I fought the Law...
and it was a stalemate.... I would like to say I fought the law and I won... but that was not the case. I have not fought a ticket since I was 16... so that goes to show that I normally man up and take my punishment. But this time I wanted to fight it and thought I had a good reason.

Here is the deal... Munger (where I live) is next to a school. I usually come to work around 9am, so not problem with the school zone. On September 6th I was coming in early for a meeting, and got pulled over in the school zone for speeding. The issue I have is that the sign for the school zone is before the intersection that I merge onto Michigan Ave. So I never see the school zone sign to see if it is flashing.

So I took a picture of the sign and my intersection into court. The cop got me going 37 in a 35, but with the school zone it was 25. The ticket was written for 30 in a 25. I was contesting the entire ticket, and in court both the judge and officer were surprised by my photo... so I figured I am golden. The ruling... he gave me a ticket for 27 in a 25 and no school zone. That is TWO over... 2 over... Dos... numero 2.... Who gives a ticket for two over?

Because the ticket is still two points on my license. So I am appealing. I was not aware that I needed to ask to have points dismissed. I rather get the points off... the fine is not my main worry, it is the higher insurance for me. My idea behind the appeal is that I was only going 2 over... an officer would not of pulled me over for going 2 over.

The Man has not heard the last from me!

Its a Wrap
Another Poppori weekend for me. This weekend I was originally planning a trip to Philly to see my brother. Timing of weekends got messy, and I really needed to stay around and have a weekend with Novali. So I made plans to have Novali in Michigan. Right after I made the change to stay in Michigan I was asked to go to GVSU and speak at their Greek 101 Retreat. I figured Novali might enjoy watching me speak...

So the weekend started with some fun Friday night cleaning and buying stuff for having Novi. Tamara helped with the drive and we did our meeting at Exit #1 on our side of the Michigan/Indiana border. Not having to drive all the way is a huge help. We then rode to GVSU. Heather entertained Novali while I finished writing my presentation (nothing like last minute) and during my lecture. I say lecture instead of speach because I had a hard topic to present. I was asked to do the history of Greek Life, the different national councils, and then tie in talking about the differences and how groups can work together better... that was a lot to chew on!

I knew some parts of it would be boring... and with a room full of new members it can be tough because they are new to Greek life and don't know a lot yet... I did my best. Tonight upon getting home I read my review cards... of the 150 or so cards I only had 5 or 6 who didn't like it! One student said, "For such a boring topic he was pretty cool," one wrote, "I love him," another eloquently said, "Greek Life Rocks!" Most of the cards said they loved learning about the other groups and the things that make them different, but yet the same. I am glad I was able to get them to enjoy learning.

The rest of the weekend was spent learning all the new Novisms. She has her own little way of thinking most of the time, and just funny things that she says and does. I love how analytical she is, every little thing makes her ask more questions and then she has unique follow up comments.

Saturday after we got back from GVSU we rented Racing Stripes. It is a movie about a Zebra who wants to be a Race Horse. It is a movie with talking animals... one of those "if you try hard enough you can do anything movies" which just make you feel good. It was well done, funny, and the voices were good. I enjoyed it, but what was funny was that at the end of the movie what Novali said. Novi turned to me and send, in her most grown up voice, "That was a great movie." Is she a movie critic now?

Sunday was fun, we decided it was the perfect day for a fall hayride. We found a cool place where you ride a wagon out to a pumpkin patch and get your own pumpkin. Novi loved the horses and walking around the field. Then we went to another farm where she fed some goats, went through a maze of straw, saw some kittens, and lots of other fun stuff. When telling my parents about the farm on the phone she told them everything in scary detail, and even told them how much I paid for the pumpkin... $4.

At the farm was another funny Novism. We went into a Port-a-John. No one likes those... and she was reluctant to step in. Once in she asked me why the water was blue, I said so that it does smell bad. She looked up at me, and flatly stated, "but Papi it still smells bad." Always the critic.

I would like to write more... but it is now past midnight and I need to get some sleep. I will post some pics early in the week from this weekend. I have a nice slow couple of days, which will be followed by an extremely busy weekend. Take care everyone!