I've been calling SPD about a burglary multiple times over the last month, and they state in the initial recording that non-emergency calls will go to 911 operators after the queue is empty. I don't remember the exact wording, but it's plainly there.

Those 911 operators were happy to answer my questions and didn't give me any hassle at all, so I'm not sure what happened here.

I respect the fact the guy was doing his job but he was an asshole about it and he kept "informing" me that harassing 911 was a crime. I tend to go from zero to asshole pretty quickly so it happened.

But yeah, I called the non-emergency number, had to go through 2 phone menu options, and then got "911 what is your emergency?"

Different expectations was the root of the problem. Thanks for your insight.

Agreed. If you got through to 911, don't lie, but tell them it is an emergency. Tell them there was a body laying in the roadway. Then it's up to them. Don't get in an arguement, just tell them whatever you have to so they will dispatch someone to the area.

Years ago, we witnessed a motorcycle go around a curve in a university street that had JUST been painted with glassbeads in the centerline. He laid the bike down, but didn't appear to be seriously hurt. No question he had a case against the university and the street crew.
We called the emergency police number and told them what we had seen. They asked if the cycle was leaking gas or on fire. I said no. They said they'd get to us. After 15 minutes of waiting with no response, I called again. This time I told them there was gas leaking (we did smell gas fumes) and immediately heard sirens start in our direction. A fire truck and an ambulance arrived within 2 minutes from the station 2 blocks away.

Sometimes you just have to play their game.

Wow, perfect great.

I am looking at the birth and death data from that site.

For 2010, King County there are 12,906 deaths or 35 per day.

But in that sample from the PI there are 69 deaths in a single day.

I don't "take advantage", but I'm certainly not crying any tears for Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and the other big-box shops.

I definitely don't do that with booksellers, though.

America is full of first world problems, one of the most costly are non-communicable diseases. Diet and personal life-style related diseases.

If we are going to have programs like medicare/medicaid. A person who smokes every day or binges on junk food all the time should pay into the extra care they will need.

If a dentist, doctor, sports coach or RN would tell you something is bad for you then that industry should at the very least not get any free passes. And at the most a tax to offset the public health hazard that it is.

Good thinking. However, with the adiction to smoking, I'm afraid the smokers will just deprive their family of the disposable income and continue to puff, no matter what the price. I'm not sure this would work given the adictive nature of the beast...

Bravo. The question initially stumped me, but you've hit the nail on the head. And as a buyer of fast food, I wince, but agree with the reasoning...

This is an excellent point Russ. Kudos to you for not doing what unscrupulous online shoppers do (take advantage of local stores to view an item and then buy it online).

This is a great answer, among many good ones. I like that you stood up and said YOU would pay for a higher tax on something. That was the spirit of the question, although I could have worded it more clearly. But you got it, and you win.

What bothers me so much about the Occupy movement, and the Tea Party for that matter, is everyone is demanding that other people do something. We're going about it wrong. We need to step up and say "This is what I can offer. This is what I'm willing to do." We can't just make demands of other people. Danny Westneat had a great piece in the Seattle Times about this a while ago.

I'm willing to pay higher taxes on my boat. You're willing to pay taxes on marijuana. That's what we have to offer.

Enjoy the mushroom. You win this thread. You win the internet today.

We are all supposed to pay use tax on goods purchased out of state, but no one does it unless they are a business or it was a big ticket item like a car.

The WA State process of collecting use tax is a printed form. Surely if they wanted people to pay they would developed an improved way to track and submit payment online by individual users (for businesses they do have something more).

I looked into it a couple months ago, and I may still go back through my Internet purchase receipts and submit use tax.

Huh?

Hah, software licenses?

Too late.
That type of Text messaging service is ALREADY here. Unfortunately, although the sign up process is free, each text message costs through your cell phone service.

Frankly, I think those AMBER alerts are just about useless...except to stir up emotion that "we're doing something" about the problem. Most of them are internal estranged family situations, or parental custody disputes, and most of them are resolved by the police spotting the car...NOT the general public. But we all feel better that we are broadcasting this dirty laundry across thousands of outlets "to save just one young life". BS!

Now that makes complete sense. I am not outraged. Just recognizing that we always try to glom on new functions to old systems before reinventing them.

With the ubiquitous nature of cell phones I suspect that we will someday have a system that sends (no cost) text messages to everyone within a specific geographical area to warn of weather, AMBER, and other emergencies. It would certainly reach as many or more folks than those listening to broadcast/cable radio and TV at any specific moment.

Thanks for the prompt response! I was expecting something several days later and past when I needed it but figured I'd throw it out there. And for once in my life this loaded quickly on my phone instead of forever ( which is great because I really didn't want to go back to the coffee shop)

Agreed.