license and proof of insurance, please

matt and i are generally law abiding citizens, but this week we've received a swift spanking from the long arm of the law:

1. 9:00 pm, tuesday, july 17, 2007; irving texas: i was pulled over for driving a vehicle with an expired registration. this run-in was totally deserved; i had negligently been driving around for three months just asking for a failure to renew registration citation. okay, you got me... guilty.

2. 10:30 pm, friday, july 20, 2007; playa del carmen, mexico (complete mexico blog soon to come): matt brashly runs a red light and gets nabbed by the fuzz just moments after he wraps up a conversation about how the mexican police rarely pull anyone over. however, i think matt, an honorary mexican and a smooth-talking pro, enjoyed the chance to show his co-workers how the law really works in mexico. 4 minutes and $7 later, we were back on the road.

3. 11:00 pm, friday, july 20, 2007; playa del carmen, mexico: the nastiest run-in of the week. got a parking ticket outside our hotel in playa as we were taking our luggage to our room. it was a low blow. i had seen the cop circle the block 2 minutes earlier as matt checked in, so the guy was just waiting for us to leave for a minute. when matt went back downstairs to park the car (we left the car for no more than 1 minute), the cop was busying himself with removing our front license plate (a tactic used to ensure we pay our ticket to get the plate back... crafty badgers). matt tried to explain his situation to the officer, but the guy was an ornery old cuss and wasn't having any of it. the next morning matt spent over an hour running around playa trying to pay the ticket and locate our missing plate, poor guy.

4. 10:00 am, tuesday, july 24, 2007; irving, texas: coming full circle with this story... ironically, i was on my way back from renewing my registration and paying the citation i received one week earlier (see 1.). squad car lights in my rear view... a familiar sight lately. grrreat. i had my license and insurance ready for him as he approached my window, and i asked what the problem was. he had run a check on my license plates and found that my registration had expired... i smartly pointed to the brand new registration sticker on my windshield, and he immediately started pawing for other infractions. state inspection current? check. car was actually mine? check. uh, seat belt securely fastened? check. anything else sir? just to make the stop worth his while, he thanked me for pulling into a parking lot but mentioned that next time i was pulled over to pull into a parking lot an additional 5 feet so there was no risk to his squad car. thanks for the warning, chief.