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Had to pick my wife up at the airport tonight in Newark. I have to do this fairly often, so when I know that she is arriving, I plan it so that I get there 10 minutes before, wait for her at the gate and we go straight to the car because she doesn't check luggage. I do this because there really isn't anything to do at the airport and I want to time the parking to specifically be under a half an hour. Under a half hour you pay $3, over 1/2 hour you pay $6 and incrementally more if you are there for more time.
I pulled into the parking plaza at 9:49 for a 10:00PM scheduled landing and received the text message that she had landed early at 9:53PM but that she wasn't feeling well and had to rush to the bathroom.
OK, no problem, its not that big a deal if we go over, but sure enough, without rushing, we get to the car and we get to the exit where you have to insert the ticket and then pay the clerk, but alas there are two cars ahead of us. But lo and behold they are quick and I insert the ticket and the time pops up as 10:29PM EXACTLY on the 9.....so I am expecting to pay the $3....
Nope, UP TO 1/2 hour apparently means if you're there for exactly 1/2 an hour you get to pay the $6.
Naturally I was annoyed because it was exactly on the 9, and there were two cars in front of me.
I hate getting hosed like that, but with my wife feeling ill I didn't put up a stink and just paid the six bucks....
CW, just curious about the signs at the airport parking. Do they say "0 - 30 minutes 3.00", or "under half hour 3.00", "30 - 60 mins-6.00" or "up to 60 mins 6.00"? I mean does their signage indicate "up to" in any way? If so I guess they'd be within their rights to do that to you, as aggravating and irritating as that would be. I could almost swear I've seen Larry David in a similar position on "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Hope your wife is feeling better.
Leland
__________________ "What armies and how much of war I have seen, what thousands of marching troops, what fields of slain, what prisons, what hospitals, what ruins, what cities in ashes, what hunger and nakedness, what orphanages, what widowhood, what wrongs and what vengeance."
The best one was about twelve years ago, I was still in school, so I would work, but I never had much cash on me. So when Friday rolled around, you were always looking for cheap things to do. My friend called me up and he was going to school in Philadelphia, PA and asked me if I wanted to go to this big party with him. So, it sounded like fun. Philly is a little far, but gas was really cheap then, so no big deal. There are tolls in NJ, but even if you were to go from North/South on the Turnpike at the time would still be less than $5. I had $20 on me, so I put $10 in the tank and had $10 for tolls which was more than enough; the party was free to attend. Problem was entering Pennsylvania which was a turnpike road where you take a ticket. The machine didn't spit out a ticket. But living in NJ, I'm familiar with this type of setup and basically if you don't have a ticket you're going to pay the max toll. So figuring that I was just entering the state, I would be paying the max toll anyway, so I didn't think anything of it. Well, I should've known (because they do do this in NJ), the highway exits and they mix traffic from the other lane (theoretically that lane could be coming from OH). Unfortunately the max toll from Ohio was something like $12.45. Problem was - I DIDN'T HAVE IT!
So I refused to pay telling the toll collector that I had just come from NJ. They told me to pull over to where they park and then I had to speak to them. They were NOT happy with me. I insisted that I had come from NJ and that is what I should pay. Well, they got a Pennsylvania state tropper on the phone, so they put me on the phone with the trooper. He told me that if he came down there that he was going to write a ticket and that the fine would be $100+
So I told him the story that basically all I had was $10 and that I had never even been to Ohio in my life (which at the time was true). I told him the worst toll you could have was going to NYC which at the time was either $4 or $6, there were no such things as $12+ tolls.
So he realized I wasn't really refusing, so he told me that they could write something and that I'd be stupid not to sign it and 'owe it' - it was the toll plus some $5 or $10 admin fee.
Wow. The way those toll folks acted you'd think they had never had a situation before where somebody came up short and couldn't pay the toll, or chose not to. The latter was probably rare, but the former, especially in the crowded NE area I could see happening often.
Sounds like the trooper had more brains than anybody else working for the state, and when he found you were flexible to some degree then you guys were able to work it out. Hearing your stories tonight I think if I found myself living in your area I'd get one of those "hide-a-key" magnetized boxes and keep it under the hood somewhere with a folded-up 50 dollar bill in it. Sounds like you never know when you could find yourself in a road-related pickle where it would come in handy.
Leland
__________________ "What armies and how much of war I have seen, what thousands of marching troops, what fields of slain, what prisons, what hospitals, what ruins, what cities in ashes, what hunger and nakedness, what orphanages, what widowhood, what wrongs and what vengeance."
Again, I can't resist: Isn't Newark very much like Gary, Indiana; but without the glamor?
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Again, I can't resist: Isn't Newark very much like Gary, Indiana; but without the glamor?
ole
Hey Ole, you ain't lived 'til you've seen Hammond. There's nothing prettier than driving past mile after mile of steel mills with their smokestacks belching black smoke. Try it at night. Every pipe has a light bulb.
Leland
__________________ "What armies and how much of war I have seen, what thousands of marching troops, what fields of slain, what prisons, what hospitals, what ruins, what cities in ashes, what hunger and nakedness, what orphanages, what widowhood, what wrongs and what vengeance."
Know of Hammond, GloryBound. It is one of those places in which one must not be after sundown. Heckuva way to live a life.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
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