Mar 17 2006
Pic of the Week (and license plates)
Redbud Reflection
I shot this scene Thursday night at the in-laws’ place. I took my camera to work this morning, knowing we were going to their house for supper, in hopes of catching some pics in the late sun. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to take pictures on sunny days.
I also captured a few pics of ducks on the private lake. This is where the domesticated swan spent a few months, and I’ll tell his tragic story here very soon. In the meantime, here’s an action shot.
“They’re headin’ right for us!”
“Thin out their numbers.”
Adventures with License Plates
Shannon managed to get our Texas license plates today. It was $350 for both cars. We were lucky we had cars in the “older” category; otherwise they would have cost us at least $200 each. What the heck do they pay prisoners to stamp a plate these days?
Ben and I stopped at AutoZone on the way home from the in-laws’ to buy mounting brackets for the front plates. Ben had a blast running around the store, never straying out of sight and always remarkably responsive when I told him to come back to me. He grabbed a few “clocks,” which actually were some type of gauge. I was too busy studying the dizzying array of brackets. Hmm… gold chains. Nah. I went with chrome for the minivan and black metal for the car. As an afterthought, I grabbed an installation kit for my car stereo. I installed the thing myself a few years ago, shaving as many dollars as I could, and it wobbles around like a madman.
Back at the homefront, after answering a work call I got during the drive, I converted us from Show-Me State to Lone Star State in about… well, an hour and a half.
The front plate brackets went on like a charm, but the rear plate on my car was a problem. A rusty bolt would not unscrew out of the nut. I opened the trunk and found that a round piece of brass was spinning when I turned the bolt. I sprayed WD-40 all around the bolt head, hoping somehow it would penetrate. I clamped my Vice Grips on the round brass circle and held it while I tried again. It didn’t budge. Dammit. I applied the WD-40 more liberally this time and let it sit while I did the plates on the minivan.
This time, the bolt on mine came free, but not before black WD-40 dripped on our friend’s sweatshirt. It was in the collapsed stroller in my trunk from when he and his wife had watched Ben for us. Ugh. That’s gonna leave a mark, Mark.
We now look like we live in Texas, and we can drive without fear of hefty fines for living here several months with out-of-state plates.
Wow… that’s real expensive for plates!
Cost us only about $60, a bit more if they’re vanity plates.
Have a great weekend bud!
Mark,
I don’t know how much they pay prisoners to stamp plates (actually, I don’t think they “pay” them anything!). But you would be amazed at what goes into making a license plate! Coincidentally, one of the last projects I worked on in the US before coming to Brazil was a license plate laminating system for the Texas State Penitentiary (Huntsville?), subcontracted by 3M (who makes/made) the reflective material on which the numbers are printed. This was back in 1989. I spent quite a bit of time inside the prison industrial facilities (as an outside contractor! not an inmate!). It was a bizarre experience … and my project was an unmitigated disaster (probably a blog entry wouldn’t be enough to do it justice! To give you an idea, I got chewed out by the shop foreman, who was a convicted murderer!).
But anyway … $200 is pretty steep. I suspect you are paying for more than just the plates!