2002 Grand Marquis LSE!

[mercurygm88]

I'll have to remember to look at this in my '98. I know I do have a little red light next to the headlight switch that I think indicates when the auto headlights are on. It's so dim it's not really noticable.

I feel like my '95 had that but I just can't remember for sure.

[VicCrownVic]

I'll have to remember to look at this in my '98. I know I do have a little red light next to the headlight switch that I think indicates when the auto headlights are on. It's so dim it's not really noticable.

[87gtVIC]

Maybe they are glow in the dark and he "charged" them up good before the pictures he took?

No idea as I am not familiar with the car but wished you would have shared the picture you are talking about.

[mercurygm88]

I figured I’d stick this here rather than start a new thread. I saw a post on Facebook awhile back from a guy who claimed that the panthers with the rotating headlight switch originally had the switch illuminated with the dash lights.

I’ve owned four of these cars now with that switch and I’ve never seen one light up. Yet this guy had photos of his. I’m guessing he modified the panel and was trying to fool people. To me the markings don’t even look like they could be back lit. In my experience back lit buttons or switches usually have a somewhat translucent gray look to them not bright white. Can anyone here confirm or deny that?

If there’s a bulb back there I’ll have to get in there and change it as I’ve always felt like that panel should be illuminated.

[mercurygm88]

Here in Jersey; the northern Jersey suburbs and cities don't care about the AG office. They have their own laws.

They listen in a hurry here, or else people lose their jobs. I've been through it before. I bet they'd listen up there too after the AG threatened to put a boot in someones ass, which is exactly how it works down here. Why can't the damn cops just follow the law? That would make life easier on everyone.

[mercurygm88]

What about making a copy and displaying it in both places? From experience, many officers will not be told by any civilian what the rules are. They are right you are wrong. Take it to court. It is called ego. Sad but true. On the other hand. There are many humble officers that treat the public like they would like to be treated. Much of the blame goes up the ladder to poor supervisors and judges who should not have their jobs. Just like any occupation, there are fools and good people. It is better to think out of the box. What can I do so I don't see their face and their attitude at my car window ?
It is really sad because LE needs the public's support. They have a rough job that gets worse each day.

It doesn't matter now, the BMV's opened back up at the end of May and I got my tags transferred when the temp tag expired June 30. I also no longer have to have a front plate which is kinda nice. I was told by the BMV I couldn't legally make a copy of the tag or tamper with it in any way. The fact is the letter from the State said to display it in the rear window because that is the law, rear window, or rear license plate bracket. The notarized letter specifically stated to show it to any law enforcement officer who tried to cause trouble. It also said if said trouble was caused to call the AG's office and they would take care of it immediately.

[Mainemantom]

What about making a copy and displaying it in both places? From experience, many officers will not be told by any civilian what the rules are. They are right you are wrong. Take it to court. It is called ego. Sad but true. On the other hand. There are many humble officers that treat the public like they would like to be treated. Much of the blame goes up the ladder to poor supervisors and judges who should not have their jobs. Just like any occupation, there are fools and good people. It is better to think out of the box. What can I do so I don't see their face and their attitude at my car window ?
It is really sad because LE needs the public's support. They have a rough job that gets worse each day.

[packman]

Funny, stupid story!

I got my replacement temp tag today. Ohio quit doing 30 day tags 5 or 6 years ago and went to a 45 day tag. Due to all of the BMV’s being closed their offering 90 day tags. I ordered it on March 30, it was made out and dated April 1 and mailed last Friday! Why didn’t they wait until Friday to date it so I didn’t lose out on 12 of my 90 days? Also they added a little letter in there that said in order to insure the tag lasts 90 days please display it in your rear window, then it listed the section of the Ohio revised code that allows this. Now I did this when I had the first Lincoln and I was pulled over and issued a written warning because it was in the back window when the tag and registration even said write on it that if could be displayed in the rear window. So now the BMV issues you a printout saying it’s legal, stating the ordnance number, and giving you a 1-800 number for the Ohio Attorney General's to call in case you are harassed for it. Then in fine print it says they have had issues over the past several years with law enforcement not following the rear window rule so now they make it a point to include the printout.

Now that's pretty damn stupid if you ask me. The registration and Temp tag already say on it that it can be displayed in the rear window and yet they still pull people over and harass them over it? What makes the state think the stupid printout is going to help? Apparently for some reason Ohio is incapable of keeping law enforcement on a leash, then again with the corruption in my own home town it doesn't surprise me. We've had several police chief's and county Sheriff's removed from office, charged with corruption, and imprisoned in the past 10 years. Even more going back before that. A handful of judges and prosecutors too. The only upside is I've dealt with the Ohio Attorney Generals office twice before involving similar matters, and one thing I've learned is that neither private businesses or law enforcement agencies like to get an unfriendly call from the AG's office.

Here in Jersey; the northern Jersey suburbs and cities don't care about the AG office. They have their own laws.

[mercurygm88]

Changed oil for the second time last night, after 5,000 miles it still looked like honey. I always run the Motorcraft 5W-20 synthetic blend and a Motorcraft filter on 4.6 cars. I'm at 104,xxx miles so I've put just under 8,000 on it. Found a new scratch I didn't know was there the other night! Other than that everything is going good, no new problems have popped up. Most of my driving these past few months has been 60-150 mile trips. Dad and I drove it 450 miles round trip last Monday to pick up a rifle and that trip was completely uneventful. I haven't done any fancy figuring but I seem to be getting 23-25mpg all around.

[mercurygm88]

Took a little road trip yesterday and put 180-200 miles on the LSE with no issues. I had to go to a town about 40 miles away to meet a guy from the internet to buy some reloading pistol primers. I also needed some powder and all the gun shops near me are either closed or out of powder and primers due to panic buying. So I ask this guy if their were any gun shops in the area. He said everything in the area closed up 30 years ago. So at this point I was 25 miles from Toledo and they have a Bass Pro Shops, I prefer Cabela's but Dundee Michigan was more than double the distance. So I went to Bass Pro, they had about 10lbs of powder left in the whole store and I was lucky to find something I could use. There's an old steam freighter on the Maumee river that's now a museum the "Col. James M. Schoonmaker" previously the "Willis B. Boyer" dad and I toured it years ago and I recently found out it had been moved, repainted, and renamed. It was only a 10 minute drive from Bass Pro Shops so I drove up there and walked around the little park they had built near the ship, drove across a couple of the bridges over the Maumee river and drove through downtown Toledo a bit. I also got gas in downtown Toledo for $1.24 a gallon! Then I took a two lane state route back home as opposed to the interstate. Not a bad little trip but nothing spectacular either.

[mercurygm88]

Wow that’s really crazy. My dad got slightly screwed when my parents divorced but nothing like that. Ohio has a legal limit on what they can charge for child support. I think it’s like 15% of your pay, maybe 20%. When my parents divorced the judge ordered my dad to pay more than he made! Luckily for him he refused to make the payments, back then it wasn’t automatically taken from you before you were paid, and a year later when the divorce was finalized he got custody. When that happened they forgave the back amount owed.

Looking back I still wish mom would’ve gotten custody. Yeah she moved a lot and changed boyfriends a lot but they were all good guys and she never did anything illegal. I’d have definitely had more fun during my teenage years.

Dad moved us way out in the country where there were no other kids to hang out with. I made a buddy down the road who went to another school. He lived just across the school district line. That was 20 years ago and we still hang out regularly. But my little brother and sister never had any real social interactions until they were in there late teenage years.

I can’t say growing up was terrible but I’d still have rather lived in town with mom. The only reason my dad got custody is because his family fed the judge a bunch of lies about my mother. Then again my brother fed them a bunch of lies about my grandparents on dads side. To this day everyone’s always trying to turn everyone against one another when no one really did anything wrong.

[Mainemantom]

Well one thing is for sure. In this time in society, I would not want to be in law enforcement ANYWHERE especially in places like Ohio. Some States are worse than others. It is a different world now. I am just glad that my working days are long over and I am deep in the retirement years.
California is HOSTILE toward men generally in divorce cases. It is a community property state. Any marriage over 10 years look out ! We were married 18. Kid was over 18 so no child support. Financial statements are submitted to the court for both parties. PROJECTING what living expenses will be. Bills are suppose to be divided. HA ! Savings, assets, houses all divided equally. HA HA ! Lost everything except my cars, I only kept them because I agreed to pay off her and the kid's new cars. Threw me into instant financial ruin. Oh I forgot, in the end, judge ordered me to pay my ex's attorney fees with one year to pay,no interest. Alimony $900 a month. Went on for 9 years. I took her to court 6 times to get it reduced. Finally got it stopped when I became disabled on the job. That is when the judge stopped alimony and attached my retirement for life. Oh, if she dies, the kid (who is an attorney) gets it. If the ex and him die, her best friend gets it. I could sell this horror story to Steven King. He lives just in town.
At the start, I had it set up where we could be divorced, assets split and go our ways in 6 months all for $350. No she had to play dirty. She also had the most cut throat attorney in that part of the State as her attorney (who I dealt with in court many times). Cheaper to keep her. yep but I am happy with my marriage of 20 years now !! In the end her attorney said it was one of the worst divorce cases he had done. Because he lost. He wanted alimony and retirement. I waited until the last day of the full year to pay that legal thief off.
Thanks for letting me rant. With that subject I need to vent... Now back to car talk.

[mercurygm88]

When my cousin divorced her first husband, she had to pay alimony to him since she made more $. He paid child support to her since she had custody. The monies were pretty much the same. I don't know why they didn't just mutually agree to drop the whole thing but it worked out for years that she was just getting her own money back every month.

Hmm. Maybe everyone I know has mutually agreed on everything. But I dunno I’ve seen some pretty rough divorces.

In other news I drove the LSE as far away from home as I’ve had it today. A whopping 55 miles one way.

[gadget73]

When my cousin divorced her first husband, she had to pay alimony to him since she made more $. He paid child support to her since she had custody. The monies were pretty much the same. I don't know why they didn't just mutually agree to drop the whole thing but it worked out for years that she was just getting her own money back every month.

[mercurygm88]

The officer in question received the suspension for illegally writing me a written warning. Because I hadn’t broken any laws. The Attorney Generals office demanded that said officer get a 30 day suspension. They even called me and told me about it when they informed me that the illegal warning had been removed from my record.

I know multiple people in Ohio, not just locally who have gotten out of speeding tickets because of suggested speeds. On all of the 5 tickets he’s fought dad was found innocent and paid between $25-$40 court costs. I also found it interesting that most of these people said the judge told the ticket issuing officer that it was on him to prove that the ticketed person was doing something illegal or dangerous. Not on them to prove they weren’t. In the case of dads 85 in a 45 the judge asked the officer if he was driving erratically. The officer said no and the judge let dad off with just the $25 court costs.

Sorry to hear about your alimony and lifetime retirement payment. Out of all the people I’ve known who’ve gotten divorced nobody has ever paid alimony let alone part of their retirement. Are there states that don’t allow such things? Or is it just dependent on the divorce?