I got pulled over by a fucking constable (I was in an unincorporated area of Harris County) today. FUCK. And he was only doing it to get his kicks and fill his quota. Bastard. FUCKING BASTARD. I was driving down the road, going the speed limit, and decided to stop at the McDonald's up ahead. He was sitting in his squad car signaling to turn left across where I was driving (however, he was sitting in that area past where it's legal to sit in the center turn lane - you know, the diagonally painted part as it tapers back to the double yellow line). So, technically, he was on the road illegally. After I turn into the McD's he hits his flashers and whoops at me. I honestly didn't see him (my stereo was cranked up). He got on his loudspeaker and told me not to park, but instead had me pull perpendicular to the spots and block all the cars parked in front of the restaurant. I put the car in park but left it on because it's like HELL outside. He refused to let me leave the car on, even though it was already in the low 90s with a high heat index. Fine. He took my insurance card and drivers license. (I need to point out that I was driving Mom's car, as is custom, since my brakes are still shot and we've never had the several hundred dollars to get it fixed.) After sitting in the hot car for about 10 minutes (during which time I surreptitiously texted several things to Twitter, and once to Mom), he got back on his loudspeaker. He asked me if I had insurance in my name on the protege. I tried to get out of the car to go talk to him. He ordered me back into the car. So, instead, I had to partially lean out the open window and yell back at him that my insurance through USAA covers any vehicle I'm driving, and that the policy that has the car listed is Mom's and I don't know if there's a copy in the car. Can I call her to find out? He yells on his speaker that, NO, I'm not allowed to call anyone. Well, great. So I texted some more until I see him get out of his car again. I was SO EMBARRASSED that he used his loudspeaker instead of coming to talk to me. I realize that the people at McDonald's won't remember what was said, but I have a feeling that there will be several that will go back to their offices and gossip about the girl pulled over in the parking lot. And even though I don't know these people and never will, that bothers me.

It also bothers me that he wouldn't listen to me at all. He had his mind set on fucking with me, and wouldn't listen to the plain simple facts of THIS ISN:T MY CAR and I DON'T KNOW WHY THE STICKERS ARE EXPIRED. BECAUSE THIS ISN'T MY CAR. NOT MY CAR.

The bastard pulled me over because the tags were out of date. The registration is less than a year overdue, and the inspection is about a year overdue. Again, NOT MY CAR. How can you ticket ME when IT"S NOT MY CAR. ASSHOLE. Then, he ticketed me for not having insurance that lists the car and my name. My insurance card lists my cougar because that's my car. However, I have coverage that covers any vehicle I'm driving. Mom has insurance that has her name and the protege, but there is NO DOCUMENT that has my name and the protege. BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY CAR. So, now I have to show up in court on July 23 at 9am and prove that the guy was an asshole. The ticket lists it as "Failure to maintain financial responsibility." WTF??

So, for those who live in the area, be aware of this officer (I will provide name and badge # upon request). I will be going after his badge, because this is just fucking harassment. This is why I love firefighters and generally don't like cops. Firefighters do it mainly to put their lives on the line to protect others (and a little bit about the glory), the cops tend to do it for the badge and gun and power (and only a little about protecting others). Especially the "constables" who don't have any real power. They live to make other people's lives shit.

I'm also a little pissed at Mom that I was put in this position in the first place - that she couldn't get a $35 inspection, or figure out a way to get the registration taken care of... and let me know where the insurance card is in her car just in case. I feel like had she done the basic stuff on the car that I wouldn't have had this happen.

She retorted with the fact that she's been driving with those stickers that way for a year and never gotten caught and blamed ME for not keeping an eye out for cops who might see the stickers. WHAT????? HELL THE FUCK NO.

So, my mission today is to play some games online, listen to angry music on my computer, and then probably take a nap and try to forget this morning happened.

ETA: Just told the whole sordid saga to Sis. She was very sympathetic and said all the right things, namely "what an asshole," "that must have been embarrassing," and "yes, of course you're entitled to your feelings and mom cutting you off wasn't a good thing."

ETA2: Mom just rang Sis up to let her know that she'd be out fixing the car until late - something about since she'd had the car's computer reset to cancel the erroneous check engine light, they couldn't do a state inspection until she had driven 75 miles. So she's out driving to Hempstead and back. At the end of the conversation, Sis said, "The commentary's not necessary or useful," twice. My guess, which was confirmed after she hung up, was that Mom had ranted about me and getting the ticket, etc. Sis refused to tell me exactly what was said, but I was still angry that Mom had put Sis in the middle AGAIN. Part of me really wanted to call her up and say, "What the hell did you say to [Sis]?!?" But I realized that would probably be a bad idea, so instead I sulked back up to my room and am preparing to take a long nap.

When Mom rented this house, we were excited that it had a hot tub. I grew up with a pool, so I thought having a hot tub would be great. Then I broke both ankles, and getting in and out of it was out of the question. Mom wasn't going to go in alone, and we needed the water to be re-balanced, and so we never have used it. Neither Mom or I have swimsuits, either. I'd rather take a bath anyway. And Mom's constantly pissed off that it's sucking so much energy. It's one of those "smart" tubs where it kicks on to keep the temperature constant.

Today, we tried to figure out how to turn it off. We figured that it was either plugged in, or there would be a switch to turn it off, and a valve to drain it. Because that would make sense. When we finally figured out which piece of the exterior was the removable panel (that the previous owners had screwed on WHAT?), we couldn't find any kind of on/off switch. Anywhere. So we called the tech support for the company (Balboa Spas, I'm WATCHING YOU) long-distance in California. The guy was a real snotty asshole, acting like, "Why would you want to turn off your hot tub?" "BECAUSE I'M PAYING A LOT OF MONEY TO KEEP THIS RUNNING AND I DON'T USE IT AT ALL." Finally, we ended up being told that the only way to get it turned off was to have a "dealer" come out and turn it off at the breaker, which we can't find anywhere in or on the house, and drain it. Before hanging up with the tech support guy, I told him that I will not recommend this spa to anyone else because it has absolutely ZERO user-friendly features. I mean, if you use your hot tub all the time, then it's great. IF you happen to be a heathen, by this guy's standards, and don't use it, then you're SCREWED. AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH.

Mom will be calling the owner of the house to call a spa person to come out and drain and turn off the thing. Because there's no way we're paying for it.