Thursday, July 3, 2008

Gah!

It's a good thing I got an Idiot Flag, 'cause it looks like I need it again. Twice in three days.

Anyone new to New York is going to get parking tickets and probably get towed a time or two until they start to understand NYC's incomprehensible parking regulations and signs. They really are extremely difficult to understand when you first encounter them.

When GF moved to NY, she ran afoul of our Byzantine parking rules so many times that finally I could only laugh. Well, who's laughing now?

I just heard a street-sweeper go by and immediately thought, "Oh Shit!, I'm parked on the street cleaning side of the street." Sure enough, I looked out the window and there's a lovely orange parking ticket on my windshield. I haven't got any excuse. I've lived here over 20 years. And how difficult is it to understand a sign that says, "No Parking Mondays & Thursdays, 11:30am to 1:00pm"? Even a West Virginian could figure that one out.

And coming so close on the heels of this experience, I'm apparently becoming a candidate for the short bus.

13 comments:

Jim Wright said...

Just don't park your short bus in the wrong spot...

Steve Buchheit said...

The wheels on the bus go... uh. Up and down?

Hey, just consider it your first senior moment. The first of many.

MWT said...

Parking was one of our major activities in Honolulu. Entire schedules revolved around the times posted on the little signs that told us when we had to move the car. There was the street cleaning no-parking times, then there were times when meters were free and when they weren't, and how long you could park at any given meter before you had to go somewhere else. Occasionally we saw spots that were completely free - but they were almost always taken (and thus not free).

Come to think of it, walking to and from the car was also one of our major activities, since we always had to park at least ten blocks from the hotel.

Anonymous said...

When I go into the Seattle office, I walk onto the ferry and up to the office. Most folks who work in downtown Seattle take mass transit and walk in the city core - it's set up really well as a walking city and horribly for driving.

The streets have parking from 9-4 but during rush hours -7-9 and 4-6 - it's no parking and cars are towed.

One of our forms of entertainment from our office windows is watching the 4:10 towings and subsequent angry drivers. Yes, it's a small and petty thing, but hey, we work in IT.

So no, Nathan, you're not stupid, just learning a step at a time. ;)

Nathan said...

Jeri,

if anything, I'm apparently unlearning.

Unknown said...

I was parked slightly on a corner in the Bronx (Near van cortland) visiting a friend. Apparently my bumper overhung an invisible pedestrian crosswalk, and I woke the next morning to find a nice 200.00 ticket attached to my windshield.

I'm really surprised there wasn't a box on the ticket that said, "Red Sox Fan Masshole" on there too for another 1000.00 bucks.

Now, I take the train down.

Nathan said...

Kate,

You can park all day at Van Cortlandt Golf Course for two bucks.

vince said...

You know, I knew there was a reason I like living in a small town. Oh yeah, there's parking limitations in the summer because of all the traffic due to tourism, but (mostly) this isn't a problem, and parking tickets - if you get one, it's $20.

MWT said...

All the parking in Vegas is free. That by itself makes me want to move there...

Nathan said...

Hell, even the valet parking is free in Vegas.

Then you go inside and give the casino $200 in about six minutes.

kimby said...

My solution to the parking problem?
I don't drive. No parking to worry about when you are taking public transit. Keith is the driver...he can worry about parking all he wants.

Anonymous said...

Not driving is how I handle Seattle too. :P

Kimby, do you not drive in that you don't have a driver's license? If so, way to get out of doing errands, woman!

Or do you not drive just as a matter of habit?

kimby said...

Jeri, I do not have a drivers license..and have not had one in about 17 years. I did have one, but was such a bad driver..combined with my depth perception problem, that i thought it was best to just not drive. I would never allow my children to be in a car where i was behind the wheel...
I still do most of the house errands...I bike, walk, or use public transit...
I could drive if the need arose in an emergency situation. Knock wood, that has never occurred.