My family and I are back from a great week of holidays in Manzanillo, Mexico. It was the first hot holiday we’ve taken as a group of five and it was even better than my expectations. The kids were as well behaved as they’ve ever been and that was my main concern. We all had a blast. I documented the week at mikestackhouse.blogspot.com . The people around Manzanillo made a concerted effort to tell us that it was very safe in their area. I’ve always believed that trouble will find you if you are looking for it and that is why we hear about the negative stories concerning tourists in Mexico. Still, you can’t help but get a little edgy when you hear of violence on a visitor. And, in the last week I have heard of a few. There was even a report of a Canadian killed in Melaque; which is closer to the Manzanillo Airport than Manzanillo itself. The most disturbing one comes from Mazatland, where it sounds like a woman was beaten right in her hotel room. The only bad experience I have to report (other than going from +35 to -41 in about six hours when we arrived home) is that housekeeping ripped off my brand new ear phones. I’ll take a bit of blame for that though. It’s suggested you put certain valuables in the safe that is made available to you; and I didn’t do that with the head phones. The iPhones, passports, and money were in there. But, I should have put the ear phones in too.
It was an expensive first week home. I always figured since I have been, especially, critical of what I had perceived to be ‘quotas’ for the Yorkton City RCMP, that I would be pounced on as soon as I was ‘caught’ breaking a traffic law. My vehicle isn’t exactly hard to identify. Well, it happened the other day and here is (from what I can remember) how the stop went: “Do you know why I’m pulling you over?” asks the officer. “I haven’t any idea,” I reply. “You blew that stop sign on 4th and Argyle. Drivers/Registration please,” he continues. As I’m reaching for the documents I’m trying to determine where 4th and Argyle actually is. He also asks me if the vehicle is registered to me. As I get my license and registration, I asked if 4th and Argyle is behind RBC. He answers with a terse “yes” and disappears to his squad car. He comes back and hands me the ticket and tells me how long I have to pay the ticket or else appear in court. And, that was it. I never admitted guilt. In fact, I didn’t have a chance to agree I blew it, disagree I blew it, or offer an explanation (not that it would matter) as to why I may have blown the stop sign. It wasn’t a concern to him. And, maybe it shouldn’t be I guess. After all, he’s got to get moving to write more tickets (which I think he did just moments later unless it was another officer). Maybe I misread him, and that’s why I won’t publish the officer’s name, but I felt as though he was, personally, offended by the alleged infraction. It was as if it was ‘his’ stop sign.
****UPDATE THAT ISN'T IN THE PAPER: Apparently, there was a blitz province wide to nab those that blow stop signs and they, collectively, wrote upwards of 500 tickets last Wednesday and Thursday. I wish we could have a 'Break and Enter' blitz where anyone caught doing so and is found guilty would be automatically given the maximum penalty allowed under the criminal code. The bleeding hearts will say it's not that easy because maybe there are special circumstances surrounding the B&E. I say nonsense. Maybe someone has a special circumstance for going through a stop sign.
Don’t forget the speed limit has been reduced just north of Yorkton on Highway 9 and so don’t get yourself caught being absent minded and not double checking or else you may get a ticket. I’m not sure if authorities are giving folks a grace period or issuing warnings or not. Technically, they don’t have to. And, I don’t expect them to.
I don’t expect I’ll ever be accused of anything beyond a traffic violation, so I have no way of knowing if this is the case or not, but I certainly hope police are as vigilant on criminal code offenses as they are on traffic ones.
Congratulations to the City of Melville for their great job hosting Hockey Day In Saskatchewan on Saturday. I was in attendance for the SJHL game and the place was packed.
I don’t like to admit that I, sometimes, agree with Calvin Daniels; but he threw out the notion the other day about the SJHL maybe trying to attempt to do an outdoor game and I think it’s a great idea. Wouldn’t Yorkton vs. Melville be great at The Grandstand?
Nice person mentions this week to Nadine Swan (from Fred Schrader), Mike Kardynal, Ryan Sturgeon, Darren Fenske, Kevin Krause, and Gina Flett.
The problem with the authorities...never around when you need them, and always around when you don't!!
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