PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

One of the more recent incidents took place in early fall of last year. I know it was September or later because I'd already started working at Fred Beans, but it was probably sometime before Halloween because it was warm enough that I had the A/C on in the truck.

This old woman in a Toyota Corolla stops in the middle of the road, with a green light, to ask a beer truck driver directions. It was a 3-way inersectikn, and the beer truck was parked in the straight lane that I normally would have been using. It's a small town with like 30 bars, so beers trucks parking in random places to unload is just a fact of life.

The Corolla was stopped in the middle of the left turn lane, and I had no way to pass her her because there were cars in the opposing lane. I was running late for work, so I just laid on the horn. The woman in the Corolla moved and the beer truck driver gestured at me to calm down. I may have threw my hands up at him in frustration, but did nothing else.

We had a red light at the next intersection and the old woman got out of her Corolla and walked up to my truck. I rolled the window down slightly, not knowing what to expect.

I told her that was I was late for work and she was blocking the intersection, so I beeped at her. She was British or Scottish, and she said in her accent "I don't care about your job! I'm loost!" That's exactly how she pronounced "lost"...

I rolled my window up and ignored her until she got back in her car. She then proceeded to take her sweet time getting back into her car, buckling her seatbelt, and shifting into drive. Meanwhile, the light was green and there were a couple of cars behind me, but I did not date beep again because I figured that would just piss her off even more.

So, you'd think that would be the end of it...

NOPE!

Close to a week later, my boss at Puck (the sweet Asian girl who's also one of my closest friends) says she needs to talk to me. Okay, whatever...

She then proceeds to ask if I'd had an incident while driving where I blasted my horn at somebody and then flipped off a beer truck driver...?

At first, I had no idea what she was talking about, then I remembered the "British bitch in the Corolla." I then realized that the beer truck driver she'd stopped to ask directions also delivered to Puck (he was a new guy).

I proceeded to tell my boss everything that had happened, but that I had never flipped off anybody. My boss expressed concern that I was going to beep at the wrong person and get my ass kicked (I agree with her and have mellowed out since then). She asked me at one point if I was sure I hadn't flipped off the beer truck driver.

I said something along the lines of "Who are you going to believe? Your trusted employee of almost four years, or some asshole beer truck driver?"

The matter was dropped...

 

I have it set as low tilt, and least telescoping as possible... my arms are pretty long lol.

 

Same here and long legs. Lol

 

And then let's not forget the most recent incident, which took place this past January, just two days into the new year!

My friend got into argument with the person she was staying with, and this person subsequently kicked her out of her apartment. My friend had no place to go and literally had all her belongings with her at Puck. A friend of mine agreed to take my other friend in, so we loaded up my Tacoma with all of her possessions (including a flat panel TV) and left Puck for the other friend's house in Chalfont.

I was super tired because I'd worked at the detail shop that day, and I'd spent another few hours at Puck with my friends. I consumed a few non-alcoholic beers, but no real beers or anything else with alcohol in it.

I stopped at a three-way intersection. The light was red. The combination of my drowsiness and my half-drunk friend yammering away in the passenger seat caused me to zone out. I stopped at the red light, looked both ways, and then somehow came to the conclusion that I was at a stop sign and not a red light. The intersection was clear, so I proceeded through.

The next thing I knew, I saw red and blue lights behind me, but what weirded me out at first was the fact that this a Chevy Express van. Central Bucks Regional PD has Chevy Tahoes, Ford Explorers, Ford Expeditions, Ford Taurus Interceptors, at least one older Crown Vic, and possibly a Charger. There are no vans. Turns out it was a sheriff's deputy in a prisoner transport van...

I DID NOT know why I'd been pulled over, and when he asked me if I knew why I'd been stopped, I told him I did not. In my advanced state of tiredness, I legitimately did not know why I'd been stopped. Unfortunately, Deputy Dickhead misunderstood and probably thought I was being a wiseass...

He asked for my license, insurance, and registration, and I asked for permission to go in the glovebox so I wouldn't get a gun pulled on me. He said it was okay and I handed him my papers. He then went back to his van and that's the last time I saw him.

I called my parents on the Bluetooth and went on a rant, saying a few unkind things about Doylestown cops. Unfortunately my window was open, and the deputy probably heard those unkind things, but I think that even if I'd been a total kiss-ass I still would have gotten the ticket.

So, Deputy Dickhead disappears with my license and paperwork, and we just sit there for a good twenty minutes.

Then, a marked CBRPD Tahoe showed up after what seemed like an eternity. The cop goes right over to Deputy Dickhead's van and we wait even more.

Finally, the officer comes up to my truck and says "Here's your citation." I responded with a frustrated "Damn it!" and the cop has the nerve to tell me to calm down, that I was being recorded. He didn't even give me chance to explain the situation. He said that I almost caused an accident, and that if I chose to fight the ticket he and the deputy would be there in court.

Did I go through a red light? Yes...

Did I almost cause an accident? NO!

I didn't even think I'd run a red light until I got home and reviewed the dashcam footage with my parents.

My parents initially wanted me to pay the ticket and take the points on my license, but I am not going to lie...

I wanted to get one up on Deputy Dickhead. The next day I called the lawyer who owns Puck and he said he could help me.

My lawyer somehow talked the deputy into not coming to court. He also made a deal with the officer who wrote the ticket, where another officer who had to appear in court on another case would take his place. He also got the violation reduced to some obscure charge that carried a $25 fine and no points on my license.

I primarily fought the ticket because a charge of running a red light could have cost me my job at the detail shop (my boss knows about this, by the way), and also cost me my ability to drive with Uber. Not to mention the increase in my insurance rates.

 

The secondary reason I fought the ticket was to be a dick. I admit that I ran the red light, but what the deputy told the cop was quite far from the truth. He made it seem as though I didn't care about the law, and blatantly ran the red light because I had places to be and thought I was better than everyone else.

The truth is that I was tired, and I was going straight at an intersection where I normally turned left. I was also distracted by my intoxicated friend yammering in my ear! I also treated the red light as a stop sign and did not just "run" it. None of these are any excuse for it, but I have a feeling that if the cop had seen me do it, I would have gotten a chance to explain myself and possibly gotten off with a warning like the last time I got pulled over.

The thing that pisses me off most is that the deputy blatantly embellished the truth to make himself look high and mighty to the real cop. I do not really blame the cop, since of course he's always going believe another LEO over the "suspect."

The other thing that pisses me off is that this was little more than a citizens arrest. The deputy had no authority to write tickets, but for whatever reason he was agitated that night and wanted to see me suffer, so he wasted my time as well as his own waiting for a real cop to show up.

The one thing I blame the responding officer for is not getting my side of the story. He listened to Deputy Dickhead's one-sided story and just wrote a ticket for a violation he didn't even personally witness.

I like to think that I won the case, because I got no points on my license, and my insurance rates will not go up.

All that deputy succeeded in doing was lowering my opinion of the Bucks County Sheriff's Department.

The verdict: I really don't like bullies, whether they're of the teenage variety, or they're wearing a badge!

 

Since Puck closed? End of January so more than two months...

 

Amen to what, specifically?

 

That deputy was a bully, and maybe he didn't realize how much he put my livelihood at risk, but still...

Police have a lot of discretion, and if I were a cop, I'd take things on a case by case basis and carefully assess every situation.

Obviously if the driver is doing 50 MPH in a 25 MPH zone and blows a red light, I'd give them a ticket...

But what I did? Come on!!! Really?!?!

 

@Taco critter

I would also like to point out that my PennDOT record is pretty much flawless. I got one other ticket back in 2017, for speeding, but it was reduced to 5 MPH over and didn't show up on my record.

 

Oh damn how come

 

Major renovations. I'm detailing cars at a dealership until I get a job in HVAC.

 

Less than 500 miles to go until I hit 96K!

 

Uber Eats took me to the Mickey D's in Souderton last night...

I took this picture of my truck in the parking lot, moments before walking in and witnessing an employee abruptly giving his manager two weeks notice!

 

My next upgrade will be an Uber Eats sign that lights up...

 

April 11, 2019

Patong, Phuket
Kingdom of Thailand
Asian version of a Tacoma...the venerable Hilux

 

April 11, 2019

Karon Ban, Phuket
Kingdom of Thailand
Another Hilux, dedicated to a life of service....

 

April 11th, 2019:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

April 7th, 2019:

Oaks, Pennsylvania

 

April 12, 2019

Patong, Phuket
Kingdom of Thailand
Pretty sure this vintage bit of art shares DNA with our Tacos....

 

Haha