Friday, September 26, 2008



Big Lot/Not in parking space indeed.
This is a portion of parking ticket dropped on windshield last week.
I appealed this $10 ticket on principle as Yours Truly arrived on a gig to see several overzealous safety officers waiting around to direct unsuspecting visitors to a lot far from the action at hand.
But, YT stated, I'm trying to get to X and you're directing me to Y.
They said Oh, well, everyone is gathering first in Z Hall.
And then I knew that this could be filed under P for Poopy Misinformation.
The event was rather far away I was orange safety-coned into a near lot.
So, after parking, thought No, this is ridiculous and drove back to the overzealous crew, explaining that I needed to travel around the ring road in front of me.
This was a delay. And in the delay minutes are passing and an event is about to happen.
So, driving to near the action-to-be see a crowd of folks milling about waiting for the starting gun so to speak.
Left the car in a gigantic and empty lot and trotted off to the gig.
Upon returning this puzzling ticket.
Now in appeal, the court of higher learning's traffic bureau, YT presumes.
This the same week the Empire State decided that, in addition to paying a speeding ticket up in Ontario (NB: people were PASSING me on the QEW, notorious for truckers who would like nothing more than to drive up the back of one's automobile, and drivers driving like they're outrunning a natural disaster. But, alas, it was my short time in the Unlucky Zone.), I should also be shaken down for an additional $300 - a driver assessment blah-blah.
I thought it was time to renew the driver license but, nope, it was an assessment.
YT is not entirely sure who did the assessing, but assess they did.
There is only one price to be paid, $300, for any infraction.
There is a choice - $100 for 3 years, or one lump sum.

Shiney Happy Mag came out and happy to report that my Pulitzer-ready piece on travels to both Northampton, MA and to Europe are in, with an assembly of YT-provided images. Sans captions, for whatever reason.
So nobody now knows that Dorota is holding the French version of a shot and a beer (the kir royale), or that the painting shown is in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Festoon of Fruits and Flowers.

Lesson: sometimes the Universe throws up explications, and assessments. Othertimes it does not. It is up to You to reassess when necessary, and smile all the while.

Assessed, Love.