where was I?

[mamajoan]

I can't keep track of everything I've been meaning to post. Why does stuff have to keep happening? ;P

Here's the latest on the parking situation. The stroller in the parking space worked on Tuesday and Thursday (we stayed in all day Weds) but on Friday when I got home from work, my stroller was on the sidewalk and a car, which I recognize as belonging to the family next door (nice interracial couple with a maybe 6-year-old daughter), was in "my" space. Luckily, there was an opening two spaces down, in the same "stretch" of street in front of the house across from mine, so I didn't have to go postal.

When I carried the stroller back up onto my porch, I noticed a note attached to it. Printed out from a computer and everything. "To the owner of this stroller" (I guess she didn't realize it was me). It basically said that these spaces are public property, we all have to share them, etc. blah blah. And she, the lady next door whom I'll call Lisa, had even put her name and phone number in case I wanted to talk to her about it.

Well, I told myself I'd write her a note, although I haven't done so yet. This morning (Sat) she was out there shoveling some more, moving the big pile of snow to make the parking area in front of that house bigger. Then she went inside and her husband took over.

Isaac and I went over to my mom's, and ended up staying all day, got back around 8pm. There were like five cars parked in front of that house -- before Lisa and her husband shoveled there was room for maybe three, so it's an improvement, except for the minor detail about there being nowhere for *me* to park. sigh. So I stopped in front of our house to unload our stuff, then went around the block and found a space on a side street, about two lengthy blocks from our house. In clear weather, this would be no problem, but with all the snow, it made carrying Isaac that far *really* difficult. There was a huge patch of ice on one driveway and I very nearly fell while holding him.

The thing is, all up and down our street and on the surrounding streets, there are still people marking their spaces with chairs and such. So I don't know whether it's just that Lisa has a bug up her butt about it, or there's a gentleperson's agreement in our section of the street to not do that, or what. I do feel bad about leaving my stroller (or whatever) in a space all day, if I leave for work at 8:30 and don't get back till 7pm -- but if there were a way to make my stroller magically appear in a parking space at 6:45, I would do it. Maybe Lisa and I can work something out. Otherwise I'm going to tell her SHE can come along and carry my 25-pound child back over all that snow and ice. Oh, who am I kidding, no I'm not. But I might tell her that I'm going to knock on her door and hand Isaac over and make her watch him while I go trolling for a parking space. Grump.

Seriously, though, if she's home all day (I don't know whether she works) or even if she gets home before I do, there must be a way we can work something out. It's not that I want to be a bitch and hog the space all day when I don't need it! It's just that when I do need it, I really really need it.

So that's been fun times around here. Wahoo. In other news, uh, actually, there is no other news. Thank you and goodnight.

Comments

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you guys can have a civilized discussion about it! Keep us updated.

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

That really sucks, and you're right - the best thing to do is work something out with her about the parking space. Unfortunately, I think the first there, first grab thing is everywhere. At least, in most of the neighborhoods I've lived in with only onstreet parking, unfortunately, first come - first serve was the rule, no matter what the weather.

Do you know what your local ordinance(s) are with regard to the spaces? I ask because, for example where I work, the city of Lebanon, there's an ordinance that makes it illegal to put anything but a vehicle in a parking space and if you try to save a space with a chair or whatever, there's like a $100 fine if the police ticket you.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Well, everyone knows it's not legal, but everyone does it anyway. Seriously, everywhere I go these last few days, you see it. And like I said to another commenter, the mayor/cops are always saying they're going to start cracking down on it, but they never really do. People have been doing this for *years* and they're not going to stop just because some whippersnapper of a mayor comes by telling them it's not legal. (Besides, it's an election year for the mayor.)

there's like a $100 fine if the police ticket you
How does that work? The cops put the ticket on your chair? How do they know whose chair it is? Do police in your city actually have time to sit around watching a parking-space-saving chair and waiting until the owner shows up so they can give her a ticket? What if someone shows up and moves the chair and parks and then says, "oh officers, that's not MY chair, I just moved it because I wanted the parking space"? I think this is why we don't have more enforcement -- the best the cops could do is come along and remove all the chairs from parking spaces. That's not going to stop the practice, and there are surely better things the cops could be doing with their time, you know?

[(Anonymous)]

If they were inclined to do so, the city could ticket you for reserving parking spaces with chairs or whatever the same way the city tickets you for putting your trash out too early: they write a ticket to the house the chair or whatever (or trash) is in front of and tape it to the door. Usually the landlord has to deal with it somehow. No, they don't know whose chair it is for sure. No, they don't care, either. Yes, (in Somerville at least) you can appeal. Yes, it's a pain in the butt.

[kenboy.livejournal.com]

Interesting. We polled for our NYC station on this, and I saw the story when I got home from work. People in Patterson, NJ, have a longstanding tradition of marking the spots they themselves shoveled out with whatever they have on hand; chairs seem to be the most popular. It's generally respected, because it's the fair thing to do, and because, you know, you don't really want to get beaten up over it.

The police say, essentially, meh, it's not legal, but it's been going on for decades, so we let it go on...

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know that my NYC friends have found the whole concept bewildering, but I find that just about everywhere else, it's a familiar tradition. The mayor of Boston said earlier this year that he was going to crack down on the practice, but there was a big stink made by residents, and when the snow actually came, he was "mysteriously" silent on the issue.

It's definitely not legal, but like you say, it's been going on for SO long. I doubt any cops or elected officials would be able to stop it.

[sydb42.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd thought of the chair thing when we had to shovel out a parking spot on our street around Christmas. ;) Surprising that I didn't, considering where I live. I live a few blocks from Churchill Downs, so every late April/early May (until that first Saturday in May), people in my neighborhood mark parking spots with chairs in front of their houses just as a matter of habit because if they don't, the people coming to watch the races will take all the spots to avoid the $15-20+ parking spots. I have no idea if it's illegal or not.

I'm sure our neighbors get annoyed at us because we park on the street even though we have a garage (2 car garage at that, and we only have 1 car). However, the walk from the street to the house is shorter from the front, not to mention the front porch is covered so in rainy/snowy weather, we get out of the elements while getting the door unlocked. We were going to start using the garage again recently, but then someone a couple of blocks up and over ended up getting shot at (and his mother killed) when parking in the back of the house because some guys wanted his car and his wallet and he resisted. I figured we could keep taking up the street spaces to avoid an alley encounter like that. :P (btw, my husband says one shooting can happen in any neighborhood, if it happens again, we'll be moving ASAP, plus there's been a rash of shootings ALL OVER Louisville, so I'm not sure anywhere else is particularly safer right now).

All this to say, I think you should keep marking your spot and if your neighbors get a bug up their butt about it, they can keep removing the stroller. But, especially since others are doing it too, why not you?

Another thing...is Isaac old enough to walk himself in the snow yet, at least if you hold his hand to keep him steady? That would certainly make the walk easier. As soon as Roo was mobile enough to walk more than 10 steps without falling, I started having her walk more and more on her own just so I wouldn't have to carry her so much. :)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I think you should keep marking your spot and if your neighbors get a bug up their butt about it, they can keep removing the stroller. But, especially since others are doing it too, why not you?

Yeah, that's my general attitude, but I do want to at least talk (or communicate in writing) to the neighbor first, so she knows I'm not just some faceless jerk who's just ignoring her note. I'm hoping she'll be reasonable, as she knows what it's like to have a little kid and a lot of stuff to tote around.

Yes, Isaac can walk, but a) not very well on the snow and ice (heck, grown adults are slipping and sliding everywhere -- it's ugly out there) and b) he can't be relied on to walk in the right direction, and c) usually it's late and cold, and we're tired and I don't have the patience. I mean, obviously I let him walk as much as possible and he prefers it anyway, but in these conditions it just makes things harder.