So I'm at College Park Bikes today getting the handlebars wrapped on my Cross-Check, and I had parallel parked in front of the store (I would have ridden to the store, but there was no chain. Yet.) As I'm BSing with the dude that runs the place, I see a meter maid walking away from my car...and she had been stopped. So I stick my head out the door, and say, "did I just get a ticket for something?" And she goes, "Yeah, two, and they've already been written so don't even try it."
I'm thinking, try what? Then I'm like, TWO? So I go to the windshield, and I got 17.50 for not paying the meter I couldn't see because it was bolted to a damn fence 7 feet from my car, and a 30.00 because I had parked against the flow of traffic. Now, you all know where I parked - turn onto Knox, make the right just past the 7-11 entrance at the corner where CPBikes is. I was facing away from Knox, towards campus. That's a one-lane road - two cars barely fit - but is not marked as one-way, so though I'm probably technically wrong it's a crap charge.
So, if I go to court, I could talk my way out of the wrong-direction one and maybe the meter one, since I'll bring a picture of the meter that I couldn't freaking detect with a meterometer, or possibly even a frog exaggerator. But, I will have to spend a day in a stupid ass court. If I pay the fines, I'm out $47.50, but that's about an hour's pay on a weekend, and I did just get about 6 hours of extra double-time for doing a two-man job by myself. Third, I could leave the tickets in my center console to be ignored for eternity, like that DC ticket I got in February. Then I will probably get screwed down the road with some sort or registration renewal or something...I'm sure there's a record of outstanding parking tickets.
So, I'm taking a vote. You have 5 days to decide for me whether I should go to court, pay the tickets, or ignore them. If I were Rick I would have set up a vote-dealie like NoTY, but I'm no queer webdesigner. So, there you go. Decide my level of upstanding-citizenship for me.
Posted by Chris at June 23, 2004 05:56 PMI believe Chuck D said it best when he stated "Fight the Power"
Go to court, bring your picture of the meter, and make a reasonable argument about the flow of traffic BS.
Judges actually love these things because then they take time to make sure measures are taken to have meters get fixed, stop signs are cleared, etc...so when re-election comes they slap down some BS about how the helped label the community a lil' bit better....
Fuckin' metermaids...
Posted by: Nate at June 23, 2004 09:24 PMHeh. To bust your balls: Who would have guessed the multiple-home-owner with a wife and (essentially) child would have pushed for "making the community better." That's a novel idea, but seriously, you think a judge in College Park is going to give a shit - for one second - what a student has to say? Not only is the standard kids v. system dynamic in play, but this city is set decidedly against students in any and all policy making (check out future housing plans, new liquor/beer sales rules, etc.).
They hate me, I hate them. I'm leaning toward just paying them, but I still want to see what the rest of the crew has to say.
Posted by: Chris at June 23, 2004 11:51 PMI don't think a judge really gives a shit about making anything better, just getting themselves re-elected. But I see where you're coming from. I don't think for a second that you showing up would actually change anything, but it might save you some bucks.
Oh and here's an update on the wifey....She starts her new job with HP on monday. She'll be getting:
Free company car
10K/year salary increase
Quarterly awards (bonus)
All benefits paid by company
Gas card for company car
Insurance picked up by company car
Free PC or laptop of her choice (I'm pushing for the laptop, since I'll need to keep up w/FF while watching the games in the basement)
And she gets to work from home for the first 2 weeks
Whatever you do, keep the records.
I'm still getting fucked by College Park "parking enforcement." I've sent them copies of the same cancelled check THREE times and three times they conceded that yes, I did pay that parking ticket. This was all before I re-registered my jeep in 2002. but guess what, folks... July 2004 it is registration time again. What do I receive in the mail? oh! sorry! You can't renew your registration until you pay $166 to the city of College Park. 3 outstanding parking tickets from 1999, and 2000. one of these tickets was paid by the aforementioned cancelled check that was presented to the city on 3 different occasions... hell, time to make it 4. The other 2? I know I paid them... in 2000! I have very organized files for financials and whatnot, but do you think I can find receipts for the other 2 without dates, amounts, form of payment? And answer me this... How did I register in 2002 if I had all of these outstanding tickets?
I fucking hate college park.
Posted by: at June 24, 2004 09:05 AMSorry, that last tirade was from me.
Our accounting system is down so I have actually been spending the last few minutes trying to trace the payment of those tickets online. no dice. BofA only goes back to 2002. I then decided to see what you kids were up to... funny how things all come full circle.
Good luck Chris.
Oh yes, and if you ever wear a midriff shirt like the guy in the cross check picture... with your belly hanging out... that shit is hot. You would get so lucky.
Posted by: Meg at June 24, 2004 09:11 AMYummy, Chris in midriff
You should show up in court like that.
Unless you have some free time to just go to court and blow a morning/afternoon, I would just pay it. If you play poker well enough, in 2 weeks you will have $50.
Is it possible to get the court date - see when it is (and if it conflicts with Yugio or some random cartoon), and if so just pay the fine?
That shirt would clash with your kangaroo hat.
Posted by: Pat at June 24, 2004 09:18 AMChris, if you go to court, you have no chance. The judge is going to look right at you and say "Cut your hair, you damn hippie." That is of course unless you wear the mid-riff shirt. If you were to wear that, you would be arrested on the way to court for prostitution.
Posted by: John at June 24, 2004 09:53 AMI'd try to fight it, just out of general principle because I hate giving the government money for shit like that. If it's still the same as the last time I tried to pay a ticket in Maryland, the cop actually has to show up at court (not so in D.C.). The way I got out of my last one was that I couldn't make it for the day they had scheduled the hearing because I was going to be in Europe. So, I sent them a letter asking to reschedule it, which they did, and then the cop didn't show up. He probably had all of his tickets scheduled for the first day, and then I was probably his only ticket for that day, so he just didn't feel like it was worth going to court. So, if you want to try it, think up a good excuse, and try to reschedule your hearing.
Posted by: Fatboy at June 24, 2004 01:12 PMDo metermaids have to show up in court? Not like it was speeding or even running a red light...
Posted by: Pat at June 24, 2004 02:26 PMI always fight tickets in court because it can only help the situation. They're certainly not going to raise the fines or anything. As long as you can afford the time off to actually go. Besides, it's fun to listen to other people's traffic stories.
And the meter maid does have to show up, so it's possible he/she doesn't. One time when I was in court for getting a parking ticket in College Park, the girl that gave me the ticket went through her opening statement ("I observed the vehicle parked in lot XYZ... ") and after she finished, the judge asked if that was her entire statment. She's like "Yeah..." and the judge, making sure she was finished, quickly says that in order to prosecute me in court, the prosecution must state that the crime took place within the city's jurisdiction, and since she forgot to mention College Park specifically, all I had to do was say "not guilty".
Posted by: Rick at June 24, 2004 04:19 PMThoughts:
Meg - yes, I will get lucky in a midriff with my substantial gut flopping out. Unfortunately, it will be with Richard Simmons. Unless that comment was some sort of thinly-veiled promise, in which case you are now contractually obligated to suffer my lovemaking. I'm going with that one - now, off to target for a Hello Kitty tubetop.
Pat - I don't need to play poker well to get my $50...you just need to keep playing poorly. Buuuuurrrrrn. And a midriff does not necessarily clash with the hat - the hat alone is the arbiter of all international fashion and it will decide what works with it.
John - if I did get arrested for prostitution, it would be for the half and half I offered Richard Simmons' best friend, Richard Simmons. And yeah, the head full of long luxurious hippie hair won't help with any judge. Except maybe this judge.
Fatboy - I'm not a fight on prinicple kind of guy, if I'm the one that needs to be fighting (I'm all for, say, WMF and Anti-Bush protests, but you won't see me out there...I'd rather be left alone).
Rick - that post was entirely too serious. No "cock", "balls", or "queer" in the whole thing. I am saddened. I believe the Big J is at fault, slowly brainwashing our friend Rick into an upstanding, respectable man. We want the guy that drinks poison and throws himself down stairs back.
Nate - yay, you have way more money than all of us combined and now you get a bunch of free shit. Come here so I can slap the taste out of your mouth. At least your football team stinks it up. I'm sorry, I'm just jealous you are living a cooler life than my "sleep til 1, dick around on a bike, drink beer, repeat" ritual.
Everyone - in the interest of "dammit College Park just leave me alone" I'll probably just pay the tickets. Yeah, I could try to weasel out of them, but technically I was wrong and it's only $50. Plus, I get away with so much more than I'm ever caught for that I need to balance out the crime-karma or something.
Posted by: Chris at June 24, 2004 04:54 PMAlso, I'm goign to pay them in person at City Hall and demand some sort of documentation so I don't shafted like Meg.
Posted by: Chris at June 24, 2004 05:41 PMChris, that article give a whole new meaning to the phrase; "Here comes the judge." Thank you, you've been a great crowd, I will be here all week, try the veal, and please remember to tip your waitress.
Posted by: John at June 24, 2004 06:58 PMThe Smoking Gun has a picture of the judge...looks the kind of guy that would, you know, rule with an iron...well, you can see where this is going.
Posted by: Chris at June 25, 2004 12:22 AM