And another thing...

Skin of my teeth.

By some miracle, I noticed that my vehicle inspection was up. Believe me this is a miracle, I went almost a year without noticing my drivers license had expired.

Now, usually I wouldn't worry about it, and even let it slide for a month or so, but aparently as of February 1st, its a whole other ballgame.

Someone alerted me to this.

18 (1) All of the following parts of a vehicle, except a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, must be inspected:
(a) windshield and window glass;
(b) horn;
(c) brakes;
(d) windshield wipers;
(e) steering system;
(f) suspension system;
(g) exhaust system;
(h) fuel system;
(i) lights;
(j) tires and wheels;
(k) mirrors;
(l) coupling devices and towing connections, if applicable;
(m) body components.

Its all pretty much the same until you come to (c) brakes. Exactly how are they going to accomplish this? By taking the wheels off the car and physically inspecting the brakes.

What does this mean? It means first of all you have to have a licensed mechanic inspecting your car. Licensed mechanics charge licensed mechanic labor. Cha-ching! When a licensed mechanic has to take the time to take all the wheels off your car and inspect the brakes on all four drums? Cha-cha-cha-ching!

Oh, the government tells us that it is still only going to be a minimal fee, about 25 dollars.

Excuse me? A service station owner is going to tie up a mechanic for a couple hours (He has to pay that mechanic 35 dollars an hour), but he is only going to charge you 25 bucks? Give your head a shake.

One of two things is going to happen. One, they don't offer vehicle inspections at that service station any longer. Or two, they are going to look really hard to find something wrong, so they can at least break even on their labour costs.

Either way, we are going to pay for it. Today it cost me $17.50. I won't be so lucky next year.