Parking Wars

I don't know if this guy is just complete douchebag, or just completely ignorant about life in general. But I'm done with his fucking around, and I'm putting an end to it.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Let me explain.

I've been dealing with some bastard who decided that he didn't like the parking spot he was assigned to at our apartment building – he much preferred mine. His vehicle was a hard-topped jeep-looking thing, with what I'm guessing is his employer's name emblazoned across the side.

I have nothing against welding businesses, or any business in this town that help keep this economy going, but I don't know that many of the young guys that these companies hire are cocky fuckwads who think they know everything and had their mommies wipe their asses until they were 18. I know this as my sister had to deal with them where she worked prior to my niece coming into the world.

I can kind of understand that since my car was with the mechanic for four days and my spot was empty during that time, it would seem like the space is open to anyone. Especially to someone who just moved in.

However, my car was only gone four days, not four weeks! When I come home, I expect my spot to be empty so I can park there!

The first day he was in my spot, I left a note on his windshield, as is customary. I was not rude, I didn't even swear! I said please and thank you. I figured that would be the end of it.

Oh no. He was there again on Tuesday. And parked about four feet back from the end of the space. Clearly, he needed more room to get out of the space in the morning, cuz some crazy bitch had parked behind him! What nerve!

Motherfucker.

A note was left then saying 'Dude, not cool.' I parked elsewhere that night, thinking that perhaps that was his little revenge, and once he'd had it, he's stop being a prick.

Nope.

Wednesday I went to the property manager, explaining the situation. Obviously I was in the right, and he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. She gave me a note with the company letterhead, saying very politely that he was parked in the wrong spot and that he would be shown the correct spot if he didn't know where it was. Failure to comply would lead to the towing of his vehicle.

I figure, okay, he's gotta move now. Once again, when I arrived home that day, he's in my spot, so I leave the note, parked behind him (with more than enough room for him to move around me, I might add) and was looking forward to coming home Thursday and having my spot all to myself again.

I was just thrilled to see my spot was in fact empty when I got home! He finally listened, hooray!

Nada. I am just not that fucking lucky.

That night, he boxed me in. Parked behind me as close as he could fucking get without touching my car. I had plans that night, errands to run that involved me driving somewhere, god-fucking-damn-it!!! Now, I know he's just doing it out of spite.

I am just livid at this point. I'm so mad I'm actually shaking. I could barely sleep that night, I couldn't clam down.

The next morning, Friday, I go back to my property manager. The lady tells me, alright, he's had fair warning. If he's in my spot again, I'm to call the on-call maintenance line and they'll get him towed. It's on them at that point, not me.

I get home that night, and my space is empty. I've pretty much lost hope at that point, and proceed to check every ten minutes to see if he boxes me in again.

Guess what?!!? He totally did!!! Shocker.

So I called the maintenance line. They said someone would get back to me right away. My totally lacking any faith in humanity at this point, didn't figure that would happen. Besides, I had to go take photos of the Santa Claus parade, then go get drunk with friends. So I did. And they didn't, call me that is.

And when I stumbled home drunk around midnight, his jeep thing was still there. He's actually pretty lucky I didn't have any eggs in the house at the moment, 'cause believe me, I was sorely fucking tempted.

And now it's Saturday, having woken up after a horrific dream and slightly hungover. I go check outside one last time.

He's still fucking there.

I think I called the maintenance line about three times to try and light a fire under their asses. I'm actually crying at this point because I'm so fucking frustrated and tired that I don't know what to do anymore. I'm starting to think I'll have to have him towed at my own expense, which could lead to all sorts of problems for as long as he/she/they are here.

Around noon, after I'd calmed down some, I went to check one more time before calling the line again. To my shock and wonder, he wasn't parked behind me anymore.

He must have just gone to do Saturday errands or something – if I leave, he'll just take the spot again. Which depressed me even more. However, the kitties needed kitty litter, so I had to go.

Imagine my sheer fucking elation that when I got downstairs, the fucking bastard was actually parked in his own spot on the other side of the building.

It's a holy fucking miracle!!!

I don't actually know what made him finally go over there, but I like to think that a maintenance guy whet to his apartment to serve him with a towing notice, and that prompted him to get the fuck out of my spot.

I was so relieved, I almost started crying again.

I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but it was really starting to feel like harassment. I was so paranoid about it that I couldn't sleep at night. I suppose I could have found out which apartment was his, and gone and confronted him myself, but I didn't know if he was some psychopath who would have gone and smashed my windshield in or something.

I really hate feeling like a doormat.

Sigh.

But it's over now, although that won't stop me from being paranoid for the next few weeks, half expecting to turn the corner and see that fucking truck in my spot once again.

Sleeping With One Eye Open,

Ginger.

Post-election day

So it's done. Another election, another ballot cast.

Where I'm at in FSJ, we have a new Mayor and two new councillors (four were re-elected), and a voter turnout of approximately 21%.

That is appalling.

I don't know if it's just that people really don't give a shit who makes the decisions for them, or they're just too fucking lazy to make the trek down to the voting station – whatever their reason, beyond being in a coma on life support, it's unacceptable.

I get that people have other responsibilities – many people up here work in camp, so when you're stuck in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, it's a little difficult to get into town.

But this is why there is advanced voting. I know a lot of people who participated in that. But how do we light a fire under the ass of the rest of the population?

I also heard from a few people that they didn't feel informed enough to make a decision. Do you know whose fault that is? It's yours, for not getting yourself informed. It's like everyone wants all the pertinent info served up to them on a silver platter before they make a decision. You are all very capable people, you can be a little proactive and find out what the candidates all believe if you just opened your eyes and paid attention. Read the local websites and newspapers, they all had info on all the candidates. So that excuse really doesn't hold water.

Maybe we need to be like Australia and make voting mandatory. If you don't vote in any election, you get fined. Or maybe have it be something you can claim on your tax return? I check the little box saying 'Yes, I Voted This Year' and the government adds five bucks to your refund.

It's not much, but Hell, five bucks is five bucks.

Into the beer fund you go!

Or, as I've heard bandied about in the past, maybe we need to step into the 21st Century and do online voting. If I can file my taxes and fill out the census form online, surely to jeebus I should be able to securely cast my vote in any election.

I recently read an article saying that maybe we need to pre-register high school students to vote before they turn 18. I think it should go a step further, and introduce election conduct into the curriculum. Make it part of CAPP class (do they still even have that anymore?), like the mandatory work experience they have to do (they still have to do that, right?).

It could even be a mandatory elective. Kids would learn why their vote really does count (and it really does – in Radium Hot Springs, a councillior beat out her competition by one vote, for serious!), and how different the outcome of an election would be effected if 20, 50, 75 and 100% of the population voted. Hold mock-elections where only a certain number of kids would be allowed to vote, and see the results before increasing the number of participants. If they could actually see that in front of them, the lesson might stick as they get older.

Hook 'em while they're young, like the tobacco industry.

Ahh, sweet, sweet voting.... goes down smooth.

Our own election in FSJ could have had a very different outcome if all 12,000+ registered voters actually came out. There was only a 60 vote difference between the top two mayoral candidates! We could have a different mayor now if more people voted. Or the winning one would have won by a landslide (and contrary to what I saw a few people posting online last night, she did not win be a landslide – maybe compared to the third mayoral candidate, but not compared to the second candidate. Just sayin').

Maybe I just need to stop getting my hopes up that the population is going to step up and do their civic duty. I'd be less disappointed and could walk around saying 'I told you so, you fuckwads!'

As I once saw on a t-shirt in NYC: Fuck you, you fucking fucks!

But the thing is, those who don't vote really have no right to complain about how the city is being run for the next three years. I know they will complain, especially with winter being upon us and EVERYONE loves to bitch and moan about how long it takes to get the streets plowed. What we need is for everyone to wear a little spring-loaded box with a boxing glove inside that is triggered to release whenever people who didn't vote start whining about how the city is being run. Every time you bitch, you get punched in the face.

That's a pretty feasible deterrent, right?

This is our last election for awhile, the next one being the provincial one in 2013. Maybe a nice little year-and-a-half break from doing anything related to voting will be good for those suffering from voter fatigue.

We can only hope, world. We can only hope.

Ballots and Bitching,

Ginger.

Hands

Musician hands, to be exact. Some are sharp, some are not. Like I said in a previous post, I'm astounded by those that can actually play a musical instrument. I couldn't even play the ukulele in grade school. Well, that's not entire true... I memorized where my finger were supposed to be for the first few chords of a song called Country Gardens or something. I had no idea what chords I was playing.

So, anyhoo, here's a few photos from Spotlight 2011.

D'ari

Dayna Manning

Dave Tolley

Naomi Shore

Lindsay Pratt

Gidd Hampton

The Willms