Another this and that

So the other day, when I posted about using a ride-sharing app, Liz wondered about the taxi medallion owners.  Coincidentally one of my coworkers is doing what I call a “pro bono friends and family” case right now; her neighbor no longer drives a cab, but the Taxi &Limosine Commission is looking at some alleged improprieties from when he was still driving.   The guy spent over $800,000 on a medallion that’s now worth $250,000, and wound up filing for bankruptcy protection.  My coworker doesn’t usually handle TLC cases — our cases are usually about exposure to toxic substances — so she’s doing some research.  Yesterday she told be “I’m tired of reading about taxi drivers committing suicide over financial pressures.”

So I’ve been avoiding Penn Station at night, and going to the Long Island Railroad’s smaller and quieter station on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  Penn Station is a major transit hub, always crazy, and since it’s right under Madison Square Garden, it gets even crazier when the Knicks or the Rangers have a game, or some guy named Billy Joel gives another concert.  Brooklyn is a better choice ...until you realize that the railroad station is under the Barclays Center, and the Islanders are in the playoffs...crazy hockey fans shouting cheers everywhere...

Speaking of the Islanders ... back in the 80’s, when they kept winning the Stanley Cup (four years in a row, I believe), and they still called the Nassau Coliseum “home”...I was a law student at Hofstra University, which is literally down the street from the Coliseum.  One year the Islanders held a victory parade, and I didn’t have to leave my dorm to see it.

We had some unexpected “excitement” at my house the other night.  It involved our cat Redford.  Redford went out for his nightly stroll in the backyard, and came home bleeding from an encounter with another creature, not sure what ...My sisters rushed him to an open-all-night animal hospital.  He’s fine now, but gave us quite a scare.

Drew and I are in the early stages of planning a trip for next year.  I think we’re settling on Spain.  I want to sip sangria and nibble on tapas and watch flamenco.  I want to see the Prado and the Alhambra.  

I took Spanish in junior high and high school, and also took six credits of Spanish in college.  I was actually pretty fluent.  But if you don’t use a language you lose it.  I know that most people in the tourist industry speak English, but I think I’ll appreciate the trip even more if I can communicate in Spanish.  So my new project will be to refresh my language skills...

I am so looking forward to this adventure.