Really, it's one guy with a bad attitude who ticked off the cop, and likely a cop with a bad attitude who set the guy off, too. However, in our society, sworn officers have the power of arrest as long as they have just cause. Theft is legal grounds - whether theft of 5 cents worth of electricity is just cause for arrest is up to a Judge to decide. See: small town Georgia Judges: relationship to peace officers for probable outcome.
Thinking back on it, the breaker ran more like 5 years, in my ownership, without problems - replaced it and the new one ran for 2 years without problem.
As others have pointed out, just up-rating a breaker is... um... dumb? Sure, you can do it and get away with it, but this particular clothes dryer had a couple of problems during our first year of ownership, problems that led to big lengths of wire inside it burning off all their insulation. It was all serviced by certified a technician (literally named Bubba and unable to spell the words he writes on invoices, but I actually have confidence in his ability to fix a clothes dryer - they really are that simple, and it has run for six years since his repairs without problems....) So, back to why it's dumb... see, if the dryer had a different problem and started drawing too much current from the outlet instead of internally, that burning insulation could happen inside the walls, on the 40 year old crispy dry wooden wall studs.
I bought a 60 year old house once, there was some old, dry, loose wood in the crawl-space that I removed and lit in the fireplace, if you think lighting a christmas tree on fire is impressive, try wood that hasn't seen water for 60 years - it virtually went off like a bomb, blowing hot air and sparks faster than the chimney could take them up - and this was a very big, clean chimney that didn't blow back like that with a firebox stoked with dry split pine logs...
Have you seen the movie "Outsoruced?" If so, or not, imagine how you would rig an office roof, in India, to power 20 computers.
In Georgia, I could imagine extension cords and gang outlet strips being plugged into outlets with total disregard for load ratings, it will only stop when the breaker blows...
You obviously haven't dealt with lawyers - a law was broken, minimum court costs run about $200, and if you are guilty of breaking the law you'll be the one paying.
Judges are supposed to mitigate this nonsense, but remember that Judges used to be lawyers, and probably still go out drinking with them.
I ran a yellow light once - wasn't red until after it became invisible above my windshield/roof line, probably well after.
Cop pulls over onto the grass and charges past 6 cars, throwing up mud-grass rooster tails just so he can pull me over, then detains me for 30+ minutes before approaching my vehicle.
At the end of it, I get a ticket for running a red light, and a verbal admonition: "You can take me to court, but it's my word against yours."
My theory is that there was a "want" out for a similar vehicle description, probably with a "dangerous" tag attached - and he held on to me until they figured out that I wasn't who they were looking for, then used the ticket as justification. Kinda makes you want to run a dash-camcorder.
It's not about 5 cents, it's the principle of taking something that's not yours. The arrest also probably was precipitated more by a personality clash between the car owner, school personnel, and officer at the scene, but you can't arrest someone for being an obnoxious jerk, not on paper anyway.
However, if every parent driving to every school in the county started recharging their cars while parked there, it would create load issues, and require additional electrician work that would probably cost far more than the first year's electrical load. Now, we're talking about thousands of dollars here, in a State that is also known for having a mortician that dumped bodies out in the woods and gave people fireplace ash in urns, just to save on gas costs for cremation.
On the other hand, I think the cop in question should really get off the electrical outlet patrol and go back to writing tickets on drivers who are texting while stopped at red lights.
True that it was a joke, and what you describe are the normal, everyday consequences of openly expressing opinions that some people feel are threatening / unpopular.
However, you never really know what wing-nut is going to be having a particularly unstable day when your opinion intersects with their bad mood. And you do know that the people opposed to gun ownership restricting legislation have a high probability of being within 10 seconds or less of being able to discharge a firearm in any direction, including yours. It's highly unlikely, but still worth considering due to the permanence of making a bad call...
I got recruiter placed once. Yes, they got 30% of my salary as a referral fee. I also got 30+% of my annual salary as a relocation benefit, in exchange for a 2 year commitment. And my annual salary was a match for my previous annual salary plus better benefits.
The real kicker - the company wouldn't have paid me any higher salary if I had come to them direct somehow... not that that was a terribly likely scenario with how their HR structure worked.
In the event that two equivalent candidates present, one via recruiter, one direct, the hiring manager will go for the cheaper one. In my case, they had been looking to fill this position for months and I was effectively competing against nobody.
Variability and unpredictability of the solar wind?
It could work, but it would be like reverting from steamships to sail power, and in the billion dollar satellite business, answering the question "when will our gizmo be working?" with something like "well, between 10 and 40 days, depending on what kind of winds we get..." might not be as satisfying for the businessmen as "27 days, 13 hours and 6 minutes, +/- 30 seconds, depending on interference from the solar wind."
I know a guy who was "done wrong" by an academic institution, and he took it to court and won, judgement was that his situation was not handled properly by the Uni... and it made absolutely zero difference in the future of his life, except that he had a judge on his side agreeing with him.
Slashdot Mirror
Have you seen Mexican Spiders?
Kill-A-Watt said that mine wasn't.
Really, it's one guy with a bad attitude who ticked off the cop, and likely a cop with a bad attitude who set the guy off, too. However, in our society, sworn officers have the power of arrest as long as they have just cause. Theft is legal grounds - whether theft of 5 cents worth of electricity is just cause for arrest is up to a Judge to decide. See: small town Georgia Judges: relationship to peace officers for probable outcome.
Sold the house instead, problem solved.
Thinking back on it, the breaker ran more like 5 years, in my ownership, without problems - replaced it and the new one ran for 2 years without problem.
As others have pointed out, just up-rating a breaker is... um... dumb? Sure, you can do it and get away with it, but this particular clothes dryer had a couple of problems during our first year of ownership, problems that led to big lengths of wire inside it burning off all their insulation. It was all serviced by certified a technician (literally named Bubba and unable to spell the words he writes on invoices, but I actually have confidence in his ability to fix a clothes dryer - they really are that simple, and it has run for six years since his repairs without problems....) So, back to why it's dumb... see, if the dryer had a different problem and started drawing too much current from the outlet instead of internally, that burning insulation could happen inside the walls, on the 40 year old crispy dry wooden wall studs.
I bought a 60 year old house once, there was some old, dry, loose wood in the crawl-space that I removed and lit in the fireplace, if you think lighting a christmas tree on fire is impressive, try wood that hasn't seen water for 60 years - it virtually went off like a bomb, blowing hot air and sparks faster than the chimney could take them up - and this was a very big, clean chimney that didn't blow back like that with a firebox stoked with dry split pine logs...
Have you seen the movie "Outsoruced?" If so, or not, imagine how you would rig an office roof, in India, to power 20 computers.
In Georgia, I could imagine extension cords and gang outlet strips being plugged into outlets with total disregard for load ratings, it will only stop when the breaker blows...
If you're needing paper backups to CYA for a perp-walk, you can probably find better pay and benefits in a less stressful job at another company.
You obviously haven't dealt with lawyers - a law was broken, minimum court costs run about $200, and if you are guilty of breaking the law you'll be the one paying.
Judges are supposed to mitigate this nonsense, but remember that Judges used to be lawyers, and probably still go out drinking with them.
I ran a yellow light once - wasn't red until after it became invisible above my windshield/roof line, probably well after.
Cop pulls over onto the grass and charges past 6 cars, throwing up mud-grass rooster tails just so he can pull me over, then detains me for 30+ minutes before approaching my vehicle.
At the end of it, I get a ticket for running a red light, and a verbal admonition: "You can take me to court, but it's my word against yours."
My theory is that there was a "want" out for a similar vehicle description, probably with a "dangerous" tag attached - and he held on to me until they figured out that I wasn't who they were looking for, then used the ticket as justification. Kinda makes you want to run a dash-camcorder.
It's not about 5 cents, it's the principle of taking something that's not yours. The arrest also probably was precipitated more by a personality clash between the car owner, school personnel, and officer at the scene, but you can't arrest someone for being an obnoxious jerk, not on paper anyway.
However, if every parent driving to every school in the county started recharging their cars while parked there, it would create load issues, and require additional electrician work that would probably cost far more than the first year's electrical load. Now, we're talking about thousands of dollars here, in a State that is also known for having a mortician that dumped bodies out in the woods and gave people fireplace ash in urns, just to save on gas costs for cremation.
On the other hand, I think the cop in question should really get off the electrical outlet patrol and go back to writing tickets on drivers who are texting while stopped at red lights.
Or, if a breaker is getting old, it can start tripping at less than 100% of rated load.
Source: my electric clothes dryer was drawing 29.9A and started tripping the 30A breaker after 3 years of no problems.
Replace breaker, no more trips.
Georgia Police don't care much about PR.
True that it was a joke, and what you describe are the normal, everyday consequences of openly expressing opinions that some people feel are threatening / unpopular.
However, you never really know what wing-nut is going to be having a particularly unstable day when your opinion intersects with their bad mood. And you do know that the people opposed to gun ownership restricting legislation have a high probability of being within 10 seconds or less of being able to discharge a firearm in any direction, including yours. It's highly unlikely, but still worth considering due to the permanence of making a bad call...
Most shooters define gun control as hitting your target with a tight pattern.
I live in the semi-rural South - there is only one kind of gun control sentiment that can be expressed on a bumper sticker, safely.
Does this mean that the strategy for hiring "average" talent involves compensating unfairly?
In my life experience, yes.
Lots of unfair compensation going on out there - it might not be the "average", but I wouldn't be surprised if it covers the median.
I got recruiter placed once. Yes, they got 30% of my salary as a referral fee. I also got 30+% of my annual salary as a relocation benefit, in exchange for a 2 year commitment. And my annual salary was a match for my previous annual salary plus better benefits.
The real kicker - the company wouldn't have paid me any higher salary if I had come to them direct somehow... not that that was a terribly likely scenario with how their HR structure worked.
In the event that two equivalent candidates present, one via recruiter, one direct, the hiring manager will go for the cheaper one. In my case, they had been looking to fill this position for months and I was effectively competing against nobody.
I saw this on a gun control bumpersticker:
Ban the Fools, Not the Tools.
Actually, experiment subjects are treated with much more care, respect and regulation, when compared to most livestock.
You don't have to understand a contract to be a legal person with rights. That's how lawyers justify their existence.
Variability and unpredictability of the solar wind?
It could work, but it would be like reverting from steamships to sail power, and in the billion dollar satellite business, answering the question "when will our gizmo be working?" with something like "well, between 10 and 40 days, depending on what kind of winds we get..." might not be as satisfying for the businessmen as "27 days, 13 hours and 6 minutes, +/- 30 seconds, depending on interference from the solar wind."
I've always been mysteriously partial to Kubuntu (mysterious as in, I can't really say why I keep installing it, other than I like KDE...)
So, for the lazy, how well does Mint play with KDE?
Bad consumer, I hope you are at least eating all the tempting foods and letting your health go so you can prop up the medical industry?
I call the PS3 - oops, sorry, no more 3rd party OS for you, fiasco my final straw with them.
Also, the fact that I have to update software constantly just to use the console has seriously de-valued it for me.
I know a guy who was "done wrong" by an academic institution, and he took it to court and won, judgement was that his situation was not handled properly by the Uni... and it made absolutely zero difference in the future of his life, except that he had a judge on his side agreeing with him.