lesson learned...but i'm still mad
>> Thursday, August 28, 2008
this post is strictly for venting.
i'm not blaming anyone besides myself for my very stupid mistake today, but still...i need to vent.
let me tell you a little story...the condensed version...
i had a session this morning at 9:30 am at university of michigan's campus in ann arbor. oh, by the way, parking is horrendous 99.35% of the time in this town. i am looking for parking and see this...
SWEET! an open meter! so i pull up, note the orange bag on the other side that says tow away zone and the handicapped sign right above it, and figure the "tow away zone handicapped zone" only applies to the orange bag side. the other meter is fair game...rock on.
jump out of car. insert money in meter. run to session.
session ends at 10:45 am. i go out to find NO CAR. this is where the panic began. why? because my wallet AND my phone were in the car that was apparently towed. i was stuck in a town where i didn't know a soul and the only phone number i had memorized was travis (in which he was an hour away from me at work).
hmmm. i looked at the sign above the meter again. oops. NOW i notice that the red arrow points in both directions, not just the orange bag side. insert swear word here.
can't call a cab...no money.
can't call for help...no phone and don't know any phone numbers.
i find the first innocent victim with a phone and commandeer it for a few moments trying to find out which towing company has my car. found it. scared boys with phone run away from the crazy lady on the verge of yelling and/or tears.
find another innocent victim with a phone. i am crying by now. i somehow remembered the phone number of the client i just did the session with and called it. humiliating? you don't even know. she came and picked me up and continued to drive me to the lot to get my purse out of the car, back to the police station to get a release, back to the towing company, and finally to the lot again to get my car).
three hours and $375 later, i got my piece of crap honda accord back.
$375!!!!!!!!!!!!!! are you kidding me?!?!!?!
anyway, for those of you still here with me after this monster vent session...thank you. i needed that.
learn from my mistake (or should i say mistakes...does a shirtless jean in walmart ring a bell).
by the way, since when are there handicapped meters anyway. for crying out loud...
17 comments:
Oh man. I am sorry...that really sucks. Way to ruin your day, huh? I didn't know that there were handicapped meters, either. I don't drive much, though. (Mike makes sure of that.)
Jean, so sorry about your day, but glad you made it out alive!
Oh no! You need a vacation...oh wait....you just had one. You need to hang out with your long lost friend Brittni!
I hate stuff like that! Argggh!
Jean not that this makes you feel any better but I pretty much had a day that deserves some swear words too. I will probably post it on my blog. I'm sorry but at least we had crappy days together.....well kinda!
That just flat out stinks!!! So sorry. That was not funny at all, but the Wal-Mart story was hillarious. Try to relax this weekend.
Oh, that story makes me want to cry too. I can't even imagine! Seriously, I didn't know handicap meters even existed...weird!! I'm sorry Jean! We could all donate a little money to the Jean Fund to cover that tow-away.
Well, Jean, maybe you should tell them your Walmart story and they would refund you your money because that story has "handicap" written all over it! :)
That sucks. At least no one saw you shirtless this time...right? At least Isaac wasn't in the car too right? (JUST KIDDING)! Hey, when are you headed down here?
oh man...that stinks!!! It will be funny later:)
AW CRAP!!! That seriously sucks. I would have done the same thing. And then to have to go through all the red tape to get your car back....aaarrgghhhh!!!
Seriously....WHY does parking have to be such a disaster in SO many places?!! Sorry to hear about the charge, too! That's Crazy!
Jean I am so sorry. I agree parking signs can be difficult to read. I hate that about parking in a city. What a nice girl to drive you around.
yikes indeed! 375!!! YIKES. I am glad you had some help in the end!
Jean, I don't know if you remember me but Nate and I moved into Mrs. Hackwell's basement apartment after you and Travis. I am also Mikki's friend, Natalie's, sister-in-law. I was surfing Mikki's blog and saw this post of yours. First off, Mikki is so freakin' hilarious I can't get enough of her comment. Second, you should have gone to the Ann Arbor Institute and used their phone. It is just a block to the South of the Law Quad where your session was (I used to work at the Institute.) I know it doesn't help you now, but maybe it will help you in the future. Love your photographs and love that you are living so close to where we used to live. Such a small world.
Jean I love you! We are so much alike that it's scary. I'm just glad that I wasn't with you this time. I'd hate for this one to be my fault too ;) Your stories crack me up! I miss you too when can we get together?????
Oh, man. That is no good. I remember having a professor at BYU that always parked in no parking areas. She said that for her it was worth paying the ticket. of course...towing is much worse and much for expensive. Yuck!
I'm sorry your car got towed; my fines have run in the $200-$300 range so the price is up. This reminded me of a few frustrating incidents from my past--getting car towed in Amsterdam siteseeing with out-of-town guests; getting purse ripped off at McDonald's in Den Haag with kids, no money, no keys, no clue; leaving purse on tram in Scheveningen first week in The Netherlands. You see what I mean--I'm a disaster magnet. Thanks for sharing!!!
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