State legislators in Virginia held a hearing in June on whether a new towing law was needed. Jay O'Brien, the state senator leading the effort, said one complaint was of tow trucks patrolling apartment parking lots just after midnight on the first of the month, removing cars legally parked but whose registration had expired minutes before.

I don't understand this. Is this pervasive? It seems to be. When did tow truck operators gain this kind of autonomy? Why is it any of their business if a car is illegally parked--isn't that up to the property owner or the police? Does owning a tow truck give you a special dispensation? Could I buy a tow truck and go around towing cars that I see that don't have the proper permits?

It was quiet when Mr. Gavaldon patrolled several mobile home parks in Orange County on Friday afternoon, towing only one car, which was parked in a guest space without a guest parking permit.

That just seems crazy to me. I didn't realize that tow trucks had been given the right to uphold laws as they interpret them.

Tow Trucks Prowl, and Authorities Crack Down - New York Times

Link from Boing Boing

This is fun to play with: Flower Power. Link from Something to Say.

I got a new phone over the weekend (a Motorola V551), and so far, I'm very impressed!

This is clever: Google Logo Maker-Logogle. Input a text string and it converts it into Google-style fonts and colors. The apostrophe wouldn't work, though.

Link from BoingBoing

I am thankful that I was eating my lunch when I read this, thus everyone else in the office was out, and didn't hear me laugh out loud: CrazyAuntPurl: Studies Show: We're all spoiled damn rotten. It was the second photo that did it.

I actually thought I did title it, but maybe not: fifty word fiction: Untitled.

Submit a short-short story of fifty words and watch it appear on the screen, as if by magic.

I hadn't seen this before, and thought it was a great idea: ICE - In Case of Emergency. The idea is pretty simple--put an entry in your mobile phone book named "I.C.E." for "In Case of Emergency." That way, if something happens and emergency workers need to know who to contact, they won't have to guess whether you want them to call "Mom" or not, or (in my case) who among all the men in my phonebook is actually my husband . . .

I recorded a new entry in my phonebook with Bob's number and named it "In Case Of Emergency." A simple thing, but something that I, for one, had never thought of.

Oh, and in case you don't know this trick--when I recorded the new entry, I put a space in front of the first letter, so it comes up first on the list in the phonebook, and would be immediately obvious.

This generally involved a brief description of his role in the coming melee.  I explained his basic responsibilities were to catch the ball in the air if he could, field any grounders hit to him and step on the base prior to the batter touching the base and stand on the base and catch any throws from teammates should the ball be hit to them.  My explanation was apparently flawed in almost every way as none of my instructions were ever successfully completed.

Dainbramage: Tee Ball III 'My first groin pull'

And I made up a budget to track every single thing, what comes in and what goes out. And it works! I mean, if you have to type up on the computer to Mr. Excel that you spent eighty hundred dollars on yarn and shoes, ya'll know. You can cut back in appropriate areas.

Bob gave me some money to hold for him, and today he called and said he wanted me to write a check to pay off part of his Visa bill, and he said, "Is that okay?" I said, "Why wouldn't it be okay?" and he said, "Well, maybe you already spent it on other stuff." I laughed, and said, "Yes! I spent it all on yarn and shoes!"

Which is why this particular journal entry struck home. Also, she loves Target, where I shop every single weekend, and sometimes twice.

CrazyAuntPurl: Mo' Money, Mo' Shoes