Once upon a time, I discovered the world of designer cologne. Prior to this, I'd been wearing 'discount' scents from the department stores, or from those guys that sold impostor colognes. You know the ones. $15 per bottle, 2 for $20. Then I got "harassed" buy one of the sales people in the mall asking me to try one of their colognes. I took the 'sample' card. And stopped. And turned around, purchasing my first gift pack of Jaipur. Alas, the 90's passed, and now the same scent is only found in a few select locations, and it costs a freaking TON. Still, the fact that I remember being in the club, and having someone walk clear from the other side of the building to ask what cologne I was wearing that first time still lets me know my expense was worth it.

Trivia Question: What common question do people ask on a phone call that never would have been asked 25 years ago?

When I was younger, I remember making a phone call and having it ring until I gave up. You couldn't leave a message, because no one had voicemail or an answering machine. You weren't worried that they were screening their calls because there was no caller ID. There was no text messaging. There was no internet messaging. There was no Facebook. You rang, and they either answered, or they didn't.
Now, all of those communication options are available to me. Not only are they available, but I can access them all from the same device, my Blackberry. I actually find it somewhat funny, considering that it was approximately 2 years ago that I still refused to carry a cell phone. My mentality was the same of many older people who don't really use one now... If I wanted to be reachable, I'd be home. Gone though, are the days of waiting by the telephone for a call. They come to me where I am now. I don't have to be worried about not having anything to do, since it has mobile internet. High speed at that. It has GPS. And a (video)camera. In fact, it's the most utilitarian device I've had since my first Swiss Army Knife. So gone are the days of, "I can't reach him". I have passed further into the realm of "Always On".

Oh, and the answer to the Trivia Question? "Where are you?"

San Fransisco Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Sign

So, here I am, thinking this must be a joke and someone is going to wake me up. I'm sitting in the back of this police cruiser, watching my car get hitched up to a tow truck, I've got no phone, and not only am I out of my local calling area, but no one that can help me knows about it either. Can you say, "Le Screwed?" And all of this because of a simple seat belt?

It was Independance Day weekend 2004, and though I'd lived in Colorado for about two years by this point, I'd rarely taken the opportunity to leave Colorado Springs. Most of the cars I'd had up to this point were "shit-wagons", with enough miles on them to have driven from New York to Mars. Twice. So I decided to see how the holiday was celebrated in Denver, now that I had a new car, and needn't worry about the vehicle collapsing around me on the side of the road. I'd had that experience. Not fun.
One of the joys of driving in Colorado is that the speed limit on the highway is a posted 75mph, significantly higher than the 45-55 that I had been used to with my east-coast driving. However, while that may seem like speed aplenty, something about going that fast in a new car makes you want to see if you can go faster. Which I did. I tell you that it was a glorious experience, and I probably would have enjoyed it more, if it weren't for the fact that the speed limit dropped back down to 55mph once you hit Arapahoe County. Unfortunately, I didn't slow down. So imagine my chagrin as I pass by the 'holiday ticket cops' doing 90. Up come the burps and cherries, and I just hope he's after someone else. After all, I'm not the ONLY one speeding by. Obviously, I wouldn't be writing this if he was after someone else, and so I'm about to get my second speeding ticket in the state of Colorado. Now, I was a little negligent by this point, and hadn't yet switched over my driver's license to Colorado from Massachusetts, so running my license took a little longer than I cared for. What I cared less for though, was him returning to tell me that my license was suspended. And, as luck would have it, I had forgotten my new insurance card as well. He politely asked me to step out of the car, and I complied gracefully. He asked me to turn around and lean on the car, and I did, mildly irritated at being frisked. And terror struck as another police car showed up, and my friendly officer put his cuffs on me. I apparently was going to be a guest of the Arapahoe County 'Hotel' for a little while. Unfortunately, a while meant "Until you can have a hearing before the judge." Wait a minute... It's Friday afternoon. And July Fourth is on Monday. Oh Crap!

Apparently, what had happened up to this point was that I had apparently gotten a camera ticket in Connecticut while I was moving from Massachusetts to Colorado two years prior. A $35 camera ticket for not wearing a seatbelt. A $35 camera seatbelt ticket that was mailed to the address my plates were registered to. My Mass plates. I didn't quite get the ticket in time to address it, and apparently got a FTA in Connecticut, as well as a suspention of driving privleges in that state. It took that a little time to roll over to Mass, and my driving privileges were suspended there too. Wanna know the funny thing? If I'd gotten my licesne transferred to CO, this would have been a moot point, since a MA suspension doesn't affect any other state, and I could have known about and dealt with the CT suspension at that time. Instead, what I ended up with was a $400 ticket, 4 nights in jail, and an impound fee. Also, a bunch of angry relatives who obviously wanted to get a collect call from jail 60 miles away.

Guess who wears his seatbelt all the time now.