May 8, 2009

  • The town I live in is in an unincorporated area of the largest county in the country.  I don't know how the state was divided into counties but it was done long before Southern California was the sprawling metropolis it is now.  The largest part of San Bernardino County was uninhabited desert back then and didn't generate much revenue for public services, nor did it need much.  Today, with the expanding population, the County is hard pressed to keep up with the demands for services despite the exponential increase in tax base. 

    My house 031 sits to the east of a vacant strip of land 019 that was a railroad right of way when I moved in 36 years ago.  A train would come chugging slowly by about once a week to supply the local industries and sometimes drop off a car on the siding.  It was more bucolic than annoying because it wasn't noisy or frequent.   

    Today that train track is gone and the land is graded smooth as a drag strip.  And therein lies the problem.  Every yayhoo in town thinks there's nothing more fun than racing up and down, spinning doughnuts, and generally making as much noise and stirring up as much dust as possible on this stretch of dirt.  012 The prevailing winds blow all that dirt over my house, car, patio furniture, and casts a pall on my normally sunny disposition.

    I've called the County Sheriff to ask them for help and the Sheriff says to call the ORV (off road vehicle) Code Enforcement office because they only have jurisdiction if the vehicles are street legal.  The ORV Code Enforcement office tells me I need to provide them with names and addresses of the offenders.  I tried to chase a motorcycle down to ask the rider for his name and address on my mountain bike a few times but didn't manage to pin him down. 

    So, I've been documenting the ORV activity with my camera, mainly because folks don't like to be photographed doing illegal things and they usually go away when they see me.  The other day I heard the worst offender firing up his engine (he lives three blocks away but his engine is so loud I can hear it when he starts it) so I grabbed my camera and made him the star of my latest video.   This guy gave me such incriminating footage that I figured there was no way the various law enforcement agencies could give me the run around.  He broke so many laws that he fell under the jurisdiction of the Highway Patrol, the Sheriffs Department and the ORV Code Enforcement.  I took video, I got still photos and I had the ice cream vendor as a witness. 

    I put it all together in a Windows Movie Maker movie and called the Sheriff.  And he said..."There's nothing we can do."  According to him, unless they catch the perpetrator crimson fisted, they can't issue a citation.  So now I have to go down to this guy's house and kindly ask him to repeat his performance for the Sheriff (that would be after I ask him for his name and address). 

     

Comments (7)

  • so frustrating! 
    (you should at least show us the video.  we care.)
    howve you been judy, besides the race trac and awll?

  • There is stuff they can do if they WANT to do it. What a pain for you. Good work Detective Judy. I think you will get a promotion to Vice Squad out of this. Have a great weekend!

  • @curtainsopen - Xanga no longer accommodates my video uploading for some unknown reason.  Believe me, I would love to show you.  I've been kinda bored, thanx for asking.  Trying to persuade Babs to make a trip to Colorado with the Aliner.

    @queenie - Sometimes I think I need to get over my fear of confrontation and just speak to them myself.  I don't worry about losing my temper because I don't do that, but I worry about starting a pissing match in my own front yard.  Young men can get beligerant when a woman tries to tell them what to do.

    BTW I love your profile photo.  You look like a model!

  • Next time I would remind the local law enforcement person that what goes around, comes around and one day, he is going to need some help from somebody quite badly, and he will hear his words come back to  haunt him, "I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do".   That ought to freak him out.

  • @zarnicki - He sounded like a young guy and he was quite excited by the fact that we had a brush fire that required his immediate attention.  I can well imagine directing traffic around a fire suppression effort would be more interesting than giving some disrespectful kids a pep talk about manners. 

    Growing old and crotchety is so wierd!  I keep floundering around, searching for my sense of humor.  Then I stumble upon my deflated sense of entitlement and my swollen sense of empathy and realize that it's just not important.  I think the sense of humor got burried under too many layers of resignation.

  • The car pictured makes me think of the famous 2 CV Citroën ( the Deuch) , modified of course .
     Your house is great
    Love
    Michel

  • @fauquet - It's actually a modified Volkswagon. 

    I love working on my house and appreciate it when someone notices my efforts.  Thank you.

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment