5. Driving. You take your life in your own hands when you leave your driveway. When I had my old beater of a car, I was rear ended FIVE TIMES (in parking lots)! My biggest pet peeve is SUV drivers who park in the "small car" or "compact car" spaces, leaving no room for actual compact cars (like mine); even worse, they take up two spaces by double-parking. In California, turn signals are merely an optional formality, and the steering wheel is a rest for one's cell phone.
4. Indifferent customer service. I was hung up on by a man at the DMV who was less than fluent in English; he became frustrated with me because he didn't understand what I wanted. Sales clerks generally ignore you until you speak up. About the only place that is friendly around here is Starbucks; they get my business hands-down.
3. The Governator. Eight hundred teachers and faculty in my residential district received pink slips (some were later retracted due to the outcry) in a district already overburdened with too many students, too little faculty, and too little resources; this was in response to budget cuts prompted by the Governator. He has also reneged on other educational promises, forcing the Teachers Union to protest. The Governator was recently seen, trailed by a camera crew, in white pants filling potholes as a publicity stunt (girly-man work?). California is his playground, but the sandbox is becoming filled with turds.
2. Government agencies run like third world countries. I just received a letter stating that, since I had done some independant tutoring, I am now a business-owner, and owe the City of San Jose $150.00 for a business license. I made very little money at this, so I investigated further. It turns out that I do not owe the City money becuase it is a mistake; I do, however, have to pay $17 for them to do paperwork to correct their own mistake. Hmmmmm....Sounds like baksheesh to me (bribery)....$17 to avoid a fine for not having a buisness license for a little tutoring? Which leads to my Number 1 Peeve.....
1. The California DMV. There will be a three part series on my ordeal posted later; my story is way too common around here. To sum up....1) My plates for a new vehicle were a year late due to a clerical error; the lady looked like she had an epiphany when I sugugested that she cross-reference my driver's license address with the address on the car registration. 2) I turned in paperwork four times regarding the trade of my old beat-up car to the dealership, and yet they put a hold on my registration for the new vehicle (although I still paid it) because no one ever got the paperwork. On one occasion, I even hand delivered it! I also got the dealership involved. This also took a year. 3) Upon fighting an unjust (and still "un-understood") ticket, I ended up paying more in fees than if I had just admitted guilt for something I never did; in effect, lying under oath. I still don't know what the ticket is for... We are not in a third-world country, folks...
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