judyonthenet

Since I started working, I began renting one of the parking spaces from one of my neighbors. This complex has one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units, and the two-bedroom units have a garage space and an assigned parking space. Sometimes people don’t use their assigned parking, so you can work out a deal with them to use it. I come home late from work, so it’s nice to not have to cross my fingers hoping there’s a free space near our place. And it’s nice to have a designated space where other residents won’t care how I park. No more notes on my car!

Or not. Yesterday morning, lo and behold, I get another stupid anonymous note on my car. I’m in the lines of my space, what could possibly be the issue?

God, really? I’m in the damn lines, why does it matter what angle I’m parked?? I was kicking myself for not taking a picture of my parking yesterday morning as I rushed to work, but when I got home last night, I ended up parking my car in a similar manner (yay for consistency):

Yesterday, my car might have been slightly more slanted (there’s not much room to be much more slanted), but it was still well within the space. The assigned parking spaces aren’t very large, and when spaces are small, I prefer to back it in. Unfortunately, since I’m at the end of the lot, there’s little space and I’d have to do a 5-point turn or something (did I mention I have horrible depth perception?) in order to back it in. So I just do it nose-in and stay away from the right side so I won’t hit the dumpster I’m next to and passengers have room to get in. I always make sure I’m in the lines and not touching them. Yet somehow my car’s angle is still making it hard for someone else to get in their space??

Another thing, I almost never see a car in the space next to mine. In the month I’ve parked there, I’ve only seen an adjacent car once, and it was only for the day. It’s been nice for me because no car there means it’s easier for me to back out. Whoever uses the spot doesn’t use it very often. Why they care now, I have no idea. And the “other cars” in the note doesn’t even make any sense since it’s not a public parking spot.

Logically, it’s either the person who owns the spot or the lady I’m renting my spot from who left the note. I’ll ask her about it when I pay next month’s rent. The note is perfectly polite; I’m just SO SICK AND TIRED of anonymous notes. Am I the only one who likes to tell neighbors face-to-face issues I have? I feel like things get resolved better this way. Yet everybody in this damn complex only knows how to communicate with unsigned notes. Leaving notes without your name, regardless of how polite you are, is rude and cowardly. I just want an open channel between me and whoever has issues. This one-ended crap is lame. (However, if it turns out it’s neither of the logical people…)

On a more entertaining note, I was looking up other people’s blog posts about anonymous notes with neighbors. (Google loves me or something, my post is always in the first three pages of a search like that.) I found a blog called Passive Aggressive Notes. Not all of them are passive aggressive; many are just funny or crazy. If you’re having issues with notes, this blog can really lighten you up. It certainly made me feel better, even though it confirms my suspicions that there is just a ridiculous amount of stupid and crazy out there.

Some choice posts from what I’ve read so far:
The ripped-off tabs are what get me
Can you dig it? (never knew about snow parking etiquette)
WiFi for Passive Aggressives
Kanye interrupts this post

I’ve got the day off, so I suspect I’ll be reading this blog all day. At least until my copy of StarCraft 2 shows up.

New thing I learned today: Telex is a communications system used for transmitting typed messages with teletypewriters. It hit its peak in the 80s when the fax made telex obsolete.

I’ve never even heard of telex… or most of the things on that note for that matter. (I’m going to guess that “database access” is not the same as what I’m thinking of either.)

My apartment is assigned one garage space, and Kelvin uses it since, last I checked, RSXs tend to get stolen more than Priuses. As a result, I have to park on the street. It’s not too bad; I’m still pretty close to my apartment (can see the street parking from my window, actually), the neighborhood is safe, and I’m unemployed, so I can get my pick of the spaces during the day when most people are working. Our complex has three curb parking spots on private property, and there’s plenty of public curb parking, including an area where cars like to park diagonally.

Red line is red curb, dotted line is private property border

I try to park on the private curb spots, since 1) they’re the closest spots and 2) since I live in the complex, might as well use a private spot and leave more public curb parking for my complex and all the other residential homes near us to fight for. A month or so ago, I parked where the green box is in my diagram. I left it there unmoved for 5 days because I hadn’t needed to drive anywhere. We usually try to take Kelvin’s car as much as possible since he gets a guaranteed space, and getting home late could mean I’m parking really far down the street. (Kelvin likes driving his car anyways.) Back then, I found this ambiguous note stuck in my car:

“BR” I assumed were the initials of the complex I’m living in, and “HOA” I assumed was “homeowner association”. I didn’t understand what the note was asking me to do. Was I parked inappropriately and they wanted me to fix it? Did I leave it sitting there too long and they just wanted to show it wasn’t abandoned? Did the HOA think I didn’t live in the complex and wanted me to park in a public space?

I talked to my neighbor, Ed, who’s kind of known as the go-to guy in the complex. He’s friendly and helpful with everybody, so he knows most of the folks around here and vice versa. He’s lived there for a long time, and he’s also the guy who helped me rent the place. I showed him the note I got, and he said he has no idea what it’s about. He looked at my parking and says it’s perfectly fine since I live here. He told me that it was probably the nicest note he’s seen left on a car, as in the last couple months, he had gotten really nasty notes left on his car when it was parked on the same curb. It was a non-operation vehicle, and I guess somebody doesn’t like the fact his car sits there most of the time. He’s also familiar with folks on the HOA committee, so he told me he’d talk to them about it at the next board meeting.

To avoid any trouble, I avoid the private parking and stick to public parking. A couple days ago after lunch, I decided to give the private curb parking a shot again. There was recently a board meeting, so I’d probably find out about the parking situation next time I run into Ed. That night, Kelvin took me out to dinner, and we ran into Ed on the way back. He said I should probably check my car, because it looked like there was a note on it. Indeed, there was:

Holy cow. I had parked there for ONE freaking afternoon. My car was once again parked in the green spot, while there was a giant truck (one of the parking regulars) in the blue spot. The gray spot was empty. The space between our vehicles wasn’t big enough for somebody’s liking, apparently! Kelvin and Ed thought it was ridiculous and that the space was plenty for another car. There was a couple feet of curb in front of my car, but I don’t park at the very end because it might be hard for diagonal parkers to get in and out. Ed was particularly pieved, since this is clearly the same person leaving notes on his car… as well as my other neighbor’s car! (She’s a nice lady!) This person hates everybody! I felt relieved I wasn’t the only one, but now I’m a little anxious to park knowing there’s some psycho who’s crazy about car space.

Since I ran into Ed, he also told me talked to the HOA about the parking situation. He was told they don’t leave notes like that, as they have official slips to leave notices. Also, my parking was within rules. I went back and looked at the notes… they’re totally written by the same person! (Look at the capital As.) So this crazy neighbor who wants to dictate how and where everybody parks pretends to be the HOA, and when that doesn’t work, they leave anonymous vulgar notes. What a douche!

I really want to find out who this jerk is. There’s several angry neighbors who would like to have a talk with this coward. I’m really disappointed to have a person like this living among us… everybody else I’ve meet have been so nice! (I would totally move my car for anybody who asked me NICELY, regardless of their parking skill.) Since my apartment looks out to all the parking, I’m contemplating doing a surveillance camera project to kill some time, have something to focus on, and fulfill my pissed-off psycho stalker desire to figure out who this asshole is.

New thing I learned today: Madonna has a single called “What It Feels Like For a Girl“.

The latest episode of Glee was devoted to Madonna, and “What It Feels Like for a Girl” was the only song I didn’t recognize. btw, that episode was FREAKING AWESOME.

Yesterday, I went to Mitsuwa with Sandra while she was in town. While making an unprotected left turn on a green light from Blackford to Saratoga, a Corolla zoomed through the intersection on a red light, hitting the front right corner of my car.

Their light had been red for at least 10-15 seconds. I remember watching the long line of cars across from us, also making unprotected lefts, and commenting how none of these people had their left blinkers on even through they were probably going to make lefts. I watched the second car turn on their blinker as the first, already blinkered car made its left, so I decided at this point to make my left.

Out of the corner of my eye, I must have seen the car coming, because I braked suddenly, said “Oh my god”, and braced myself for impact. (By bracing, I mean wincing and locking my arms.) Sandra kept complimenting me on my fast reflexes, to which I jokingly referred to my video game reflexes. Honestly, I don’t remember thinking about it (it happened really fast), so it must have been some natural reaction. If I had decided to go for the left earlier, or if I hadn’t braked… let’s just say I’m glad we didn’t have to test my side impact airbags. The Corolla didn’t brake at all going through the red, so it had to be at least 30mph. Really scary.

The Corolla had pulled over, so I reversed back out of the intersection and parked behind them. An old Russian couple popped out, looking very confused. The old man, who was driving, said “You hit me?” Sandra and I were like, “You ran the red!” He seemed disoriented and kept mumbling, probably in Russian.

Another man came up to us, followed by three boys whose faces had “whoa” expressions, asking if everyone was okay. I asked if he saw what happened, he’s like, “Yeah, I was behind him!” The confused man mumbled to him, and the witness gave him a stern, “You ran the red.” He gave me his name and number in case I needed a witness and then went back on his way. Good Samaritans do exist in the Bay Area! And he’s setting a good example to his kids… yay for humanity!

At this point, the old man was calling his son on the phone. I spoke with his son briefly, since his English was much better than his dad’s and the car insurance was under his name. I exchanged insurance information with the old couple, and we took pictures of each other’s vehicles.

Good thing I braked! Damage pretty minimal

I think their repairs are gonna be more expensive

Aside from the initial confusion and them almost seriously injuring me, the old Russian couple are actually nice people. I think the driver’s mind had been distracted thinking of other things; he didn’t seem particularly crazy or senile. Everybody was glad no one was hurt, and the old man was very remorseful for the mess he caused. He said he has a flawless driving record since ’61, and this was the first time he messed up like this. Thank goodness Sandra was here, too; she totally helped calm me while my brain was all whacked out trying to figure out the situation.

Today, I took it to a nearby shop to get an estimate. Talking with the son, he said his family had a preferred shop, so I took it there soon after. (Coincidentally, it was like a block away from the first shop I took it to.) I met up with the old man there, who was still incredibly apologetic. He said he trusted this mechanic, who was unsurprisingly Russian. He kept offering me monetary compensation outside of the car fixes for inconveniencing me. I told him I don’t want his money, I just want my car fixed and for him to drive more carefully!

Now I’m just waiting for parts; I’ll be dropping off my car for the repairs next week. What a relief there were no assholes or hospital visits in this story. Everything was easily worked out, and everyone was A-okay. This could have been a much bigger headache… or worse.

The whole experience still freaks me out though. You can’t protect yourself from red light runners! In fact, when I drove home, there was an accident at an intersection near our apartment. Looks like a van was hit left turning by a car going straight. All lefts are protected here, so somebody definitely ran a red. Worse than mine, but all the passenger areas look okay, so hopefully nobody was hurt.

Glad this wasn’t me.

Scary.

New thing I learned today: A bumper absorber is a large piece of styrofoam in between the bumper cover and reinforcement beam.

The first reaction that most people, including me, had when they saw my damage was, “Whoa, there’s styrofoam in there?”

Now that my driving is down to a minimum, you’d think I’d have less issues with my vehicle. No, of course not. I still can’t park worth jack, and now I’ve had to deal with those…8-legged thingies I can’t tolerate.

The last couple weeks, I’ve been practicing backing into our covered parking space at the apartment. Facing into the space, there’s a curb with bushes on the left, and two poles holding up the covering on the right with the next parking space on the other side. If I park straight in, I open my door into bushes, and I hate getting out next to the plants because I’m paranoid of spiders. So I’ve been parking backwards so that I can leave my car away from the bushes. I’ve been doing this for, maybe, 2 weeks without problems. Sure, I might have to pull an Austin Powers and do like a 20-point turn, but I make it in. Occasionally, I hit the curb with the bushes. I’m very paranoid about hitting the poles and neighbors car, so I tend to get way too close to the curb/bush; I’d much rather hit the curb then dent my neighbors car or cause the parking covering to collapse.

Of course, this changed last Friday night, when for some strange reason, I decided to pay more attention to the curb side than the pole side. So, OF COURSE, I nicked the pole with my side view mirror. And Rodney was visiting, so both him and Kelvin got to witness my parking retardedness. I feel really dumb not paying attention to my side view mirror and not going in totally straight. Ugh. The pole seems okay, it got a little bit of paint scrubbed off in one corner, but based on what’s already on the pole, other people in the past have had issues parking as well. My side view mirror could be better; it’s not broken in any way, but the edge is a little scratched up. I cleaned the paint off, but there’s still scratch marks (but the scratches go away if it gets wet… anybody know if I can hide this somehow?).

Yesterday morning, I drove to work, noticing a spiderweb had been constructed on my passenger side view mirror. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m sickly afraid of spiders. So I drove to work without dealing with it. The web seemed to break up when I got to work, so I was mildly relieved.

This morning, I get in the car and, while driving to work, notice there are three small, white spiders crawling around on my passenger side view mirror. I’m go “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod” all the way to work, avoiding looking in that direction. I get to work and park my car, and then I grab my emergency water bottle to ready myself for battle. I open the passenger window and start dumping water in the direction of the side view mirror. It’s a regular Crystal Geyser bottle, so my accuracy is not so hot, but I get a couple of them off. Not looking through my glasses, I can still see a white speck underneath the mirror, but I wait until lunch to deal with it.

At lunch, Bobby joins me to get some KFC. I ask him to check out my side view mirror, and sure enough, that little white speck is still there and it’s a spider. So he gets rid of it for me, which I’m slightly relieved about. What I’m not so relieved about is this long scratch going across the side of my car. What the hell? It’s not straight, and it goes across the entire car, which makes me thinking someone keyed it… but I didn’t do anything bad recently! It probably happened between Sunday (when Kelvin was passenger) and today, but I haven’t gone anywhere except work and the apartment… and I haven’t had issues with anybody (that I know of) at either of these places. I thought maybe a bush branch scratched my car when I was backing up, but it seems a little deep for that. Maybe somebody accidentally dragged something against the paint at the apartment (sometimes people walk by our parking space to get to places). Maybe it’s a random act of vandalism (something my car is no stranger to). Regardless, I’m pissed.

And as I was driving back from KFC, a white spider was crawling outside the driver’s window, so I was trying to not have a heart attack and crash the car as I drove back. I dunno if it flew off or something, but we couldn’t find it when we got back to work. Now I’m insanely paranoid about there being more spiders on my car. I feel really sick. I think I need therapy.

Ugh. I feel nauseous.

You’d think that having to only drive 1.5 miles to work would minimize my chances of running into morons on the road, but four days into my new commute, I see a jerk bad enough to blog about.

Yesterday, I’m going on a local street (one lane in each direction) towards this lighted intersection of a major road where I have the green light, and I want to make a right. On the corner to my left, there is a gas station. A tan Prius with a middle-aged or older white dude driving is sitting at the driveway of this gas station. He decides to do that annoying thing, where they make the last minute decision to go into your lane, forcing you to brake. It’s not that big of a deal for me, since I have to make a right turn, so I’d need to slow down anyway. However, this jerk is also talking on his cell phone (without a headset), which greatly annoys me.

He apparently needs to make a right also. (Nevermind that he could have just taken the other gas station exit to go straight onto the road.) He goes to the corner to turn and STOPS. On a GREEN light. What. the. fuck. There’s no emergency vehicles, no cars running the red, not even any cars going straight in the lane we’re in who might make some crazy right turn on the other side of the sidewalk island. This is guy is just stopping for no reason. I honk at him, and of course, the jerk ignores me. The light turns yellow, and I keep thinking he’s going to go, so I keep inching forward. As I move forward, I notice he’s pushing buttons on his (non-Prius) navigation system. HE’S BLOCKING THE RIGHT TURN LANE TO TALK ON HIS CELL PHONE AND USE HIS NAVIGATION SYSTEM. He was just at a freaking gas station!!! The light turns red, but there’s people left turning, so he can still turn right… but of course he doesn’t. I swear to God there’s like steam coming out of my ears; I’m so pissed I forget to honk at him like crazy like your stereotypical Bay Area driver. He finally turns right, and I can finally drive the half-block to my apartment, where I fume about this asshole to Kelvin for an hour.

Let’s summarize this. What makes this guy a jerk:
1) He semi-cut me off in my lane.
2) He took the gas station exit where he has to left-turn and right-turn to the road he wants to get on instead of taking the driveway that goes straight to his desired road. The awkward exit would make sense if he wanted to beat the red (obviously not the case). And the red light on the road he wanted to go on would have been a perfect time to do all his retarded shit.
3) He’s talking on his cell phone without a headset.
4) He stopped on a green. (ARGH, this makes me want to murder people.)
5) He ignores my honking of his blocking the green.
6) He stays stopped as the light goes yellow.
7) He stays stopped as people make lefts and are not u-turning.
8) He’s using his navigation system while on his cell phone and blocking the lane.
9) Considering he’s using his hand to hold his cellphone to his head and his other free hand to use a third-party navigation system, he probably has the cheapest Prius model (with no bluetooth and navigation system), which means he probably bought this car to save money on gas, which probably means he’s a penny-pinching self-entitled asshole.

Okay, that last one is kind of a stretch, especially since I drive a Prius. I’m sure the people sitting at the red light found it amusing there’s this girl in a Prius freaking out behind this asshole in a Prius. But whatever, I’m pissed. With jerks like this on the road, no wonder people don’t like Prius drivers.