This morning, I received my first traffic violation ticket in over a decade.

I was at a busy intersection (corner of W. 42nd and 8th Ave) and attempting to make a left turn onto 8th Ave. The traffic signal with a left arrow turned green, so I slowly started to make the turn, but stopped as there were still pedestrians crossing the street. I waited until all the pedestrians had passed, then finished making the turn.

I was then immediately pulled over and given a ticket for “failure to yield to pedestrians.”

The cops had obviously set up a trap at this location, because three other cars got pulled over for the same reason at the time. And in the time that I was waiting for the ticket to be issued, I witnessed at least 10 other cars doing EXACTLY what I had done, or worse (pulling deep into the middle of the pedestrian walkway) and getting off without a glance.

I would like to contest this ticket as I did not block any pedestrians, or ignore them, or drove on through. I waited until everyone had passed before continuing to make the turn. I did not do anything worse than what all NYC drivers do, and I certainly did not hurt anyone.

However, I realize that the law is not on my side as the judge is more likely to take the officer’s word over mine. In addition, my understanding is that the officer has THREE chances to appear in court so I may need to show up in court three different times, which I am reluctant to do as I’ve heard many stories of people waiting for hours on end in traffic court with no success.

This violation is a 3-point violation, which will most certainly jack up my insurance rates. I would also need to pay a fine of $160.

Should I contest this ticket?

I contacted a traffic violation attorney to see what my options are. For $300, they will file all the necessary paperwork and make all appearances in court on my behalf. I do not even need to meet with them — we can do everything over email, phone, and regular mail.

I asked what their success rate is for the dismissal of traffic violation tickets, and they answered 65-75%.

J thinks that the $300 is worth it, especially considering the increase in insurance costs over the years. As for me, I’m a bit reluctant because it’s a lot of money for something that I can do myself. I may not necessarily do it better, but it’s still doable.

Would you hire an attorney?

On a more personal note, SCREW YOU, NYC.

I know that the city is strapped for cash. But purposely setting up traps like this — on a crowded street during rush hour, no less — is just bad form. They blocked off TWO lanes for this trap, further aggravating rush hour traffic and inconveniencing motorists and pedestrians alike.

Find other ways of raising money. Traffic tickets are fine when warranted. Not when it’s for something that happens in NYC on every corner, every hour of each day.

This made me tear up…

I unfortunately do not have any toys I can pass down to my children. I always preferred books over toys and never developed an attachment to any particular item.

There are, however, many many many books that I’d love to read to my children in hopes that they will love and appreciate them as I did.

Do you have any toys, books, or heirlooms you plan on passing down to your children?

Image via haha.nu.

So I’ve had an entire night to sleep on it.

And after thinking about it some more, talking to my mother and some girlfriends about it…

…I’m starting to get excited!

I think one of the reasons I was so shocked at the news is because I had a gut feeling from the beginning of the pregnancy that it was a boy. I was drawn to boy stuff, and really pictured myself raising a firstborn son. (So much for mother’s intuition!)

Now that I’ve accepted the fact that we’re having a girl, I’m starting to think of all the benefits of having a daughter and it’s pretty exhilarating.

1. I will always be the dominant female figure in her life.
   They say that when your son gets married, you lose a son forever; when a daughter gets married, she’ll still be your daughter. This idea may be outdated and debatable, but I do like to believe that a mother-daughter relationship is one to be cherished and treasured because there is none like it.
2. There are so many more cute items for baby girls than boys.
   I was never one for playing dress-up or playing with dolls, so I have never dreamed of having a daughter whom I can dress in cute clothes and buy adorable toys for her to play with. However, you can’t deny that there are so many more sweet items to be bought for girls than for boys. Like this Ladybug Crib Bedding Set. I am so putting this on our registry.
   
3. Girls are more likely to help out as they get older.
   Some may say this is sexist, but I have found it to be true from watching my friends’ families. And who says she can only help out with cooking and cleaning? My sister and I have helped our father with numerous home improvement projects (including installing a 50-gallon water heater), machine/car repair, and construction work.
4. She can still love sports.
   J and I had planned on getting numerous baby sports apparel (NY Knicks, Baltimore Ravens, and JHU Lacrosse) for the baby long before we knew the gender…and we haven’t changed our plans. In fact, now that we know the gender and therefore have a name, I will be ordering this Knicks Personalized Hooded Towel in the near future:
   

   We will immerse her in our favorite sports from a young age, and hope that she will participate in many team sports as she grows up.

5. Men who have older sisters tend to treat women with more respect and courtesy.
   Again, this can be debatable and there are exceptions to every rule. But I have found from observing my guy friends over the years that those with older sisters treat women better. And I sincerely hope that our daughter will be a great older sister and a role model to a younger brother in the future.

Even my MIL chimed in with a benefit of having daughters: “Look at J and his younger brother! They never listened to me when they were young, and they still don’t listen. Girls are easier to raise!”

What say you, readers? Can you think of any additional advantages of having a girl?

It’s a GIRL!

After the NT scan, I thought that we had a bold and outgoing child on our hands. But this ultrasound certainly made me change my mind — she was a shy one, constantly covering her face with her hands and keeping her legs tightly crossed. It took quite some pokes from the tech, in addition to my downing an entire bottle of fruit juice and coughing repeatedly, until she uncrossed her legs and let us have a peek at the goods.

The ultrasound place we had chosen offers a complimentary follow-up exam if the baby’s gender can not be revealed at the first visit. Our tech felt so bad that she couldn’t get any clear images of the face (due to the baby’s hands) that she gave us the free exam anyway. We will return in two weeks for a second run at the 3D/4D ultrasound pictures and video.

I would be lying if I said I was completely happy to hear the news. In fact, J took it better than me. I wasn’t disappointed for myself, but for J and his family who had been looking forward to a boy. However, they took the news in stride and for that I am thankful.

My parents were ecstatic to hear the news. I could hear my father excited talking in the background, because he wanted a granddaughter from day one. When I called my sister, she screamed and almost blew my eardrums out. While I am happy that the baby seems happy and healthy, I feel guilty for not having the same reaction at the gender. As such, I have been praying that God fills my heart with joy for our baby girl.

Although we had picked both girl and boy names already, I had been having doubts in the past weeks about our choice of a boy name. As a matter of fact, I was certain that we would probably go with something else — we just couldn’t decide. Maybe this was a sign, because I love the name we have picked for our girl and wouldn’t have it any other way. (We will keep the name a secret until she is born.)

J is already talking about making a trip to Home Depot so that he can build a cage to keep our girl in until she turns 18. He also says he wants to buy a shotgun to scare off all boys. I know he’s kidding, but I can’t help but already be worried about boys too. I have a feeling we’re going to be very protective parents…

I recently discovered that a blogger has taken to using the “Geek in Heels” moniker for her own site. (Thank you, Google Alerts, for giving me the heads-up!)

The blog is relatively new and does not seem to have many readers. However, the writer is Asian like myself and our blogging topics are bound to overlap sooner or later.

It is precisely for these reasons that I began to wonder if I should protect the “Geek in Heels” name by grabbing all the popular top-level domains (.com, .net, .org, etc). Currently, I only own geekinheels.com.

I don’t think my site is that popular, but it has been featured on popular sites such as BoingBoing and Neatorama. I hardly ever get many comments, but I do get a decent amount of visitors and have a Google PageRank of 3. I receive at least one email per week regarding advertising and/or promoting products people would like me to write about on this blog.

I don’t know if this site will ever become very popular, or if I’ll make decent money from it. However, I do know that I love the “Geek in Heels” moniker and plan on using it for a long time. I also plan on blogging for as long as possible.

Based on this information, do you think I should invest the money in buying new domain names with different top-level domains? What about variations of geekinheels, such as geek-in-heels.com?