Sleeping on the job.

This morning on the way to work I drove past (and hastily took a picture) of Meter reader, car 56 taking a snooze on the clock. Not only was she sleeping on the job, she was taking up a parking space in an area of valuable spaces.

Lickin' his chops

Not a car parked illegally, not even one in sight. So you'd think that the rush hour traffic could just breeze through. Instead, this towing service is just in the way waiting for some unknowing victim to park. After that he'll have to wait for the meter reader finally come and give the ticket so he can tow the car.

Good deed do-er

These folks were going to park their car at 4 pm. Fortunately for them, one of my co-workers, Javier, was crossing the street to go to the gym where he is working on extra cardio to lose weight in a bet he has going with Dave, but that's another story. He walked past them, then came back and told them that they couldn't park there (he's partially hidden by the light pole), saving them the $50 ticket and the possible $150 towing charge. I was pleased to know I work with such compassionate people.

Prominent attorney reads sign

In a display of unexpected intelligence, a local attorney actually read the sign after he tried to park his shiny silver jag after 3:30 and the meter wouldn't take his coin. He left. Too bad for his pouting girlfriend who was waiting impatiently for him.

The Getaway

Yet another example of the city keeping the streets clear. Here the tow truck sits waiting for the meter reader to come and give the car a ticket (you can see in the first picture that there is no ticket on the car) so he can tow it. Oddly, the meter reader, of which there are generally 2 or 3 thousand hovering on the block, was nowhere in sight and the truck patiently waited for 20 minutes (blocking traffic the entire time), so long that the owner of the car, who was in violation of city ordinance for over 20 minutes came out, frantically got in his car, drove off and got away scott free. The middle picture is the evil tow truck driver.

Free flowing traffic

In their never ending campaign to make sure our downtown streets are clear for the onslaught of rush hour traffic, the city has mandated "no left hand turns" between 3:30 and 6. As you can see, at 5 pm, the inability to turn left is keeping the traffic flowing nicely, all 6 of the cars were moving well.

3:33

It is exactly 3:37. I took this picture at 3:33 (no parking starts at 3:30). The guy towing it arrived and waited for the meter maid to get there and give the ticket. Fortunately the guy who owned the car came out before he got towed and was able to get his car before it got taken away. Unfortunately, the car on the truck wasn't so lucky.