Wednesday, April 08, 2015

It's your life. Enjoy it any which way you want.

"You blogged twice today. On shit and on education" the friend commented.

"Shit and education. Aren't they synonyms?" I replied.

Yep, that is the level of my humor!  But, hey, it's my life. I enjoy it my own way.

Different strokes for different folks.

This morning, I was on my way to work.  As always along the back roads.  A gorgeous spring morning it was.  A pleasant 49 with the sun trying to break through the clouds.

I stopped at an intersection as the light turned red.  A white car slowly eased past me into the left-turn lane.  I am not a car maniac, but I know enough to recognize some big names.  This was one of the biggest names of all: a Bentley.  Yep, a Bentley. In the back roads, outside of Eugene, Oregon!

The car had a canvas top, which made me wonder whether that was a convertible.  Imagine that--a Bentley convertible in the back roads outside of Eugene!

It looked like this car:

Source

Of course when ordinary cars have customized licence plates, you think this Bentley would not carry one?  It said it all: 4NJOYN.

Get it?  For Enjoying.

Meanwhile, I derive my enjoyment from quipping that shit and education are synonymous.  No wonder I don't own a Bentley! ;)

This being a big-data world, I wondered if I might even be able to get information on who owns that Bentley.

The Oregon DMV has an answer to my question:
If I give you a license plate number can you tell me who owns the vehicle? No, personal information in motor vehicle records is protected and only released to qualified entities under Oregon's Record Privacy Law (ORS 802.175-802.191). These are generally agencies and businesses such as law enforcement agencies, government agencies, insurance companies, and attorneys. Personal information is name, address, telephone number and driver license, permit or identification number.
The ever curious mind wondered ... what can Google tell me?


Well, maybe somethings are better left mysterious.  At least, according to this writer with an awful sense of humor and who drives a dull and boring vehicle!

4 comments:

Ramesh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ramesh said...

Well, That is one beast. We shall let it zoom ahead and instead debate on a side issue.

Yes, the DMV told you that they won't release private information. And as your Google search revealed, by paying a fee to the numerous guys offering you the services, you can get all that info. So much for privacy.

And this is all without even involving the NSA. We really live in Big Brother times.

Back to the Bentley. It might interest you to know that the beast has enough power to tow a Dreamliner aircraft. Get one Khé and I'll come the next day to see you :)

Anne in Salem said...

That car costs more than every car I have ever owned combined and doubled. I would be curious who owns it because I'd love to know what possesses someone to spend so much money on a tool. Inconceivable to me. My enjoyment definitely lies elsewhere.

Sriram Khé said...

This has got nothing to do with the privacy issues of the hi-tech world that I often worry about in the blog. Who owns a house or a car is a matter of public record. Has always been that way. I can go up to my local county office and get info about properties. Or, about marriage licences. Or divorces. All those are a part of the public record.
The creeping into privacy is when the government collects data on what I do inside my home. When it collects data on where I go in my car. And whom I call from my car. Mere ownership info is not any big deal.
It is a similar one about computers. I own a computer. So what's new; gazillion others have computers. But, the privacy issues are over how I use that computer--the news stories that I read, the messages that I send, the travel booking that I make ...
So there ... let us see if you are able to get up after that TKO, Ramesh ;)

Yes, Anne, we all enjoy life differently ... I am ok with that. We three are largely ok with that. But, I bet most of my "socialist" colleagues won't be ok with that ;)