[Richard230]

Last month I visited a "mom and pop" on-line motorcycle accessory store, based in CA, and before I could enter the site I was shown a large message mentioning that many of the products that they sold were hazardous in accordance with the state's Proposition 65.  My BMW dealer has tags on all of their motorcycles warning that they contain hazardous materials.  See the attachment that I photographed at the shop last fall.   

[Richard230]

And speaking of Proposition 65: A few years ago, some KTM motorcycle models could not be sold in California because they had lead somewhere inside the engines, probably in the plain bearings. That lasted for months, but apparently KTM kicked some CA regulator's ass and managed to convince them that as long as the customer was not taking the engine apart and licking the bearings, the lead was reasonably contained and the motorcycles were fairly safe - considering that they were made in Austria and not in Germany.  So CA relented and allowed the motorcycles to be sold. 

[heloego]

I'm surprised California is not included in the list. Apparently EVERYTHING there causes Cancer. 

[ROVERMAN]

On the other side of life....... there is such a thing as cowboy ten pin bowling popping up at rodeos. If i hadn't seen this with my own eyes i wouldn't have believed it! I dare you, search for it on You tube.

[The Old Coot]

California is like a bowl of Granola, take all the Fruits and Nuts out and all you have are Flakes.

[Richard230]

A stop on the California Hydrogen Highway has finally been completed after about four years of construction at a cost of millions of dollars.  And it is located where hydrogen-powered vehicles are unlikely to travel - across from Alice's Restaurant, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 50 miles south of San Francisco.  While the station may now be completed there appears to be no one to operate it, likely because they can't find anyone that can sleep long enough for a customer to arrive.   

[The Old Coot]

Are there even cars or trucks that use Hydrogen out there? Or is this another answer to question never asked?

[Richard230]

Are there even cars or trucks that use Hydrogen out there? Or is this another answer to question never asked?

I have heard that there are maybe 10 or 20 cars in the state that are powered by hydrogen.  Probably mostly either demonstrators or cars bought with government air-quality grants.  The theory seems to be that if you first build the multi-million dollar H2 stations that will encourage the public to purchase H2 cars.  I am not putting any money on that horse, though.  Besides the initial expensive price for the vehicle and how far you need to drive to fill up, the H2 tank takes up much of the trunk space, which doesn't make the car very useful except as an exhibit and a people mover.  But you do get the advantage of driving in HOV lanes in CA when you are driving alone.   

[Rowens]

Only 10 or 20? I don't know why, but I thought that number was considerably bigger.

[Richard230]

Only 10 or 20? I don't know why, but I thought that number was considerably bigger.

It probably is, but who is counting?  Certainly not me.   

In other news: San Francisco is considering closing some streets to all traffic, except for their own bus system, bicycles and pedestrians. Not of which pay any attention to traffic laws, anyway. So the solution to the problem that they keep getting run over is to get rid of the vehicles that do follow the traffic laws (well, most of the time, sort of) and let everyone else play in the street and push their stolen shopping cars full of their possessions around. 

And one more thing that I almost forgot is that our new Governor, Newsom (apparently a modern "Moonbeam"), just came out with a request to the state legislators today that they impose a $10 a month tax on everyone's tap water to help pay for making our drinking water cleaner than it already is. Next he will want to tax the air that we breath for the same reason.     We just love our taxes in the Great Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.   

[Arizoni]

At this rate, before too long you folks are going to have to change the name of your state (and piss off a whole lot of people in a giant southern state).

From California to "The Great State of Taxes".   

[Richard230]

I just received my yearly CA DMV registration invoice and noticed that it was three times the cost of my yearly $250K/500K liability insurance premium for my 2011 RE Bullet.  I hope the DMV uses the money wisely, while its customers wait for hours to get into a DMV office to renew or obtain a driver's license. 

[Bert Remington]

Are the freeways too empty?  Are the surface roads too smooth?  Are there too many parking spaces at the beaches and parks?  Etc etc.  I want DMV fees to be higher.  I want gas taxes to be higher.  I want more people staying home, taking public transportation, or better yet leaving the state.  Almost everywhere in CA is expensive to live in but I'm willing (and fortunate) to pay for it.  Which reminds me, gotta finish up my tax return.

[Richard230]

Are the freeways too empty?  Are the surface roads too smooth?  Are there too many parking spaces at the beaches and parks?  Etc etc.  I want DMV fees to be higher.  I want gas taxes to be higher.  I want more people staying home, taking public transportation, or better yet leaving the state.  Almost everywhere in CA is expensive to live in but I'm willing (and fortunate) to pay for it.  Which reminds me, gotta finish up my tax return.

If you are looking for more taxes and live in California, I am sure you will get your wish soon.  Our municipal and state legislators, public unions, and a variety of other agencies and individuals that all seem to end up on the receiving end of government funds, are dreaming up new taxes and fees almost every day.  Unfortunately, especially if you are retired and on a fixed income like I am, many of these new and increased taxes and fees will stick and we will all be paying them within a few years.

I just paid my home city and county property taxes and in addition to the general tax rate of 1% of the property value, there were 15 additional taxes, bond payments, assessments and fees (such as separate city, county, state and federal "storm fee", as an example).  Now it is time to pay my federal and state income tax bill - and of course every day I pay a 9.5% sales tax on almost everything that I buy.

California is the place to be if you love paying taxes and don't care where all that money goes as the lines get longer at government agencies and our infrastructure continues to fall apart under the weight of complicated rules and regulations, too many people and government workers who get paid if they do their job or not.  (I have a friend who needs to renew his driver's license and could not secure a DMV appointment in any of 9 offices in the greater Bay Area that he tried within the 90 day time period before his license expires.)

Happy days are here again.   

[The Old Coot]

They just raised the tax on gas in Ohio by $0.10+ a gallon and $0.20 on diesel. I'd like to know who's pocket it goes into.