Village Breeze

Carlsbad’’s municipal code requires registration of bicycles. It’’s to be done at the fire stations on Saturday morning. Now just how many bikes do you think get registered?

Arriving at the downtown main fire station at 10 AM, I rang the doorbell to the office. It was attended to by a slender young fireman eager to be of assistance. Maybe they like visitors.

I informed the fireman that I wanted to register my bike. This seemed to catch him by surprise but it was clear he at least vaguely knew this might fall under the duty of the fire department. Seeking some help, the fireman commented to me and, perhaps, to a fellow fireman, that registration was to be done on certain days? I informed him, with documentation in hand, that it was to be done on Saturday mornings.

The process went forth as two fireman found instructions and a supply of registration forms. The attending fireman indicated that he hadn’t done a registration for a year and a half. I commented, “I guess there aren”t many new bikes in Carlsbad.” As the process went progressed, the fireman volunteered that he”d only done three in the time he worked at the fire department. I asked how long he had worked there. He answered, “Four years.”

During the small talk, I was filling out the top half of the multi-part form. I indicated that I did not know the serial number of the bike. We went outside to find it with me expressing doubt that it could be located. The picture below shows a four alarm effort to locate a serial number. None was found.

Next, was the issue of where to affix the sticker. None of the conventional spots were available and initial places suggested by the force were going to interfere with normal adjustments to the unit. We settled on putting it along the frame tube on the back.

Back inside, wrapping up financial affairs ( me paying the $3 fee), the fireman speculated that perhaps people go to the other fire stations for their licenses or come on his days off. I suggested that they just don”t get a license!

I left, I apologized for interrupting the morning for the officer. He said, “That’’s why we”re here! Then – on the road again.

Carlsbad's finest at work

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 11:08 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.