good for something: Hello New York. Now I will eat you.

My trip to New York had a somewhat inauspicious start: I got pulled over for speeding on my way to the airport. The irony is I had just complained to another mother that folks speed on the main drag and these jerks just need to respect the speed limit, darn it!

I don't have much of a defense except that I was on my way to the airport around 7am (which is a bit earlier than the usual time I hit the road here) and slightly out of sorts because I decided to take a different route than last time and I was leaving 20 minutes later than planned. And did I mention it was raining? I was actually going around the normal speed limit of 35 but because school was starting up the speed limit was 25 and I was pulled over. Which I do have to say, tip of the cap to our police force for nailing idiot drivers. How else are they going to learn? I pulled over and handed over my license and registration.

A slight tangent and sincere inquiry: what does the officer do in his car with my stuff that takes so long? I imagine different scenarios, like does he have to wait for dial-up in his car? And then I picture him waiting for that old-school modem connection noise and possibly a You've got mail pronouncement. The other scene I pictured is the officer calling another one to see what he should do with me:

- Man, another one. When will they ever learn?
- How bad?
- Jeesh, will you look at that? She already had a speeding ticket in the spring. And it's a doozy. Man, her insurance rates must be through the roof.
- That's gotta bite in this economy.
- You're telling me. From the looks of her hair "style", she can't even afford a mirror.
- One of those? For Pete's sake, it's called "product", sister.
- It's like she's not even trying. And wait, I think she's listening to "Goodbye to You" on a loop. Gah, this woman needs to get it together.
- Patty Smyth? C'mon, she's not too bad.
- Well, technically, it's Scandal...

Anyhoo, the officer let me go with a warning and I made it to the airport just in time.

By the time I flew in to LaGuardia, and took the bus and subway in from Queens to Manhattan. I was starved for lunch. So on to one of my favorite lunch spots--Little India!

Little India is on 6th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave in the East Village and here, you're bound to run into generous lunch specials at most of the restaurants there. I decided on Spice Cove. As with most Indian lunch specials on this street, it starts with my favorite--a bowl of Mulligatawny soup: