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January 15, 2025: Fresh Air

25 Comments

I don’t know if Minnesota has emissions testing yet, but I’ve got to say, the employees there are some of the most exacting people I’ve come across. I don’t know if I’ve ever been called “Sir” in such a hostile manner.

25 thoughts on “January 15, 2025: Fresh Air”

  1. I don’t know if I’ve ever been called “Sir” in such a hostile manner.

    Clearly, you’ve never accidentally crossed the Canadien border without your ID.

    1. Ugh, I hate Canadian customs. There's always issues and attitudes. My friend has a cabin on the Canadian side of Rainy Lake (on its own island; man I love that place). We park in America and hop into the boat to cross the border. Each time we've gone we stop in a nearby Canadian town and call Customs to let them know we've entered the country. Each time they come and do like a strip search of the boat. It's like, guys, we came here and specifically called you. That's a pretty stupid way to smuggle anything.

      1. That reminds me, on the flip side, there's just a little phone booth on the American side that you call into. My passport was actually expired, which I told US Customs and they were like, eh, you're fine.

        1. Last time I went to Canada, I had the opposite experience

          Entering Canada was like "Welcome, got anything we should know about? No? OK, off you go"

          Coming back I got the 3rd degree.

          1. We played pick up hockey every Sunday in Fort Erie and would have to dump out the hockey gear every time on the American side. We got to know the agents a bit but still had to have our supporters inspected.

          2. That's always been my experience as well.

            (Also fun to travel overseas and zoom through customs, then come back to MSP and a 2-hour wait. One time we even got the 3rd degree from an agent with a thick Russian accent, which was interesting.)

            2. My favorite was arriving in Amsterdam and they said if you have something to declare, go to that line and if you don't, go through that door. So I went through the door and it just went out into the airport.

          3. Way back in 2001, I flew into Toronto for a friend's surprise birthday party. Was literally going to be in T.O. for less than 18 hours. Went to the airport with no carry on, no backpack, nothing. Was going to sleep in my underwear in their guest room, put my same clothes on, and head home the next morning.

            Getting into T.O. I was questioned in three different rooms by Canadian officials. The last one where there were immigrants with goats, boxes of fruits, etc. Finally they pointed me to a 4th door, which led to the airport hallway. No one batted an eye in the U.S.

            1. My above trip was for about 24 hours. I had a small window to hit where I was off work and my friend was in town.

              US Customs was like "why were you only there for 24 hours?" I went, I partied, I came home, damn.

              Like people don't cross the border around Buffalo/Niagara Falls all the damn time for like an hour or two JFC

  2. We used to have emissions testing back in the 1990s. I remember failing once because of a bad PCV valve. Drove to the parts store, installed a new one in the parking lot in about 30 seconds, drove back and passed the test.

          1. Yeah, definitely not free. It's in the $45-65 range at most places around here, I think. Our truck is due for a smog test this year, so I'll be finding out for sure soon.

            Though I'm now realizing that the check engine light that is on due to a fuel tank sensor and/or gas cap issue means it won't pass as it is now. Guess it's time to actually bring it in to fix the problem we've been putting off for a couple of years.

              1. A lot. For this vehicle, registration is $171, license is $109, county fee is $12, plus a weight fee of $154 (this is for a big Dodge Ram) for a grand total of $446 this year.

  3. Rumor was back in the day that the State had some kind of emissions sniffer near the Fairgrounds. Guys I knew who took their cars to MSRA’s Back to the Fifties would talk about it. The idea of hooking a Fifties-style hopped-up street rod up to an emissions tester always amused the heck out of me.

  4. We were coming back in after a Canadian fishing trip. At the gate, the border fella asked if we had anything to declare.
    One of my smart-aleky buddies couldn’t hold his trap and said, “You mean like these potato chips?”

    After an awkward moment of silience and reflection on what he could do to us if he wanted, he waved us thru.

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