Re: CHAT: postcodes

Christophe wrote:
>in France the plate is for the car, not for the driver as in Belgium.
For some reason, I've always been fascinated by such systems...perhaps
because, as I said earler, the US used to have such a variety of them.
Until my first visit to England, it had never occurred to me that the
license plate/number could be a _permanent_ thing.  The first motorcycle I
ever owned (bought in London) was OFC 300; apparently that indicated an
Oxford origin (since people would look at it and say, "Oh, you're from
Oxford"-- don't I wish!).

A permanent number would certainly simplify life-- here in the US, we have
to renew our plates every year, for a price of course; when you buy a new or
used car, you have to get new plates, for a price of course.  A very
lucrative racket for the state. How does it happen the French/English etc.
haven't discovered this easy source of revenue?  Or do they have some other
way to collect a yearly tribute?

When we travelled, when I was a child, it was always a fun game to see how
many different states' license plates you could spot.  Out in South Dakota
(is that on European maps?? ;-) ) in the 40s, it was rare to see anything
from much further than two or three states away.  NY, Florida, Calif. were
really exotic.  Even now, when people drive all over the country, and
license plates tend to look almost the same, I still do it.  I've seen only
one or two Alaskas in my entire life.

Vaguely ObConlang/Conculture:  There are so few privately owned vehicles on
Cindu that I suspect they will get by with a simple numeric system

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