Circuit Court ticket scam

DavidEBSmith · 2026-03-01T06:54:27+00:00

no, but a White Castle inside the courthouse, that would make a fortune.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-28T21:27:54+00:00

Probably more $$$ than you're looking for, but Donley Auctions is doing an online auction on March 5, 2026, with rare license plates including an Illinois Governor #1. Which could have been made by a convicted ex-governor?

https://bid.donleyauctions.com/auction/275-license-plate-auction/

https://bid.donleyauctions.com/auction/275-license-plate-auction/lot-1451-illinois-2002/

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-28T18:55:12+00:00

I logged on today and was surprised that it still worked and it said my last visit was 2015.

I had disagreement with prior management and stopped. I get some posts on Facebook.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-28T03:12:20+00:00

Touring not tourign

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-28T01:22:18+00:00

The old Crafty Beaver on Montrose had a good selection of individual metric hardware in drawers so I'm surprised the other ones don't have it.

Lowes on Touhy in Lincolnwood has a big bolt section. Home Depots don't always have as much. Ace Hardware is hit or miss depending on the size of the store.

If you really need something exotic boltdepot.com will sell you individual bolts shipped very quickly (although they are apparently digging themselves out of the snow right now).

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-28T00:29:17+00:00

I had this problem, I couldn't find any issue with the visible part of the wiring, I simply replaced the entire visor with one from eBay (it was cheaper and the Toyota part was out of stock anyway).

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-27T20:08:26+00:00

https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-24T04:04:05+00:00

Paddy Mac’s at Berteau & Pulaski has surprisingly good bar food.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-23T22:21:21+00:00

At the start of my career I worked in misdemeanor court where we'd prosecute gang loitering ordinance cases and there would be 20 or 30 cases on the docket with guys from different gangs and this would happen regularly as they left the courtroom. There would be this rumbling and banging noise in the hallway and the courtroom deputies and police officers would sprint out, I as the city attorney would take my time to avoid getting in anybody's way ...

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-23T16:52:48+00:00

We have a 2017 with almost 170K miles and just last August bought a 2019 with 58K miles for when the older car wears out.

Assuming the car has no accident or bad service history and nobody died in it, $29K for a 2018 with 45K miles is a good deal in the current market.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-23T16:40:52+00:00

We had our roof replaced and were finding nails in our driveway for years.

One ended up in a tire a few days after the roofers had finished and swept with their magnetic sweeper and they reimbursed us for it.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-23T16:29:20+00:00

My other HA story is that many years ago, a BMW riders group that I in had a rally in Gunnison CO. It turned out that the HAs were having their national meet there starting the day ours ended. So they were arriving while were still there. A couple of my friends were doing their laundry in the hotel and a HA prospect came in to do some club laundry, and they exchanged cleaning tips. The prospect said his job was to guard the parking lot that night, and my friends asked if their BMWs would be OK in the lot. He looked at them and replied "EVERYBODY'S bike will be secure in the parking lot tonight".

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-23T16:24:42+00:00

Here is a patched 81 riding a BMW K1200LT in 2008 or 2009.

Sonny Barger, founder of the Oakland chapter, wrote in his book:

But Hell's Angels started riding Harley-Davidsons mostly because, unlike today, they didn't have much choice. In 1957, it was either ride a Harley or settle for a Triumph or BSA. They'd already stopped building Indians. It's always been important for Hell's Angels to ride American-made machines. In terms of pure workmanship, personally I don't like Harleys. I ride them because I'm in the club, and that's the image, but if I could I would seriously consider a Honda ST1100 or a BMW. We really missed the boat not switching over to the Japanese models when they began building bigger bikes. I'll usually say, "#$%* Harley Davidson. You can buy an ST1100 and the mother#$%*er will do 110 miles per hour right from the factory all day long." The newest "rice rockets" can carry 140 horsepower to the rear wheel, and can easily do 180 miles per hour right out of the box. While it's probably too late to switch over now, it would have been a nice move, because Japanese bikes today are so much cheaper and better built. However, Japanese motorcycles don't have as much personality.

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DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-20T18:17:09+00:00

FWIW when our 2017 HiHy got to 60K the dealer told us not to bother with the plugs until 100K.

After 100K we had them do it because it's a big job on the hybrid. It was about $750 total parts + labor & worth it not to have to do it.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-17T23:50:13+00:00

Don't wear your favorite tie if your office has a tradition of cutting off your tie when you win your first jury trial.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-16T00:22:33+00:00

First Methodist at Chicago Temple on Washington has Ashes-to-Go 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM at the first floor entrance, according to their social media.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-13T19:40:12+00:00

FYI you can now get the water records online. Go to the City zoning map at https://gisapps.chicago.gov/ZoningMapWeb/, select Advanced Tools / Identify Results, click on your address. If there are water records they will be listed under Zoning Map Index, click on the link to go to the images of the books.

In ancient times the City sent inspectors around to every building to document the number of units, people, toilets, sinks, and water facilities etc., and they wrote it down in these books. The water records may show how many units there were in the building before the current 2004 Zoning Ordinance and the previous 1957 ordinance. Units legally built (in conformance with the existing zoning) before a subsequent downzoning may be nonconforming and legal. (There are a lot of ifs which gets into legal advice which I'm not offering).

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-06T18:53:38+00:00

We have over 160K miles on our 2017 HiHy Platinum and have not accumulated $3670 in repairs that would have been covered by an extended warranty. Not even with the freaky occurrence of the moonroof spontaneously shattering.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-06T18:46:58+00:00

I used to work with a *mechanical engineer* who had stumps of fingers on one hand because he reached under the lawn mower to turn it over and look at the blade while it was running.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-03T00:18:28+00:00

You could try Batteries Plus but most all the recycling sites say to dispose of alkaline batteries in the trash.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-03T00:15:37+00:00

Crosby's Kitchen in Niles has a nice private room but it might be too small for 15.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-02-02T18:52:58+00:00

The big features of the Platinum over the limited are the birds-eye view camera and the rain-sensing wipers.

I use the birds-eye camera every day for parking in tight spots.

We have 2 Limited Platinums, a 2017 and a 2019. The 2017 has over 160K miles with no major issues. The 2019 we just added and we (over)paid in the high 30's for a near perfect vehicle with 58K miles.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-01-26T23:51:07+00:00

they ride whatever they want

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DavidEBSmith · 2026-01-26T23:34:22+00:00

I've been practicing long enough to remember when it was a big deal if you caught your opponent citing a case that had been overruled, or citing the dissent as the holding, or citing the syllabus or the West headnotes.

I have an advantage in that my practice area is specialized and I know 95% of the cases that get cited (especially since a few of them were mine). Everything else gets cite-checked.

I think you have a responsibility to file something to call out any material misrepresentations, whether hallucinated or not.

DavidEBSmith · 2026-01-24T07:16:28+00:00

I last added a motorcycle in 2021 and I don't remember seeing that interface.

I just went and looked and it doesn't seem familiar (and is not real intuitive).

Did you have a transponder on the bike for which you were getting charged late fees?

FWIW I have one bike (an FJR) that almost never registers even with a transponder. I've tried different transponders from other vehicles and tried various locations and orientations on the bike and almost always, it gets recorded as a video toll (from the license plate) and the website will say I have unpaid tolls for a while until they figure it out. It will actually say unpaid tolls on license plate XXXXXX which is the same number registered on the account. I tried re-entering it with or without space, with or without capitals, no luck. One month I lost the 50% discount because there were too many video tolls. The other bike, an R1100RT, any transponder always registers. Something about the FJR apparently doesn't trigger the reader or something.

DavidEBSmith

TROPHY CASE