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Watchman

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Everything posted by Watchman

  1. You are wrong. Your anecdote does not mean they tax you based on their mood. They DO have guidelines for it. Just because they show some lenience doesn't mean that they are ignorant or stupid. You lied to the law to begin with stating that it was 800yen. And the effort to do the paperwork for a Rs.50-100 tax based on your lie, or on the other hand the effort to investigate the true value of whatever part would not have been worth it. But that being said, yes you are right; being courteous gets you the benefit of doubt. Just that people should try not to abuse it
  2. Wow, Ali seems to have matured a lot. Must keep an eye out there from now! Thanks crosswind!
  3. Look for "car water squeegee" on ebay. I personally wouldn't use one of those. It's possible that grains of sand/dust left over from the wash would get dragged all along the paint. But your car your petrol your squeegee.
  4. Do you know what the "immigration rule violation" is? I'm sure they didnt sneak into SL on a boat. My guess is, they came on a tourist visa when they should have come on some sort of medical-need visa. I think these 'donations' are the questionable type and since they cant be caught red-handed, the authorities are running a fine-tooth comb to nab them on a technicality. I am actually on the fence on sellingdonating organs. For those in some economic slums its better to feed their family and live with 1 kidney rather than watch your family suffer and die with 2 kidneys. There are counties like Iran where organ selling is done in legitimate and regulated ways, which IMO isn't too bad.
  5. I'm totally FOR this. Like gayantha said its an incentive for vehicle owners to be more responsible/liable about thier vehicle's ownership too. While i agree there are 'iffy' cases of some road signs and lane markings. Even if the police decide to ignore those, there are more than enough clear cut violations around Colombo like parking on pavements or right next to a "no parking" sign. Police forces elsewhere keep the video evidence in case you decide to challenge them, but if you do, they'll slap on an extra administrative fee which is fair.
  6. nice one! Should be useful for current/future e46 users!
  7. I agree that the government (and the civil service in general) have little or no procedures/processes on public relations and gathering feedback etc. I myself don't know what the hell a ETCA is or why its needed (not that I ever bothered to find out either). I know there are loads of Sri Lankans working in India and visa versa. So if all these chapathi IT guys want our IT jobs, there's nothing stopping them applying and getting the job and immigration clearance even now. edit: I do think they did some study by consulting industry experts on the terms related to their fields. This is the "version" that a certain passport-wansa got from the GMOA and was barking about at one point, when the government clearly said that there has been no agreement entered into.
  8. Ah, just another ask-hole. I guess you just want some ideas on the 'mentality' so that you can be the car-expert at the office-pantry.
  9. What are "Babat Kotal" (in the farm shop reciept)?
  10. I dont blame either government for this. This isnt as simple as selling onions or potatoes. Its a complex agreement which will have a LOT of sensitive areas where both parties have to give and take. The deal is currently in that stage, hence neither government can show their people "here this is the deal we're gonna get into with our neighbor!"..... Besides, there's no point in the public seeing a draft when it's most definitely going to be obsolete when the officials meet for the next negotiation meeting. Once it's agreed upon i'm certain that it will be publicly available. So rather than get wound up by some selfish politicans' fear mongering, let's be patient.
  11. Note; MadMax and MadMMX are 2 different people btw
  12. There's no contradiction. My ideas on the side note are for future generations. It's not directed at you. I gave the answer YOU (gayanth) should use when the police stop you. That's because you're too dumb to read a document beyond it's title page. Actually a simple google search WILL give you what you're looking for. Anyway you lost interest as well, so yeah, let's forget it
  13. The law is not like a dictionary where they just release a new edition whenever there is an amendment. An amendment is read with the original Act. If you bothered to go down to at least the 2nd page, (rather than read the title on page one and give up), you'll see that it states that "The Motor Traffic Act (Chapter 203) (hereinafter referred to as “the principal enactment”) is hereby amended—". Which in relatively simple english states that the amendment is to be read with the original act. Furthermore if you bothered to goto the Department of Motor Traffic's website, you'll see that they clearly state what acts/chapters to refer! If you need to be spoon-fed to such a level, don't waste your time trying to read it. Whenever a police officer stops you say "Yes sir, sorry sir, I wont commit the offense again sir, I'll pay the fine sir, have a good day sir" and walk away. Side-note: Honestly, I think our education curriculum needs to include lessons on some practical life knowledge such as 1. how to read the country's constitution/laws (and the process of how they are formulated and enacted) 2. Resume writing and applying to jobs (not demand jobs outside a railway station and become a nuisance to everyone else) 3. Basic taxes and banking Things like this can really help ANYONE succeed in life rather than be turned into a selfish politician's monkey. Today a politician just needs to play a racist tune, xenophobic tune, or koti-nagitinawo tune and the monkeys dance all over fort railway station or in the facebook-meme factory.
  14. 1. The most common reason (at least on performance cars) is for better weight distribution. 2. I've pondered about it and personally believe that it will be more efficient since the drive shaft only rotates at the engine RMP and not the (much faster) wheel's RPM. This means less energy is wasted in the drive shaft's rotational potential energy. Plus, lesser revolutions means lesser wear-n-tear..this is a personal theory, but maybe someone's got some insights on this.
  15. #1. It's upto the OP if he wants to take life (or any) advice from random folks. #2. Suggesting cars is not the most helpful, if changing the car is not the problem that needs solving.
  16. No, but if you buy some extra wrap/sticker some trial and error wouldn't hurt. It can be quite fun too.. if ot gos wrong, take of that sticker and start again..
  17. I had the same issue with my wife's love for taxis. Solution was that we agreed that she has a a monthly spending account/budget; no questions or criticisms from me. Rs.XXX goes into it and its upto her how she wants to spend it, clothes, make-up taxi etc etc. I noticed that the last 2 weeks of the month, she becomes more conscious about it and cuts down on taxis and takes the bus more. She cries a bit about it, but also tries to control it herself Hope that helps!
  18. Solution: Tell your wife to learn to drive a manual! Reasons: #1: Why compromise that one pleasure of yours for her stubbornness? #2: The sedan you get will be 2nd hand, so it WILL come with its share of unknown issues #3: Unless your wife has a physical disability, don't give into this. You are setting yourself bad precedence. You give in now, know knows what else you'll have to give into in the future. So stand your ground! #4: If she's too stubborn to learn and you're not available, ask her to take a bus! Those are circumstances she brought upon herself by her choice to not learn to drive a manual transmission. It will be an important life lesson for her too! This advice brought to you by autolanka's own car&life-coaching team!
  19. To give a brief summary as I know (others are welcome to add on or correct me).. There has always been provisions to bring HC bikes, but at one point the MoD/police realized hey criminals can use a fast bike to get away from a crime scene, hence they said from XXX day onwards no more HC (250+) bikes are allowed into the country with the exception of those brought due racing/sport use (meaning cannot be used on public roads).. which meant they didn't need a RMV/DMT registration. So those who did bring in HC bikes had brought them down illegally. So that means they had no import papers and no registration; thus running on number-plates issued to other bikes. Around 2013, the MoD said that they no longer had an objection to HC bikes being used on public roads (with some rider registration rules applied i think); and so people were allowed to import => pay tax =>register => ride on public roads. A number of bikes HC bikes have since been imported, registered and been on the road since. The issue now is mostly for the bikes that were illegally imported prior to 2013. As they no proper import paperwork, they are illegal. And just like a cut/bud car it is an illegal vehicle irrespective of being a HC bike. but as stories go,the KTM 990 was a legally imported bike. The video on the daily mirror FB page showed the bike with no number plate.. but maybe it was just removed.
  20. Heck, I would park around borella/pettah/fort call it a public toilet, and get a free full tank. Or even charge Rs.10 per person to 'use the facility'
  21. But hey, if a panda runs on piss, i would definitely buy one! Think of how much money you'll save!
  22. Hey, Just sharing an opinion, when painting our w123 once, we painted the lowermost sections of the front fenders (basically the while strip under the front bumper) black. I personally liked how the car looked with it painted cos the car looked slightly wider. It doesnt need a lot of rework. Just a few hours work at most. Just sharing a view, upto you on if you wanna do it.
  23. JC, You're hilux actually had a commercial benefit and you use it for stuff you cant quite use a "rental" for. Plus its used for 3 months which isnt too bad. Franky, its all anout the $$$$. If you have enough money you can buy even a range rover and keep it locked up. Frankly, as an expat visiting Sri Lanka for limited periods of time OP is better off saving time and effort by renting. I think this dead horse has been beaten enough.. Hopefully the OP got the message.
  24. #1 Ironic, coming from someone who's name is 'Ginger' #2 ohhhh so many big words... Anyway I don't need such fancy vocabulary in my job as simple watchman at a simple farm in polonnaruwa.. All I need to know is "හූ හූ අලියෙක් එනො!" and පලයන් යන්න අම්*ට හු**න කාලකන්නි කැ**යා! ආවද මගෙ හේනෙන් වට්ටක්ක හොරකන් කරන්න. ඉදා තොපිව පොලිසියට අල්ලල දෙනකන්!" Yet, I'm not the idiot who bought a vehicle that pretty much runs on a language i don't know a word of!
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