Happy Thursday

     

Each part of life has its own pleasures. Each has its own abundant
harvest, to be garnered in season. We may grow old in body,
but we need never grow old in mind and spirit. No one is as old as
to think he or she cannot live one more year.

Cicero

Arrived home last night to find a letter from the MTA. Excitedly ripped it open and found my half price fare card. Oh my gosh, was I ever thrilled. Now, what would normally cost me $30 for 12 rides, now was going to cost me $15...and for unlimited rides to boot. Not only will I be saving money, but I will also be saved the aggravation of paying full fare only to have to stand while teenagers who got on for free take up all the seats. I may still have to stand, but it won't hurt as much. (Sorry it is not clearer)

And now for another installment of the Scintilla Project.  And the question is....

...Talk about where you were going the day you got lost. Were you alone? Did you ever get to where you meant to go?

I've lived in this city for over 40 years now, but still can get lost. New York City is so amazingly huge. The one time that sticks out in my mind is the day I went to certify for my CASAC license. To begin with, I woke sick as a dog. It was the second day of a nasty cold that was beginning to settle in my chest. The last thing I wanted to do that morning was leave my bed, but I'd already laid out $300 for this test and wasn't about to lay out anymore, and it would have been another six months I would have had to wait for the test to come round again. So I bundled up and made my way to the city.

Well, to begin, the test was taking place in a school in an area I had never been to...and long off the beaten path. After wondering about and finally asking directions, I did arrive at the school only to find about 50 or more men milling about outside. "Is this where they are giving the CASAC exam?" I asked.

"No," replied one of the men. "This is for the sanitation exam."

Thinking I might be at the wrong entrance, I walked around the school, which, by the way, took up a whole city block, looking for something to lead me to the exam...only to end up back the men were milling about. Thinking I must have missed a sign or something, I circled around the school again. And, you guessed it. I was right back there with the men. By now, I was really beginning to feel anxious. There was no admittance for latecomers. What if I came all this way, feeling as miserable as I did, and then couldn't get in. It was a brutally cold January day, and I was beginning to panic. Tears welled in my eyes, and I was just about to break down when one of the men came up to me and said, "You might want to check inside. I know they are giving several different tests here today." I swear, I really wanted to hug that man.

Wasn't in the best of shape when I went in there to take that test. In fact, I was pretty much a mess by then and ready to cry if someone even looked at me funny. But I went in there and took the test anyway. Every day afterwards I went online to check for my results, and one day, there it was. I had passed and could call myself a CASAC.