Self: Missing Car Found and Retrieved
So I wasn't crazy, and my parking memory was correct. The car was originally parked within a non memorable distance about 200ft away near a construction area. It was clearly visible from the building, and the memory of not turning anyplace, and going up the front stairs were also correct. Whew, the fact I couldn't remember what happened worried me more than the car being gone.
I got my car towed for being in a 'temporary' tow away zone, and that wasn't as obvious to see as you might think. There is a new construction area not to far, that is currently an mostly empty dirt lot, and has a dark gray construction overhang to protect pedestrians over the sidewalk. Backtracking, I remember parking at the front of the zone, being careful not to consume any more space than necessary (as courteous parkers do). That street in general is a 'no parking on tuesday', which the overhand has as well. Which is all I read, and since it was Wednesday was safe. What I missed was looking back (as there's no walkway right next to the car, and hidden in the dark shadow and primer gray of the walkway (unlit at night) are some signs in the handwritten print for a secondary tow away zone.
Also which there were a bunch of other cars there, making me think it was safe, assumingly prepared to move at the 8:00am as the sign says, there are actually cars there right now, so it must only be on weekdays though the sign doesn't say that. I'm going to try looking back this evening to see if it's even visible as I suspect it's not, though contesting the ticket is probably not worth the time. This brings pet peeves of mine:
a) parking signs that stack on top of each other legally should be positioned so they can be visually grouped together, if there isn't any good reason why they have to have multiple signs in the first space.
a) if this were a driving accident, the sign was in the blind spot and otherwise not visible, so I don't think I'd be at fault.
b) I think there should be laws that require a minimal contrast ratio for a sign to be applicable, this should be easily determined with a camera. I remember going to a Alanis Morrisette concert in San Jose, and coming back after the show with grilfriend in tow, was surprised by a ticket, for parking in a "red" zone, whose paint was faded and the orange sodium streetligths bleached it to monochromatic, and made it impossible to see any difference at night, though daylight the story was different. I bet this happens all the time and I doubt that the city is really incentivized to change it given the amount of money they make, here's what this incursion cost me:
$97.00 Towing fee (.8 mile 11 blocks)
$40.00 Administration Fee
$22.00 day (x2) for storage (first day is charged after 1 hour of being towed (!))
$34.00 Parking Violation (would double after 2 weeks)
Total = Ouch, but could be worse. It really doesn't matter how withing a day or two cost wise, the major damage is done within the first hour of the tow.
Reframing: On the brightside, my memory wasn't screwy, it wasn't stolen, it wasn't damaged, the towing place was within walking distance so I didn't have to pester anybody, and even with the ticket and construction, I still paid less than I did in Santa Monica per month. Now I can travel to IKEA and points continental for the rest of the weekend.
It's actually been kinda fun to contemplate life without a car. I think that WeHo is a place that could support a reasonable lifestyle with walking and mass transit as
I got my car towed for being in a 'temporary' tow away zone, and that wasn't as obvious to see as you might think. There is a new construction area not to far, that is currently an mostly empty dirt lot, and has a dark gray construction overhang to protect pedestrians over the sidewalk. Backtracking, I remember parking at the front of the zone, being careful not to consume any more space than necessary (as courteous parkers do). That street in general is a 'no parking on tuesday', which the overhand has as well. Which is all I read, and since it was Wednesday was safe. What I missed was looking back (as there's no walkway right next to the car, and hidden in the dark shadow and primer gray of the walkway (unlit at night) are some signs in the handwritten print for a secondary tow away zone.
Also which there were a bunch of other cars there, making me think it was safe, assumingly prepared to move at the 8:00am as the sign says, there are actually cars there right now, so it must only be on weekdays though the sign doesn't say that. I'm going to try looking back this evening to see if it's even visible as I suspect it's not, though contesting the ticket is probably not worth the time. This brings pet peeves of mine:
a) parking signs that stack on top of each other legally should be positioned so they can be visually grouped together, if there isn't any good reason why they have to have multiple signs in the first space.
a) if this were a driving accident, the sign was in the blind spot and otherwise not visible, so I don't think I'd be at fault.
b) I think there should be laws that require a minimal contrast ratio for a sign to be applicable, this should be easily determined with a camera. I remember going to a Alanis Morrisette concert in San Jose, and coming back after the show with grilfriend in tow, was surprised by a ticket, for parking in a "red" zone, whose paint was faded and the orange sodium streetligths bleached it to monochromatic, and made it impossible to see any difference at night, though daylight the story was different. I bet this happens all the time and I doubt that the city is really incentivized to change it given the amount of money they make, here's what this incursion cost me:
$97.00 Towing fee (.8 mile 11 blocks)
$40.00 Administration Fee
$22.00 day (x2) for storage (first day is charged after 1 hour of being towed (!))
$34.00 Parking Violation (would double after 2 weeks)
Total = Ouch, but could be worse. It really doesn't matter how withing a day or two cost wise, the major damage is done within the first hour of the tow.
Reframing: On the brightside, my memory wasn't screwy, it wasn't stolen, it wasn't damaged, the towing place was within walking distance so I didn't have to pester anybody, and even with the ticket and construction, I still paid less than I did in Santa Monica per month. Now I can travel to IKEA and points continental for the rest of the weekend.
It's actually been kinda fun to contemplate life without a car. I think that WeHo is a place that could support a reasonable lifestyle with walking and mass transit as