SNOW ON YOUR CAR AND RECEIVE A FINE!

     For many of us, it's my least favorite time of the year. It's snow season. With that comes shoveling, snow blowing and plowing. It means we have to clean off our cars of all the snow that fell the night before....or do we? Many of you are too damn lazy and don't clean your cars off at all, which is a danger to many others on the road. We get sometimes you're in a rush and don't have the time to clear it off, but it needs to be done. Especially, when it hardens up and turns into a sheet of ice. I had a friend who was driving behind a truck who didn't clear off their car, the wind picked up that sheet of ice and it slammed on her windshield and cracked the whole entire thing. 

     That being said safety groups are warning drivers to make sure they clear the snow and ice off of their vehicles before driving on roadways in Virginia, and one state lawmaker has even proposed a law that would fine drivers who fail to do so. I think that's brilliant, but also thought it was already a law. 

     HB 207, introduced by delegate Mike Mullin from Newport News, VA, would allow police to write a $100 ticket if a person drives a vehicle "with any amount of accumulated snow or ice on its exposed surfaces where, were the snow or ice become dislodged from such vehicle, such accumulated snow or ice could interfere with the operation of another motor vehicle or cause injury to persons or property." Mullin said, "Every person I've spoken to said, 'thought this was a law already.' It's what they teach you when you go and get your license to begin with. It's what VDOT and DMV recommend. This is something that is just common sense."

     A personal experience on Interstate 64 during the first snow storm this winter led Mullin to file the legislation. He said, "I had a car in front of me didn't clear off the top of the car at all, didn't clear off the back, and when it all came off in a big sheet, it darn near killed me." 

     Several northern states, like Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maine, have laws that fine drivers for not clearing snow off their vehicles. I thought we had that law here in Jersey! In Virginia, cases of body damage done to vehicles by sleets of ice flying off other vehicles have been reported. In other states, snow and ice flung from vehicles have resulted in traffic fatalities. Then again, does Virginia get as much snow as we do up this way? They might now with this Global Warming!

      Bottom line is it's bad! This is your public service announcement for today! Clean your cars off when it snows. It literally takes 5 minutes. You could be a danger to someone else and you wouldn't even know because you're just driving. You don't care what happens behind you. Clean that crap off!

NO NO-SMOKING BANS IN PHILLY?

Today, instead of writing about a news story, like the death of Korean leader Kim Jong Il, which I could care less about, I need to rant about something that happened over the weekend. You see, this past weekend, I had to perform with my new band BlackOcean at a venue in Philadelphia. I won't name the venue, as I am not a rat, but as we were setting up on stage, I noticed that there were ash trays on the bar and on the tables. That can only mean one thing. Smoking was permitted in this bar, but after investigating further, it seems there's been a smoking ban in the city of Philadelphia since 2007. Now, why wasn't this club adhering to the non-smoking laws? Being a smoker of 20 years, I used to dislike the ban on smoking in establishments, but I have been smoke free for the last four years without even a puff, which kind of made me disgusted with even the smell of cigarette smoke. Now, to me, the ban is the best way to keep an establishment clean and the best way to keep people healthy.

 I have to say that being in a club that allowed smoking made me see many things differently. For instance, it made me feel like a piece of crap knowing that back when I did smoke, I had no regard for the people around me. I would smoke in front of them, without even thinking about their health or the way they felt about smoke being blown in their faces. In this club, it seemed nobody cared if you smoked or not. Not to mention, there were no windows open or any ventilation in this place, so the smoke was just trapped in there. It was absolutely disgusting!

Another thing that made me feel like crap was that back when I used to smoke, I could care less about the fact that the cigarette smoke just made your clothes smell really bad too! Well, this weekend I was a victim of that, as a non-smoker. I came home smelling like a Marlboro factory, and it totally disgusted me. As soon as I got home, I threw my clothes, all of them, into the wash to get the smell off of me. I never thought I'd say this, but I couldn't stand the cigarette smoke and smell, and it made me wonder what the hell I was thinking for the past 20 years. My one regret goes out to all of my non-smoking friends, whom I used to smoke around. What an asshole I was, and I need to say I am sorry! For those of my friends who still smoke, it doesn't make you a bad person, but please be mindful of the people around you because not everyone smokes, and not everyone likes to be around cigarette smoke.

Back to my rant about this club; so how did this club slip through the cracks as far as the smoking ban goes? How strict is the smoking ban in Philly? Apparently, health inspectors are imposing $300 fines on local eating and drinking establishments in violation. Has this place already been fined and could care less about it? Are there more clubs out there that are permitting smoking in their establishment like this place? If this were New York City, they would've been shut down already or fined more times they can imagine.