ARRGH!
Never mind that I deserved what I got. Never mind that I have no excuses. None of that will prevent me from ranting about parking tickets.
First, I hardly ever take my car to work. I am a firm believer in mass transit; my office subsidizes annual bus passes; I love riding the bus because it gives me uninterrupted reading time.
BUT--part of the fallout from heart surgery is the necessity of doctor's appointments. For whatever reason, all of my appointments have been scheduled mid-day. This means I can't economically use the parking lots near my office because none of them allow "in and out" access. Going in and out twice in the same day is prohibitively expensive.
So I park on the street. At 1.5 hour meters. Which I then sometimes forget about.
That particular brand of forgetfulness costs me $24 a ticket.
Today, I got my 4th ticket in a month.
A total (so far!) of $96!
Money that could have gone to debt reduction. Money that I would much rather have wasted some other way!
May I just say again: ARRGH!
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9 comments:
Wow! The 4th one?? that totally sucks! I swear sometimes it feels like the cops are just watching and waiting to pounce. The opportunistic bastards! I empathize with you. Since moving to Houston, l must say l have forgotten about parking tickets, since l rarely have to pay to park. It came rushing back when we visited L.A last month and had to wake up early to move the car to the other side of the street to avoid a costly ticket! I don't miss that... It's nice to have you up and about though, and feisty.. :o)
In Massachusetts where I live you can apply for a temporary handicapped parking decal after major surgery. This allows you to park in handicapped parking spots OR in regular spots without paying the meter. You might want to contact your state's dept. of motor vehicles and inquire. Good luck!
If your state offers one, ask your doctor to certify you for a temporary disabled parking placard. In California, the placard allows you to park for free in metered zones and for an unlimited time in time limited spaces. Just remember to keep it with you and display it properly when you park.
I agree with the temporary disability decal.
I guess the joys of small town living is that we don't have meters.
Four tickets? Yeah, I'd be mad at myself for forgetting that often also! I third the idea of getting a decal to help with the parking situation.
I actually did check out a temporary handicapped sticker. But I had to swear that walking was difficult for me. It's not. In fact, walking is my major form of exercise, and since the surgery, I've been much more conscientious about walking on a regular schedule. I appreciate the input, however.
chalk it up to health expenses! It's part of the payment like the co-pays, parking! Oh well.
Oooo, I feel your pain. It's feels like such a totally useless expenditure of hard earned cash. A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of sliding through a yellow light just as it was turning red, and got caught on camera. No excuses, but lots of remorse as I had to suck it up and pay up to the tune of $100. The good news: I ALWAYS stop at yellow lights now!
Since the temporary handicapped tag doesn't work for you, how about setting an alarm or timer to go off 5 or 10 minutes before you're supposed to go refeed the meter or move the car?
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