in 5 hours basically.

Ducks, nothing in perpendicular I just hate them.