So a couple nights ago, the woman calls me at about 8pm and asks me to meet her for dinner at Panera on University and Hennepin. So I say to myself, "Self, got quaters for the meter?" And my response to myself was, "No, shouldn't need them as the meters are only working until 6pm. And after that, parking is free! " So I venture down to the rendevous spot and park the car out front of Panera...get out and check the meter to make sure there are "no mistakes." The meter says that it is free parking after 10pm!?WTF!! O.k, so I mosey inside and grab some quarters from the guy in Panera and when I come back out........ You frickin' guessed it right!!! The parking cop is issuing me a ticket....mind you I'm holding up the handful of quarters at him...and he says to me "sorry" and places the ticket on my windshield!:eek4: You've got to be kidding me, a guy is short on change for the meter and gets totally HOSED! The worst part is...my girlfriend is the type that will say, "If I get caught, I get caught!" And she had no intention of paying the meter...as where I fully intended on paying for my parking and got a ticket because i don't carry a purse full of change on me!!? BEWARE to all that park at meters downtown or elsewhere...they are REALLY desperate for your monies!! End rant. Sum of story=carry change on you at all times! Learn from my $34.00 mistake, makes Panera pretty spendy for dinner!
I had to refrain from throwing the whole handful of quarters at him!! But I am better man than that...but I wanted to!hehe:biggrin:
not sure how they can stop you spending YOUR money how YOU want.... dumb fockers.... on te Gold Coast where I am going they used to have meter maids... tall busty women in golden bikins wlaking up and down putting coins in expired meters... one fo the reasons Japanese came to the Coast... ha ha
Werd...this guy was tall and busty also, but he wasn't putting quarters in the meter...and I don't swing Ray's way!:biggrin:
Josh, just make sure u don't find a diner during the WI event that requires us to park by a meter...God knows we do not carry quarter
hahaha...I'll steal there Geo Tracker while they're writing my ticket!!:laugh: j/k Stealing cars ain't cool...less you're the repo man!
Maybe I'm getting to old...I remember when meters accepted nickels and dimes and quarters...nickel was 15 min. dime was 30 mins. and quarter was 45-1hr. depending where in SF, CA. downtown...that was like 15 yrs. ago, now your lucky to get 15mins with 1 quarter...
well you know time has become more rare now, so due to supply and demand they've had to raise the prices accordingly!
Wow ... I have noticed that things like that always get changed without the public being aware of them. All the meters I know of downtown are free after 6 - just like you thought but I wouldn't know about any on hennepin outside of the downtown area The point is - you were inside for all of what, 20 seconds? To get quarters? This guy seems like he was just sitting there waiting for someone to come up and not pay at the meter :roll: Thankfully I don't park in minneapolis except for work, and I get to park in the building for free
Yeah, if you guys are familiar with the U of M, dinkytown, and NE minneapolis area at all, the meter maids are exactly like that. I've done the exact same thing, parked, ran inside for around a minute (totally serious) seconds, came back to a ticket on my windshield and no meter maid in site. I swear they hide in the bushes sometimes... The meters around the U are also a f'ing ripoff. A quarter for TWELVE MINUTES, you gotta be kidding me...
Not 20 seconds...because of my luck, the guy needed to go grab a key to open the register! Little did I know the things to follow...:emo: And yes, they hide in the bushes and stalk car owners!!:ugh:
Don't know about other model years, but I have a bugeye with a traditional (and unused) ashtray in the middle and an ashtray-like drawer on the left of the steering column. I can't think of a better place to keep a stock of quarters. . . actually, that is what I do. I don't keep a fortune, but enough to keep any meter fed long enough for the typical meeting. Outside my actual place of employment, I have been known to do the "if I get a ticket $ < $ actually keeping meters fed" . .. so far, one ticket & a flaw in the ticket writer's reading skills meant I couldn't pay online . .. and the poor guy who has my ticket has a really good excuse for why it wasn't him (his car is the wrong make and model) . .. so I let it go. When it is all said and done, my lifetime parking ticket $ total hasn't yet reached my lowwest cost speeding ticket. Just like speeding tickets, ya have to when and where to play . . . otherwise it just won't pay.
Yeah the fuse compartment to the left of the steering column is where I normally keep change for meters stashed. Unfortunatly, it was empty!:emo:
Just do what I do - if I gotta go to Uptown, I find a buddy who lives near where I want to go, and I park on their street :biggrin: or just park on the side streets and walk - especially if it's nice out. They can't do anything if you're legally parked on a side street heheheh unless someone complains
When I went to school at the U I always parked on University across from UV. It's marked 2 hour parking and I've only gotten 1 ticket there. So lets see 5 years, 2 semesters / year, 15 weeks of class / semester, 5 days / week, and $3 average to park in the Huron lots would have been $2250 for parking in college. Instead I paid $34 for one ticket - hahahaha
Tangledupinblu, I am betting that your employer doesn't reimburse you parking quarters & mileage. I understand that people who aren't professionally expected to need quarters in any given workday, could certainly get caught without. Today I spent $1.25 feeding meters, and drove 4.7 miles at $0.44 per mile . . . work related & that'll be comming right back to me. If work doesn't reimburse you for work related meters, I reckon you have an excuse to let the quarter fund bottom out every once in a while.
That's a fact! No monies from the boss!! When I was parking at the government center in Minneapolis, I would keep like 5 to 7 bucks in quarters in there. But the job ended the third week in Jan. and the quarter collection was tapped out! They did reimburse me for $26 one day when we had a water leak in the goverment center. Had to find parking asap, It was $14 in the ramp....and I had to pay $12 to get out of the lot in St. Paul to go to the $14 lot!! What a country! Parking could be a fortune per month at those rates!!! jeeez.:roll:
Really makes you wish you owned a parking ramp instead of getting owned. You can boo that if you like.
