Sunday, October 24, 2021

CoVID-19: Is UK a Bellwether for the US? | Old Town: Iipay ~ Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok Grand Opening | Bomb Cyclone Hits NorCal | Charlottesville Trial Set To Begin | Goddamn Marathon |

Alice isn't the baby anymore. With mom Casey. (Taken 10.20.21)

Last year, in what we thought was the peak of the pandemic, the City of San Diego suspended most parking tickets. We live on a street sweeping street, one side is No Parking Mondays and the other is No Parking Thursdays, so you can imagine this is a complete pain in the ass. However, during the pandemic, we continued to move our vehicles so we wouldn't fall out of the habit. But wouldn't it be our stupidity that got a parking ticket the very week they resumed ticketing. I don't even remember what happened, how we forgot, but it's been chaotic here...the construction next door had mismarked signs up and work trucks taking up street parking and now Ortiz construction is working on the Meade Bikeway and of course they just leave their Cats all over the streets, and then this morning was the goddamn Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and I forgot it in my listings, failed to mention it to Darren, so sure enough when he got home at 3am after working at the Casbah for Emo Nite, he parked in a marathon spot on El Cajon Blvd. Today was partially spent at a Road One lot, dropping $300 to get the towed car out of impound. Fuck. 

And of course it totally sucks, but then you see the line of a dozen people, all waiting for their minimum $300 towed vehicles. What if we didn't have a second vehicle to get there? What if we didn't have the money on hand to get the car out? What if he had waited on paying his registration and we couldn't get the car out at all? I understand that there was a marathon and there was a sign and even though it was 3 am he should've looked harder and we wouldn't be in this mess, but basically he's got a couple more nights at the Casbah that he will basically be working for nothing just to recover the money from the tow. It just makes you think about our punitive systems that intentionally keep poor people in poverty with no clear way out. The pandemic exacerbated that, but there were also millions of people, like myself, who were able to use the stimmies and UI to our benefit, to stash away cash while we waited things out. For people like Darren, it was a way out of the abusive rideshare economy and now he can take his time to find meaningful work that he actually enjoys and wants to do. Not everyone was so lucky, but it's why we need to keep the pressure up for the Biden agenda that helps people instead of punishing the poor for being so. 

I wanted to go to the Safari Park today, but obviously that whole tow thing kind of squandered the afternoon. But I'll wrap it up and try and get a couple hours in at the San Diego Zoo just for good measure.  

Stay safe out there. Watch those goddamn parking signs. 


Posted by Rosemary Bystrak at Sunday, October 24, 2021
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