Am I the only person in Santa Monica who's NOT homeless?

Went into 7-11 to get some coffee this morning and there were about a dozen people inside the place. I swear that 10 out of the 12 were homeless people getting coffee. Am I the only person in Santa Monica who isn't homeless? Or maybe that's just where the homeless people get their coffee... maybe I need to upgrade to Starbucks.

Fortunately, I didn't get another parking ticket today. Son of a bitches...

Can't Even Pay The Stupid Ticket!

I go to the Los Angeles parking citations website and, big shock, the ticket is not in the system. So I can't pay it by credit card and just get it out of my mind already. I wonder if the old dude who gave me the ticket keeled over before he turned it in?

Parking Tickets Cost Way Too Much

Ok, so I ran into the 7-11 on my way to the laundromat. Took a look around. A hobo took twenty minutes hogging up the donut case. I waited for him to finish up then went to get one of those donuts that splits up into a bunch of donut holes. Then thought a breakfast taquito would sit better in my stomach. So I paid for it and a hot chocolate and then walked out to my car. Fuck. Some meter maid walks up to me with a parking ticket. Tells me that where I parked was "really not a good place." I look at the ticket and it's SEVENTY DOLLARS! Needless to say for a couple of minutes I was stunned. For someone who's still a couple Ks in debt, that's the kind of mistake you can live without. I was parked in a place that had no business being a restricted parking zone. No where near a bus stop, fire hydrant, or any other thing you would typically see them by. The curb was NOT red, yellow, or any color for that matter. I just picked the wrong place to park at the wrong time.

Now considering all that, technically I did break the law, but do they really have the right to charge me $70.00 for such a small mistake? I remember when I was attending school back in the late nineties, a parking ticket would cost like $15.00. It was a deterrant. It made me think "fuck, I got a ticket," yet at the same time I didn't feel like I was being financially raped. Is there some national organization against the excessive costs of parking tickets? Sign me up!

-j