Lost my speeding ticket case

I just got back from traffic court - I lost. Had to pay an additional $52 on top of the $257 that I already paid. Now I have to go to (and pay for) traffic school to keep my insurance low. (After I lost, I asked the judge if he would allow me to go to traffic school to keep my insurance rates low - he said yes.)

Anyway, here's some things I noticed:

- Be respectful - to the judge and the officer - they're only doing their jobs. Address the judge as "Your honor" or "Yes Sir" "No Sir"

- 5 out of 35 cases were dismissed - Officer did not show up - that's about a 14% chance that the officer will not show up in court.

- One person fought and won against a speeding ticket - had his case dismissed because of insufficient evidence. The defendant challenged the time between when the officer first saw the defendant "speeding" and the time that the officer pulled out, raised, aimed and then pulled the trigger on the Lidar gun. Also said that a passing truck obstructed the officer's view. The defendant also had a witness with him in court - the driver of the truck.

- Most cases are lost. It's better to have your case first or towards the first. If you're last - I was near the last, about two hours last - then the judge is tired and has heard all sorts of BS reasons, excuses, and complaints from whiners, etc. and he's just not as fresh or willing to listen as he was at 8am.

- Bring a witness if you can, someone to help support your defense.

Speeding ticket court date Friday

Well, I go into court tomorrow to plead my case before a judge on why I shouldn't have gotten a speeding ticket. I'll post the results later.

Recieved a $1600 commission in October

Sales picking up recently. I received a $1600 commission last month.

Sales have been much much slower this year. I even talked to a co-worker the other day who told me he's been having difficulty this year making his house payments.

Turned in our lease - bought a used car

We turned in our 350Z last week. Bought a very well taken care of used Mazda 626. We're very fortunate.

So good to get rid of the Z and that monthly payment. It was a fun car but it was a stupid decision to lease a car. Never again. Now I've got to reallocate that money toward paying down my debt. I've got another 2 and half years to pay off our debt. Hope we make it.