Sunday, August 3, 2003
Onion bagel with light cream cheese for breakfast. Smog check on Fell Street (US$53.80). French fries snack at Bean Bag Cafe ($2.50 for fries, $1.00 for a 7-UP, and we can't remember how much for an iced tea). Divisadero car wash (ultra wash for $19.99). Late lunch at Bagdad Cafe with Patrick: grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing for me, cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing for Patrick, two iced teas, $25.00 after a $3ish tip. Grocery shopping at Golden Produce (the little grocery on Church next to Safeway). Picked up a movie at Superstar Video. Listened to the All Madonna and All Duran Duran playlists that I created yesterday and today. Tried to find out if it's legal to put a car cover on a parked car. I didn't expect to find the answer on any government Web site, but I tried anyway. The California DMV Web site didn't have the answer, but somewhere on it I found a link to the California Legislature site at www.leginfo.ca.gov, where I eventually found that it's part of code 5200-5206: "Article 9: Display of Plates, Tabs, and Stickers" which states, "The installation of a cover over a lawfully parked vehicle to protect it from the weather and the elements does not constitute a violation of this subdivision. Any peace officer or other regularly salaried employee of a public agency designated to enforce laws, including local ordinances, relating to the parking of vehicles may temporarily remove so much of the cover as is necessary to inspect any license plate, tab, or indicia of registration on a vehicle." It took me about an hour, which is still about the same as 10 years ago when your only option was to call them on the phone, wait an hour, then get your answer. However, now that the government is using the Web, I don't have to tie up my phone line for that hour. Such progress! And just in case you didn't know what the Internet was or how to gain access to it, they have a page at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/guide.html dated October 2001 which answers exactly those questions: "What is the Internet?" and "How do I Gain Access to the Internet?" It's written in such staid and decade-old text that it's now—in 2003—hilarious! I offer a short excerpt here: "Individuals with a computer, a modem, and a phone line can access the Internet. A modem allows your computer to use your regular home phone line to dial-up and communicate with the Internet and other computers. In addition, a subscription to one of the Internet access services is required. These Internet access services provide a doorway into the Internet. The fee-based services may be a flat monthly fee, usage-based fee, or a combination of the two. Several books, including The Internet Companion and Connecting to the Internet, list these companies. You can also call InterNIC, an Internet information service, at 888-642-9675, for a list of access service providers." It mentions their Gopher site, too, for all you people who use gopher on a daily basis.