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January 04, 2007
Operation Be On Time
So it's been a full three days since I started Operation Be On Time (OBOT) and I'm pleased to report that I have been early (or at least, exactly on time) to every obligation so far. Of course, January 1st was simply a day of recovery with no tasks or appointments--so it was easy. January 2nd was a day of catch-up, where I sat at my desk (and, admittedly, on the couch) for 15 hours and got up to speed on everything I missed the previous week.
But January 3rd, oh ho! Yesterday was the first time that OBOT was really put to the test. I got off to a sloppy start, waking up late again. But thankfully, due to a last-minute cancellation on my schedule, I was in no rush and even managed to arrive 2 minutes early to my lunch meeting.
[Tangent]
I arrived at 12:56 and parked in the garage across the street from the bookstore, where I was meeting my Big Idea contact. The parking space was a 2 hours spot, so I was good until 2:56 p.m.--do you see where this is going? After lunch I went back to the bookstore and bought a couple of Big Idea books, returning to my car at exactly 3:03 p.m. And what did I find?
A $35 parking ticket, issued at 3:01 p.m.
Bastards. I LOATHE the parking gestapo of my fair town, who invariably seem to catch me 2 minutes after my meter expires. I know people who figure that the occasional ticket balances out their obligation to pay, and so never put quarters in the meter. I'm beginning to think they are right, since I spent approximately $90 in parking meter (not "garage") money in 2006, and STILL received $140 in parking tickets (all of which were issued less than 10 minutes over the limit). And in case you don't believe me, let's break the 2006 parking ticket saga down:
-- The $50 ticket I got for parking in a no-parking zone (it was 9:17 and parking became legal at 9:30 a.m., which didn't matter because I had pulled over in an emergency to run into the corner Starbucks to vomit in the bathroom--something about breakfast hasn't agreed with me). I was gone from the car a total of 8 minutes.
-- The $35 ticket I got when I parked in a 1-hour spot, then returned 1:04 minutes later.
-- The $30 ticket I got when I pulled into a spot without noticing the "back-in only" sign (handlily obscured by a massive U-Haul). I was totally paid up that time, which seemed not to affect the cop's decision to write me up at all. Guess I should have noticed I was the only one facing the buildings...
-- The $25 ticket when I put change in a meter, which then turned out to be broken. I figured I was "even" and left for a coffee meeting. When I returned 45 minutes later I had a ticket and the meter was fixed. When I called to explain the situation I was told that unless I had called the "broken meter" number at the time, there was nothing to do but pay up. Grr.
Do you see how innocent I am, how put upon is poor Ms. Write Again Soon?
[/Tangent]
Anyway, back to my point (and I'm going to choose to ignore the fact that getting a parking ticket for an expired meter is related to being "on time"), I was finally on time and then even managed to have a productive day working on Big Idea stuff. One VERY EXCITING development is the launch of the new website, which now has all sorts of bells and whistles that it previously missed. So hurrah for that.
On the downside, my email account seems to be temporarily offline, which means that I'm desperately out of the link. Cut off. Alone in the world.
You would think this would be an incredible opportunity to catch up on work that so far hasn't been, well, caught up to. But it's just so lovely outside (I took the metro to a meeting downtown today--to which I arrived EARLY--and just got back from the .8 mile walk home afterwards) that I think I might go plant myself in a comfy chair positioned in a ray of sunshine and read some of my book club selection. The meeting is next week and I'm WAY behind--and that's no way to play OBOT.
Or perhaps I'll work on the Big Idea. But probably not.
Comments
I have only gotten one ticket in my life and that was in a Bethesda parking garage, again for being less than 10 minutes late to a 2-hour parking meter. It's not just you!
Posted by: Elizabeth at January 4, 2007 02:26 PM
I am proud of your efforts! Keep up the good work!
Posted by: La at January 5, 2007 10:37 AM
