26 Oct 11 22:36, Richard Webb wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
    MH>> It could be worse.  I have heard that in Missouri and a few other   
    MH>> states you have to get your entire car inspected every year!  Now   
    MH>> that is crazy!   
      
    RW>> That's not as crazy as you might think. We do that here and it's a   
    RW>> breeze. It's a good way to get the bald tired, clunkers off the   
    RW>> road. Not to mention making you safety aware of your car. Of course,   
    RW>> it makes a big difference if you don't have to smog check it too.   
      
    RW> YEp, Louisiana has the "brake tag" as they call it, once a   
    RW> year as well.  THey're quite strict with it, and woe be to   
    RW> the inspector that takes an under the table to put that tag   
    RW> on your windshield if you didn't pass.   
      
   I used to pass a $20 to the smog check guy in California to do that.   
   Eventually the state got smart and tied the smog check machine to a main   
   frame in Sacramento. No more cheating...   
      
    RW> ONe of those scandals still in the news when I first moved to NEw   
    RW> ORleans.  Iirc they're not that expensive in Louisiana either.   
      
   There was a lot of that in California too. The state fixed that by   
   certifying all of their check stations with state inspectors.   
      
    RW> Louisiana is quite strict with theirs in fact, a hairline   
    RW> crack in a windshield or lots of other little issues and you won't   
    RW> pass.   
      
   You can pass here with a cracked windshield, if it isn't a crack that's   
   traveling.   
      
    RW>  Xyl and I had a FOrd Aerostar that the driver's side door   
    RW> couldn't be opened from the inside, you had to crank down the window   
    RW> and open the stupid thing from the outside,   
      
   Those particular vehicles seem to have lots of problems like that. I got a   
   call one time to unlock an Aerostar and I couldn't do it without using an   
   airbag and a reach tool. Normally it's a wedge the window and slip a tool   
   in the door to unlock too. That and the steering column ignitions never   
   work right.   
      
    RW> guy wouldn't pass us until I went and got the parts, took the stupid   
    RW> door apart and repaired it. IT stopped in the required distance at   
    RW> the required speed, lights and horn worked, tires were good, but he   
    RW> wouldn't pass us without the ability to open that door from the   
    RW> inside.   
      
   In case you needed to make a hastey exit.   
      
    RW> IN fact, getting its windshield to pass that year entailed a bit of a   
    RW> fight with one of those "we fix your windshield on the spot"   
    RW> services.   
      
    RW> WE were rolling down interstate 10 in NEw ORleans east when   
    RW> a dump truck belonging to ORleans parish without a tarp lost some   
    RW> gravel, got a nice little ding in the windshield which would start to   
    RW> expand.  Lady called this service, because we had like 30 days until   
    RW> annual brake tag inspection time. GUy comes out, but it's only in the   
    RW> mid forties that day for temp.  I ask him if he doesn't want to wait   
    RW> on that, because as I've been lead to understand those fixes don't   
    RW> cure properly at low temps.  HE assures me we're in good shape, but   
    RW> then puts in a new windshield as that crack's growing too much.   
      
   I think I've seen this one.   
      
    RW> NOw remember it's colder than I thought you could do that   
    RW> job in the out of doors.  GUys in the upper midwest I knew   
    RW> that did that work had you bring it to their climate   
    RW> controlled shop.   
      
   It freezes up there.   
      
    RW> So, wife's running me to work, I'm wearing one of my nice   
    RW> suits, and it's raining buckets, and I'm drenched by the   
    RW> time I get there.   
      
    RW> I call the company.  GUy says "yeah yeah we'll fix it ... "   
    RW> and comes out, it still leaks.   
    RW> Finally I told him to either fix it right, or I'd run a full page ad   
    RW> in the TImes Picayune telling folks of my dissatisfaction with his   
    RW> company.   
      
      
    RW> Third time, he fixed it right!!!   
      
   Had the guy replaced the window gasket when he replaced the windshield you   
   wouldn't have had that problem. I had a 72 Chevy pickup that the   
   windshield began to get cloudy on me, so I called one of those windshield   
   guys to come to my shop and replace it. It was a top of the line Chevy and   
   so had a chrome strip imbedded in the gasket. There's no way you can   
   remove the glass without removing that chrome first. He did! Of course my   
   chrome strip was all bent to h*** when he finished the job. I asked him   
   how the chrome got all bent out of shape and he said, well, it's just old   
   chrome I guess. Oh hum and off he went.   
      
      
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