CRAFTY.

27 September 07 | 5 comments

Every few months, Coffee and I withdraw $100 from the bank and convert that into parking money that’s divided between our two cars.

We use it at the library and when we go for sushi and for any other adventure that requires a meter-feeding – it’s one of those little things that make life so much easier in the long run. No searching and digging for a quarter when we need one. I use a circular (never used) “ashtray” that fits into my cup-holder to store change and it’s saved me a lot of angst.

Last week, Coffee withdrew the money from the ATM and left it aside for me to take to the bank for quarters.

It slipped my mind, at first, since he had tucked it in an out of the way place. He reminded me a few days later.

The next time I went out I forgot the money.

The next time I went out I forgot the money again.

The next time I went out I remembered the money but forgot to go to the bank.

Yesterday I forgot to go to the bank.

Today I had to visit the post office to mail out a bunch of packages and letters. I parked my car at the FAR end of mall – away from the post office – so I’d have to walk past the bank as I was leaving. I figured I’d hit the post office and drop off the bulky stuffs and then grab the..

Okay, so I forgot. Again.

Seriously. I’m starting to think that all those years of chugging diet Coke really WAS a bad idea.

  1. Andrew’s avatar

    Andrew on 27 September 07 at 10:18 pm

    When do you think that municipalities will embrace the same kind of RFID techology that these rapid pay systems used at gas stations (and soon some grocery stores) that will render change-fed meters obsolete? For that matter, how frickin’ hard would it be to take a credit card for a meter??

    What? No, *I’m* not frustrated because I *NEVER* carry cash around, let alone change for parking meters. Nooooo.

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  2. violet’s avatar

    violet on 27 September 07 at 11:13 pm

    Rapid pay RFID systems give me the oogie-boogies.

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  3. Chz’s avatar

    Chz on 28 September 07 at 4:03 am

    They’ve got some setup here (dunno exactly how it works, not owning a car and all that) where you can call a service on your mobile phone to pay for parking. Nifty, but I preferred Toronto where most of the meters take cards.

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  4. Andrew’s avatar

    Andrew on 28 September 07 at 12:21 pm

    I’m no fan of rampant RFID tags (I’ve got my duct tape, and know how to make an RFID-blocking wallet if need be), but in this case I would think it could be really, really handy. Imagine being issued two tags by the city, and your parking bill is simply added to your municipal tax bill? Boy, that would be simple.

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  5. Kikipotamus the Hobo’s avatar

    Kikipotamus the Hobo on 29 September 07 at 4:33 pm

    Um, and since when is it diet Coke that affects short term memory? Ahem.

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