A question of modern scruples: Is smoking bad in a taxpayer-owned vehicle?

On a drive out of town yesterday, I saw a state Department of Transportation motor carrier compliance officer smoking a cigar in his car. DOT flashed across the side of the car, and it even had a light bar on top - not a cheap ride.

And this guy drives it like he owns it, balancing a plastic-tipped cigar in his hand as it dangles from the open driver’s side window.

Nevermind whether there’s a rule against it; there very well could be, I don’t know. In this era of demonized smoking, I thought DOT might have a policy. I couldn’t find one on their Web site.

The question remains: Knowing that you paid for the car a man uses, would you allow him to smoke in it?

And the lasting effect his character’s had on pop culture. Scotty will be missed.

For a movie about Sept. 11?

Oliver Stone’s on the case.

I’ve accepted a job as a page designer at the St. Petersburg Times. Some who know me, and hadn’t gotten the news yet, may say, “Wha?” That’s to be expected.

Accepting this job means:

a) I have to live 1,100 miles from my girlfriend. Ug! Not ideal.
b) I get to spend another year in Florida. Ew! Today’s a good example of why Florida was uninhabitable prior to A/C’s invention.

The lady who’s graced my life for the last 10 months (two years as “just” a coworker) now lives in the Detroit area. I’m lucky, because I take this job with her blessings. She knows what I do: It’ll be a gold star on my resume. It’s a 340,000 circulation daily with a forward-thinking work environment in which (I think) I’ll thrive. The most recent circulation survey I’ve found lists the Times as the twenty-third largest newspaper in the U.S. Plus, it’s in a major metropolitian area where one might reasonably expect to find midnight movies to catch after work. Bonus.

I handed in my resignation to the Star-Banner today. My last day is in early August.