A good debtor-creditor experience

I've complained in the past about some annoying experiences with debt collection, particularly the Yellow Pages companies. I was starting to have what seemed like a similar experience, but then things changed.In 2004 I agreed to do a free trial of a listing on lawyers -dot- com. Then I got a bill. I refused to pay and sent a letter in February of 2006. I'd get a letter or bill every once in a

Virginia Traffic Court and DMV fees

About a month ago I mentioned Virginia's new speeding ticket fees. I saw a more complete breakdown of them and wanted to just give a quick update on that. These are fees imposed by the Virginia DMV, on top of the fines that come from the traffic courts in Virginia.It starts at $750 for driving with a suspended or revoked license (commonly called AUO in New York). A variety of offenses lead to a

Auto Mechanic in Albany - Broadway Auto Clinic

I drive a 2002 Audi wagon (an A4 Avant, 1.8t with a 5-speed stick, for those who care about such details). After 5 years it's approaching 100,000 miles, and I thought it was time to get some things done.I bought it at Langan West, a Porsche/Audi/VW dealership on Route 5 on the way to Schenectady. For most of the life of the car I took it to the dealership. I wasn't completely satisfied, but most

Profile: Monkey

One of the best known and least liked members of the Albany area legal community is someone I'll nickname Monkey, mainly because I couldn't think of a better name. Monkey is quite possibly the worst lawyer in the area.Monkey advertises himself in little-known publications, and his ads stress absurdly low fees. They do not include any caveat about getting what you pay for. He mishandles several

Traffic Court: Connecticut

I think we've finished with the courts in Connecticut. The Superior Court pages get far more views than the Judicial District Court pages. I think people are just more likely to search on Google for "Superior Court" rather than "Judicial District Court." The top court of all is New Haven Superior Court. The top J.D. court (the J.D. is not about juvenile delinquency) is Tolland Judicial District

Traffic Court: Massachusetts

Our Traffic Court website continues to grow, with 11 states under way. We have almost completed the Massachusetts traffic courts, but there are a few left to fill in.The hottest courts so far seem to be Lawrence District Court in Essex County and Quincy District Court in Norfolk County, though plenty of other courts seem to be getting a substantial number of views. I did see somewhere that the

Baseball: Barry Bonds and Pete Rose

I used to be into sports a lot more. These days I play almost no sports (except for my Tai Chi and Kung Fu class, and the occasional round of golf), and watch very little. This weekend was unusual. Yesterday I happened to catch the 500th homer hit by A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees). I missed Barry Bonds 755th homer yesterday, but saw it several times on SportsCenter this morning. And

Michael Ricard

One of the worst things about career politicians is how many of them eventually distrust the voters. They view their job as their job, instead of recognizing they serve the voters, and the voters should decide who holds the job.Just as Eric Sundwall and the voters of the 20th district were victimized by John Sweeney, the voters of Guilderland (and me) are now being attacked by Mike Ricard.The