San Francisco...parking fees hiked! Slew of new meters for Bay area...

Smart meter!

Yesterday morning, I tossed on my jeans and a t-shirt, laced up my sneakers, and sprinted down the street for my morning cup of java.

An article about parking fees - on the front page of the Examiner - caught my eye.

OMG!

The feature jogged my memory.

I forgot to move my car out of a "no parking" zone.

In a scant few minutes, a street-cleaner would be cursing me out loud, and a snarling meter maid would be careening up to the curb to slap a parking violation on the windshield of my beloved SUV.

Ouch!

So, I passed on the brew, and streaked down the street to alter destiny.

Whew! 

Mission accomplished.

As to the report in the Examiner, well, it wasn't good news for locals (or tourists either).

A proposed hike in meter fees - estimated to rustle up a million or so bucks a year - may be given the green light.

But, there are other changes on the horizon that may turn the bay area into a battle zone.

When it comes to parking, at least!

For instance, parking hours may be extended to Sunday in five highly-trafficked neighborhoods.

And, approximately 5400 snazzy new meters will be installed, with state-of-the-art features designed to reduce congestion, step up occupancy, and facilitate easy pay.

A pilot program (90 days in length) may test the waters to determine the impact (negative or positive) on a proposed plan to extend hours at Fisherman's Wharf.

Slated changes:  9 p.m. on week-days; 12 midnight on week-ends.

Pretty soon, folks will be paying toll fees through the nose to travel along city streets!

Google will be right there to map out the routes.

http://www.thetattler.biz

Parking Lot...peeves! Argh...

If you're like me, you hate getting "dings" in your vehicle.

To avoid the problem, whenever I pull into a parking lot, I generally park away from the "madding crowd" in a section of the pavement where little or no cars are parked.

Darn it all!

As I alight from the supermarket about ten minutes later, I find myself surrounded by a dozen or so cars nestled up - "this close" - to me.

One day, I was just about ready to step out of my car when a man almost crunched in the side of my vehicle as he tried to scoot in backwards next to me; in spite of the fact, the rest of the lot was practically empty!

What am I, an auto magnet?

What is this insanity?

I've also noticed that on a small side-street in West Hollywood there will be ample parking spots available farther up the street - but for some inexplicable reason - drivers are inclined to waste three or four minutes goin' backwards and forwards in a tedious effort to wrestle their way into a space in line with all the other vehicles.

Are they afraid their car will get lonely up the street a-ways?

To reduce the probability of dings, I try to park next to a pole in the parking structure, so that only one side is exposed to another vehicle. And, in that event, I make a concerted effort to find a stall next to an expensive upscale late model car.

My reasoning here?

People with snazzy roadsters will probably be more careful when they park, and step gingerly from the interiors, to ensure they don't scratch the pristine paint job on their own luxury jalopies. Right?

But, then again, just because a person has an expensive car doesn't mean they are capable of parking it without incident, eh?

I've been thinking of inventing an inflatable device that pops into position around the circumference that - in essence - creates a two-foot rubber buffer around my SUV when it is parked.


With my luck, a porcupine will waddle by in my absence and prick it by mistake.

You just can't win!