Vent Time

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

So, yesterday was the 1st wednesday of the month and I get a ticket for streetsweeping. Fine, I haven't gotten any in a while, no big deal. So, I come back from work and park on the other side. As I was leaving this morning, my roommate tells me "They're ticketing you" and I'm like, what the hell now, so I go down, and I realize today is the 2nd thursday of the month. So, I'm out $100 in the space of two days. I like having clean streets as much as the next guy, but if arranging them on back to back days isn't exploitative, I don't know what is. I'm calling my ward alderman.

Comments

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

The back-to-back days thing happens whenever the month begins on your 2nd/4th sweeping day. It's a pain in the neck, but it only happens once or twice a year in most neighborhoods.

What do you want them to do instead? If the second day's street sweeping is cancelled, one side of the street goes unswept for a whole month. Is there another alternative that's simple enough to explain on a parking sign? I've occasionally given this some thought while running outside to move my car, and I can't think of anything that really works.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

but if arranging them on back to back days isn't exploitative, I don't know what is.

Then I guess you don't know what is.

The signs are there for you to read them.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately this back to back month happens once or twice every year due to when the 1st of the month lands.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

The nerve of them, scheduling the second Thursday of the month for the day after the first Wednesday of the month! Sneaky bastards.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I don't see how this is exploitative, since it's all clearly labeled.

Boston Streetsweeper (http://bostonsweeper.boston.com/) is a useful reminder for those of us who can't be bothered to keep track on our own.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Exploitative is when they declare a snow emergency at a time that doesn't allow people to go home and move their cars because they're all at work, and then ticketing them for failure to remove them.

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

Personal responsibility much? Get a calendar. Write "even" or "odd" on the days on which there is street cleaning. For extra reminder action, sign up for the reminder emails. This "to the internet!" overreaction to personal problems is getting way out of control.

I made you an icon

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

In honor of this comment:

"The signs are there for you to read them."

(http://photobucket.com)

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Wait, people use calendars still?

[turil.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I don't own a car. Life is so much better without one! :-)

[prog.livejournal.com]

Allow me to sigh some sympathy in your direction as a balm against the previous commenters, though I agree with them in principle. Believe me, I felt the same way when it happened to me for the first time.

But, they chose to tie their street cleaning schedule to the calendar quite literally, which makes sense from an organizational point of view... and if it happens to trip up more folks into leaving their cars on the wrong side, resulting in a nice little cash infusion for the city, well, that kind of makes its own sense too.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Agreed! As much of a headache the T can be, I'd still rather deal with that than with this whole parking nightmare!

(Plus gas, tires, oil changes, insurance, bad drivers, snow...)

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

So does this mean there won't be any street sweeping at all next week?

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yep. And then the week after we get two in a row.

To the OC--I agree that it sucks, and maybe you can try to appeal it, but at the end of the day it's just one more thing you have to manage. We all do.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily. Different streets are on different schedules: check the signs to be sure.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I did clearly warn that it was a vent.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I know I won't win so I won't try. I'm just miffed that I'm out $100 in 2 days.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that a side of the street you just got a ticket for street-sweeting would actually seem to be the BEST place to park to avoid another one, at least for another couple of weeks...

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I WAS VENTING!

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Snarky.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Oh, we peds still have to manage the bad drivers. (And the snow, in our way.)

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

It's times like these that signing up for the email street sweeping reminders are really helpful. I highly recommend them.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, blame the city for the vagaries of the calendar. The dates simply fall that way a few times a year.

Annoying yes, but hardly exploitative.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Re: "...the week after we get two in a row" Don't they cancel street sweeping for Thanksgiving?