Speeding in Va

I don't think I told you about this before so here goes. On the way home from Nationals,after having no sleep for 3 weeks because of the shingles, I got stopped for speeding. Not just any speeding but reckless speeding.  I was trying to  keep my cruise control on rt 81 and I got stuck behind a guy who was in the passing lane and he could not keep  his speed steady. fast and then slow and then fast and then slow and he would not pull over.  I got irritated and when there was an opportunity to pass on the right I gunned it. I have a lot of power in my car and apparently when I crested the hill I was going over 90.  I would have slowed down after I got by the guy but it was too late. There was a cop on the median strip and he pulled me over. 

    He informed me it was an "arrestable" offence.  Clueless as I am, I just thought "Well isnt' that nice he isnt'going to arrest me just give me a ticket. That is not how it works, I found out.  The ticket had a court date on it and no fine. 
    When I got home I decided to use the head in the sand method and just sent the ticket to the court to be adjudicated without me.  Apparently that is a bad decision.   I would not have know that except I got a flyer in the mail from a lawyer in Va who only deals in traffic violations. It scared me a little or maybe a lot. If I am found guilty (which I was) I could get a $2500 fine, 6pts on my insurance,suspension of license,and a jail sentence. Not only that but it's a Class 1 misdemeanor which means I would now have a "record".So imagine how hard it would be for me to get a job.
     I have had to hire  the said same lawyer for $1500 and collect "evidence" for him to go to court and try to get this reduced.  So yesterday I had to drive to Boston and get my speedometer calibrated for $210.  I had to pay $20 to get my driving record from the RMV .  My friends and family have to write me letters for recommendation and have them notorized and I had to call the bank and get a copy of and ATM gas purchase in Va I made that morning so they could determine how fast I was going before I got stopped.   What a joyful year this has been.  This madness must stop.
 Anyway, I have to make copies of everything and send it to the lawyer and then I can stop thinking about it for a while. In the meantime they are trying to get my case pushed out. The original date was Dec 1.  THey have not informed of a new date yet.

So the moral of this story is :

DO NOT SPEED IN VA.   FOR ANY REASON. THEY HAVE NO MERCY!