Stupid (but sincere) Questions about the USA

IrisAlthea said:

So it would depend on how serious the offence is?

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Sort of sort of not. If I tamper with the neighbor's mail, that's federal. It depends on the legal precedent and classification of the crime.

seela said:

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I believe the driver's license there includes a lot more information than the European version, such as weight, height and address. So my question is, do you have to get a new driver's license every time you move? What about if you gain or lose weight? Is there a limit, like if you gain or lose 50 pounds you have to update the info but with only 20 lbs you don't have to?

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There isn't a fixed answer to when to renew your driver's license regarding weight change. If you ask a person who works at the Driver's License issuing location in your state, I think they commonly will say any drastic change should be met with getting a renewed license. However, most citizens try hard to not do that more often than they can.

Other aspects that the Driver's License people want you to get a newer license:

• changing hair style (women AND men)
• facial hair (men obviously)
• changing your address (even within the same state)

...there were a couple of other factors but they flew out my head while I was writing this because I was thinking of other things I wanted to say.

I normally have a mustache and goatee, however there are times when I've had to start a new job. General rule of thumb here is, new jobs go to clean cut guys, so if I am looking for a job, out comes the razor. After 6 months of employment, the mustache and goatee comes back out (typically, much to the dissatisfaction of the person who hired you). The problem is, I look my age when I have a mustache and beard. Unlike a woman, men generally like to look older. "Older" signifies maturity and knowledgeable, unless you live in Pennsylvania where facial hair generally means married. The problem also is, when I shave my facial hair off, I look about 10-15 years younger than I am.
During such times that I was looking for a job, I've been "carded" while purchasing alcoholic beverages, long into my middle to late thirties.

Likewise regarding hair length. While I was younger, I used to let my hair grow long periodically (for donation purposes (I had a cousin who was younger than me and got cancer. She got chemotherapy and lost her hair and remarked she always wished she had my hair color...)). After I grew my hair long once, I decided to do it a couple more times.
I grew my hair to about the middle of my back and then would get a crew cut.

I've also gone through significant weight changes due to depression. I once went from 175lbs to 350lbs in about a 2 year period when I was 25. Again, another reason they want you to update your license, but no clear cut defined declaration of when you HAVE to.

The end all be all is they want you to have an up to date picture of yourself on your driver's license so they can identify that 'you' are 'you.'

edit: A big money costing endeavor is changing from one state to another in regards to a Driver's License. Most times, not always, a license is good from one state to the next, but must be updated within (I believe that IS stated firmly) 30 days of residency in a new state or location. Some states don't honor a driver's license issued from certain states. I've never come across that issue, but I remember reading it as one of the prerequisites to obtaining transferring of a driver's license.

For instance, in NY, you can only get a driver's license, initially, after completing a road test. Anybody who has ever been on a road in NY (city) and tried to get a parking place knows this is sometimes a VERY difficult and trying thing to do. You luck out if you have to parallel part and there is no place to park! Free pass! BUT if there is a parking place, and you are lucky if it is a foot bigger than your car on front and back, then you have to park without touching a bumper once! Automatic fail to even 'kiss' a bumper.

In most cases, if you have a driver's license from NY, it holds that you can drive in any other state, but the reverse isn't always true. People who already have a driver's license and move to NY from (one or two certain states that I can't remember which) must RE-take a road test to ascertain competency.

In NY, to renew a driver's license is done every four years I think, and costs about $45. Note: Transferring a driver's license into NY takes approximately 1-2 months to get a new one. They give you a piece of blank white paper in the meantime as proof you can drive, but try to use that when you cash a paycheck!
getting a driver's license transferred into NY also costs about $90 (last time I did that was about 15 years ago so it's likely gone up or doubled since then).

In NY, You go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, regarding anything about your car and or license. To wait in line in Motor Vehicles is akin to horror. Normally one goes at 6AM to get a good place in line. hopefully you can finish up around lunchtime...
In Florida, (renew $15, transfer costs $45 I think and transfer one state to another to getting a new license is the same day), there is the Department of Driver's License and a separate location for getting one's "tags" (license plates/registration).
In Pennsylvania, it's similar to Florida that you get a transfer the same day you apply for it, the cost was $12 to renew I think and $120 to transfer in. Pennsylvania also was unique in that the places you go to get a driver's license isn't a state run organization, but a business.

Road test in Florida is done in a fenced parking lot with no other access except for the road test. Also, motorcycle licenses were given out to anybody who asked for one (no road test) for time but that changed.

There have been other states and other procedures and costs, since I've moved from state to state numerous times, but those are the ones that stand out most prominently

Very small hijack -------->

CutieMouse said:

SHY!!!

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for CM

LWulf said:

They give you a piece of blank white paper in the meantime as proof you can drive, but try to use that when you cash a paycheck!

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This brings me to another question... What's with the checks? Is it not possible to have your money go straight to your bank account? And do you pay your bills by sending checks in mail? I remember at least Penny in The Big Bang Theory say that she sent topless photos of herself instead of a check to pay for a bil. (See, I told you I learned everything I "know" from TV.)

I've only once in my life seen a check. I graduated from highschool (11 years ago) and my dad's gazillion-year-old aunt thought it wasn't classy to give money, so she gave me a check instead. I had to go to a bank to get the money for it.

Here you pay your bills online, and usually you can get your regular bills delivered straight to your electronic bank account. Then you only have to confirm the payment. Or you can have the bills delivered on your email, then you have to click a couple of more buttons to pay for them and input a code number thingy from the bill. Or you can have them sent in mail, too, but that's getting rare.

seela said:

Here you pay your bills online, and usually you can get your regular bills delivered straight to your electronic bank account. Then you only have to confirm the payment. Or you can have the bills delivered on your email, when you have to click a couple of more buttons to pay for them. Or you can have them sent in mail, too, but that's getting rare.

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Its pretty much the same way here. Checks used to be how bills were paid. You got your bills via the mail, and then sent a check in. Checks are still available, but its generally only the elderly (who are in the habit) who use them for much. I haven't seen anyone pay by check in the grocery store in I don't know how long, and it used to be common.

The only thing I use a check for these days is the dog walker/dog sitter, who doesn't have online billing established.

IrisAlthea said:

If I ever decide to write a police procedure story, I think I'll set it here and not in the US.

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Maybe that's why the Scandinavian detective books are so popular all over the world right now?

BiBunny said:

Yay, I'm so glad you started this thread!

--

Also-also, I don't have (and have never had) a passport. The one time I ever went out of the country, it was still possible for me to do it without one. The last time I looked (out of curiosity, not because I thought I'd ever get to travel again), I think the website said that it costs about $140 to get one. Renewals, though, are probably not as much.

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I'm glad I started this thread as well!

$140 for a passport sounds like a lot! No wonder you don't want to get it if you don't absolutely need it. I don't have any other ID anymore now that my ID card expired, so I just have my passport with me all the time.

ID card is enough to travel within the Schengen countries in Europe, so you don't absolutely need a passport here, either, but a driver's license won't do, though. They rarely check for ID on the borders anymore, but if they do and you don't have it, it'll be a lot of trouble for you.

In the Nordic countries you can legally cross the borders without any papers at all. I'm not sure how that works with airlines though, because they say you need to show valid ID to board. But on land and sea borders nobody cares.

seela said:

This brings me to another question... What's with the checks? Is it not possible to have your money go straight to your bank account? And do you pay your bills by sending checks in mail? I remember at least Penny in The Big Bang Theory say that she sent topless photos of herself instead of a check to pay for a bil. (See, I told you I learned everything I "know" from TV.)

I've only once in my life seen a check. I graduated from highschool (11 years ago) and my dad's gazillion-year-old aunt thought it wasn't classy to give money, so she gave me a check instead. I had to go to a bank to get the money for it.

Here you pay your bills online, and usually you can get your regular bills delivered straight to your electronic bank account. Then you only have to confirm the payment. Or you can have the bills delivered on your email, then you have to click a couple of more buttons to pay for them and input a code number thingy from the bill. Or you can have them sent in mail, too, but that's getting rare.

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Checks are kind of on the old school side but have their uses. For instance, the company that manages the house I rent doesn't have an online bill pay service (for some ungodly reason). But I cheat and use my bank's online bill pay to send them a check straight from my account so it comes out immediately and they get it within five days. I've also written checks for big ticket items, such as the down payment on a car that wouldn't have cleared the daily limit for my debit card.

All of my utilities are paid online via credit card or the aforementioned bank online bill pay.

Another use for checks- it isn't safe to send cash in the mail because people will steal it. Sucks but it is what it is. Checks are safer in that they can be canceled if the wrong person gets them.

Endless_Night said:

Its pretty much the same way here. Checks used to be how bills were paid. You got your bills via the mail, and then sent a check in. Checks are still available, but its generally only the elderly (who are in the habit) who use them for much. I haven't seen anyone pay by check in the grocery store in I don't know how long, and it used to be common.

The only thing I use a check for these days is the dog walker/dog sitter, who doesn't have online billing established.

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Checks are still pretty common on TV, so I've thought they're still pretty common there in general. Or maybe all references to them just jump at me because they seem so odd to me. This is exactly why this thread is awesome.

But do you still get actual physical paychecks or is that just a phrase, too?

All the rent payments I've ever made, residential and commercial, have been via check. Do landlords elsewhere seriously not take checks? How does THAT work?

seela said:

Checks are still pretty common on TV, so I've thought they're still pretty common there in general. Or maybe all references to them just jump at me because they seem so odd to me. This is exactly why this thread is awesome.

But do you still get actual physical paychecks or is that just a phrase, too?

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You can, if you don't want direct deposit. Also, lots of people in poverty don't have bank accounts and so they obviously would, which is where the check cashing business comes in.

KoPilot said:

All the rent payments I've ever made, residential and commercial, have been via check. Do landlords elsewhere seriously not take checks? How does THAT work?

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I've always had to pay rent with a paper check, too. Pretty much everything else I just pay online. I know of some friends who've paid their rent online, but they were renting from fairly big rental companies, I think.

I always get direct deposit for my actual paychecks, though. I despise using checks and cash, probably because I'm overly paranoid. I want a paper trail!

KoPilot said:

All the rent payments I've ever made, residential and commercial, have been via check. Do landlords elsewhere seriously not take checks? How does THAT work?

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I rent from a private owner. I simply pay the rent straight to her bank account, excatly like I did when I rented from a large company. She then has to disclose the rent income to the tax services.

seela said:

I rent from a private owner. I simply pay the rent straight to her bank account, excatly like I did when I rented from a large company. She then has to disclose the rent income to the tax services.

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Mind = blown

Because the first word of FBI is federal, that means they deal with federal laws. DUH! Living in a city that boarders on two states, we get a lot of federal crimes. All it takes to make a local crime into a federal one is to take it across state lines. Something that might have state police following you, if you cross the state line, it's quite possible you'll be adding federal charges to your original offense.

I have a lot of different things to deal with living on a state line. You have to do two state returns, if you work in one state and live in another. Usually, what you get back in a refund from one state, the other state charges you in taxes. And if your Kansas tax bill is $5.00, you are required to pay it. If you owe Missouri $5, they let you slide. And if you are unemployed, you file in the state you worked in, not in the state you live in. Also, the maximum weekly funds allowed is more in Kansas than in Missouri. That's probably why they want that $5 income tax.

You also deal with different sales tax in two states so if you're going to make a large purchase, you would be better off buying it in Missouri. Gas in Kansas is about 7 cents more per gallon than it is in Missouri, just because of taxes, so any time I go to Missouri, if I need gas, I get it before I return to Kansas.

Speaking of drivers licenses, in Kansas, you have to get yours renewed every 5 years. I'm not sure what it is in Missouri. And in Kansas, when your license is about to expire, we used to get a copy of the written test AND a copy of the book of rules. You took the test at home by using the book of rules to find the answers, like an open book test.

I always thought it was strange when I took my completed test into the office and the lady would compliment me on getting 100% correct. I'd think it would be pretty difficult to get any wrong, but I guess it did happen. They recently stopped doing that and now you just have to get your eyes tested and smile for your picture. That's for a renewal. I'm not sure what happens if you let your license expire.

Another thing that I always thought was strange about Kansas is you only need to get your car inspected when you first buy a car or first move into the state. If you live in Missouri, you have to get it inspected every couple of years, I think. I'm sure there are some unsafe cars on Kansas roads, because of this.

And another thing that is different between the two states is the roads. Kansas has a better plan for fixing their roads. Missouri has more pot holes than Kansas and even the Missouri residents complain about it.

Kansas City is on both sides of the state line so there's a Kansas City, Missouri and a Kansas City, Kansas. On the Kansas side, the city is relatively small, compared to the Missouri side. It's a little misleading for people who don't know, because the name of the city is Kansas City, and the larger part of it is in Missouri.

But, of the suburbs of Kansas City, the Kansas side is more wealthy. In fact, Johnson county in Kansas is one of the 100 wealthiest counties in the whole country. And the city of Overland Park is one of the largest suburbs. Incidentally, they require all buildings to be beige. They can be brick, concrete or metal, but if they are painted, they have to be painted beige.

When the fast food business White Castle moved into the city, they had to sue to be allowed to have a white building. They said the were NOT beige castle! They won the case and were allowed to have the only white building in the city. Unfortunately, they went out of business, a few years later.

Speaking of the FBI, the Kansas City massacre was the shootout and murder of four law enforcement officers and a criminal fugitive at the Union Station railroad depot in Kansas City, Missouri, on the morning of June 17, 1933. Prisoner Frank Nash was being transferred by the FBI and they were ambushed by friends of Nash in an attempt to free him. The FBI said Pretty Boy Floyd was among the gunmen, but some of the evidence says he was framed by the FBI.

Within about 30 seconds, two Kansas City police officers, two FBI agents and Nash, the man they were trying to free were all dead. FBI accounts say Floyd was wounded by a Kansas City officer as he fled the scene.

Because of this incident, J. Edger Hoover changed how the FBI was organized. Previously, FBI agents didn't carry guns and if they wanted to arrest someone, they would contact the local police agency to do it. That's why there were Kansas City officers at this scene. After the ambush, Hoover decided to arm his agents and within a year, they were carrying sidearms plus they were heavily armed with shotguns and Tommy gun machine guns in the cars. Incidentally, to this day there are still bullet holes from that day, in the east entrance of Union Station.

Hmmmm questions about documents, FBI, CIA..... Just what are you planning ehhhh???? (Gives side-eye)

Loverskitten said:

Hmmmm questions about documents, FBI, CIA..... Just what are you planning ehhhh???? (Gives side-eye)

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Shhhhh, the NSA is probably listening already.

I'm of the belief that if the NSA's monitoring this site, they're really run out of "higher-value" targets.

I still use checks to pay small business owners. My massage therapist, my hair stylist, the guy that cleans out my gutters or power washes my house, my plumber all are paid by check because they don't take credit cards. Credit card companies charge them a fee so to keep costs down they simple don't take credit. They are also service that require immediate payment at time of service. I don't ever keep that much cash on me, so checks are necessary.

Checks are really obsolete and take a lot if money in processing and time. The banks have been working on changing to more paperless methods, but the American people are stubborn and like using the tried and true methods.

When paying rent, I know a lot of people that have to have money orders or official checks. This is to guarentee funds. Sometimes both parties are charged a fee if the check is returned for insufficient funds.

With more electronic methods, some if these inconvenient situations could be avoided. I use cash or card and have decided to not pay for a book of checks.

So, are there different laws in different states?

That could get confusing if you have been doing something lawfully in one state, move house then get arrested!

Sweetdaisymae said:

So, are there different laws in different states?

That could get confusing if you have been doing something lawfully in one state, move house then get arrested!

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Yes and laws can vary city to city as well.

Sweetdaisymae said:

So, are there different laws in different states?

That could get confusing if you have been doing something lawfully in one state, move house then get arrested!

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There are different laws in different states. It is confusing, but if you're moving from one state to the next, you should probably find out a little about where you're going. Generally, if you're a decent human being you'll be ok.

Yes, though it used to be like that. 50 states with their own laws. Less likely the further on we get.

[three page rant deleted on the peculiarities, of Pennsylvania in particular, and moving around in the US since 9/11]

Usually, what is legal in one state, is unilaterally legal in other states. I'm thinking of same sex marriages for example, that if they get married in one state where it's legal, then their marriage contract is binding in any other state. I forget what form of law that is called.

Oh! Back to automobiles... California is usually known for the strictest, toughest, most mandatory environmental laws on the books. A car that is legal in one state, might not be legal in California. So yes, if you moved to California, you might own a car that is illegal to own there. You have one of three options, sell it (before moving there), junk it, or pay to have it modified so it is compliant (though you might as well junk it and buy a new car).

Sweetdaisymae said:

So, are there different laws in different states?

That could get confusing if you have been doing something lawfully in one state, move house then get arrested!

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There can also be different laws within each state. You can have town, city, or county laws in addition to the state's laws.

Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense if you are arrested for a crime.

Daddy2mylilgirl said:

There can also be different laws within each state. You can have town, city, or county laws in addition to the state's laws.

Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense if you are arrested for a crime.

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Bicycling laws are good example of this. Go for a ride on the sidewalk in Cityville where it's legal, and then end up in Townborough a few miles away where it's not, you better get your ass on the street.

The mandatory gun-ownership laws often confuse visitors.

In some states, for example, one is only required to own three or more military-style assault weapons; in others, one is required to carry them when leaving home.

This differs, of course, for schools and nursing facilities, where failure to carry a Class-7 grenade launcher is punishable by not less than three years on a lethal injection gurney.