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Finally, an app to shame parking turds

Legendary Angelyne's legendary Corvette's legendary parking job.
Legendary Angelyne’s legendary Corvette’s legendary parking job in 2009.

For years, blogging.la has served as a clearinghouse for photos of rude parkers, most often committing the sin of parking across the line and taking up two precious parking spots. Unfortunately, beyond posting the photo along with some snark and overhyped indignation, there was never the full satisfaction of knowing whether or not the “parking turd”* ever saw them publicly shamed.

Now all that is about to change.

Yesterday, Dennis Romero at LA Weekly reported about PL8CHAT, a new app that allows users to text drivers via their license plate numbers.

We immediately thought of the satisfaction that would result from being able to tell a driver what a complete idiot he is. Imagine being able to inform someone about the rules of the road or just about plain parking etiquette.

Yes, IMAGINE! Not only can we post photos online of these human embarrassments, we can then text them to let them know they’ve been suitably shamed on social media. Continue reading “Finally, an app to shame parking turds”

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Fire in Monrovia growing by the hour

A fire broke out this morning on Avacado Place in Monrovia near the “M” that is visibile from the 210 Freeway.  It was started by a gardener accidentally.  (Contrary to popular rumor it was not a 420 celebration).

Snarks aside this is a serious matter being made worse by lookie loos.  As of 4PM it was over 90 acres and a 3 alarm fire.  The lookie loos are so bad and thick it is getting hard for the fire fighters and law enforcement to get up to the fire.  Please stay away from the fire zone and use the parking lots at Santa Anita Mall, strip malls along Foothill and Huntington in Monrovia if you have to come see the smoke and flames.  Thats a good vantage point to watch and not interefere with evacuees leaving or those of us in the affected area from getting in and out of our homes.

As I blogged a while back during another brush fire, the hills above Monrovia and Duarte haven’t burned since the early 60’s and that is nearly 50+years of fuel to feed a fire.

More as this story develops.

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Sigh…parking tards never quit

parking tard
Parking Tard in a Red Zone.

My phone sorta rang off the hook on this one.  I’m a neighborhood watch captain and everyone was in a tizzy over this one. Why?  Well my little neighborhood has ample street parking yet this tard opted to park in the red zone…for hours.

Will drivers ever learn to obey the parking zones or is it simply an issue of they are more important than the law?

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We’ll flag it as #parkingdouchebaggery

parking douchebaggery
embiggen with a click

Sigh…one really can’t win at my kids ortho for parking in the tiny lot.  It doesn’t help when some douche in a giant SUV takes up two spaces.  What you can’t see as it is hid by the shadow is the demarcation line dividing the two spots ol’ lard ass hogged up.

Pic with my trusty cell phone…gets bigger with a click.

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Parking D-Bag of the Day

Spotted recently at a very crowded Costco parking lot, this SUV driver took up a whole space and more, making it impossible for someone to park in the adjacent spot.

Based on the advertising in lieu of a front license plate, this looks to be a new vehicle.  Does that give the driver the right to take up extra parking spots in this manner?  I must have missed the memo. Or maybe it’s the driver’s first big SUV, and he or she parked this way by accident and didn’t bother to check their parking job because they were too busy texting.  If so, hopefully shoppers wheeling their giant Costco shopping carts next to this vehicle won’t be similarly neglectful.

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Blogger vs. Parking Douchebag, Front-to-Back Edition

Just when I thought I had seen it all from the parking db’s*, along comes this truck-parking fool.  He’s taking up 2 spaces in a parking lot near me that was very crowded.  You can tell from the photos that this isn’t some inadvertent close call due to the size of the truck.  It’s parked 50-50 in two spaces, one in front of the other.

You may also notice “for sale” signs on the truck with a local telephone number.  So I did what any good Metblogger/troublemaker (redundant, I know) would do: I called the number.  I heard a recorded message from “Sammy” asking callers to leave a message.  Here’s mine:

Park here for more pics and my phone message

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Parking ‘Tards: City Employee Edition

Not a traffic stop; the officers were inside enjoying their lunch. Bigger with a click.
Not a traffic stop; the officers were inside enjoying their lunch. Bigger with a click.

For months I’ve been meaning to write something about Eastside Market & Deli (careful with that link, it’s got obnoxious auto-play music and no mute button.) If I recall correctly, I first heard about Eastside Market here at MetBlogs a few years ago. I’ve been a fan ever since, and thought it worth posting again to spread the word about the great sandwiches and other menu items.  This is not that post. I’ll just recommend the Number 7 (pastrami & roast beef) and lots of napkins. It’s a heart attack on a roll, but at least you’ll die happy. Very happy. I also recommend that you go for lunch, as Eastside Market closes at 3:30pm.

Same red curb, different day. Click to embiginate.
Same red curb, different day. Click to embiginate.

Though I don’t go to Eastside Market often, it seems that every time I’m there I find a LADWP truck or (usually) a LAPD patrol car parked at this red curb right on the corner of Alpine & Centennial. Sure, it’s the most convenient spot to park; it’s only a few steps away from Eastside Market’s front door. The curb is red for a reason, though. This is a bit of a blind corner to begin with, and having a vehicle (especially a big truck) parked there makes going around that corner downright dangerous.

This is a ringing endorsement for Eastside Market. In case you didn’t know, if you find a place that a lot of police frequent you know the food is going to be good. On the other hand, what makes city employees (particularly the ones charged with enforcing the law) think that parking laws do not apply to them?

Get yourself over to Eastside Market sometime soon for a great lunch. Don’t park next to the red curb, though. Apparently, that spot is reserved for Los Angeles city employees.

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Reader annoyed with a Fed Ex parking “tard” (his words not mine)

Reader Roky spotted this outside his apartment and took a pic.  Not so much a tard as assholian

FedEx ParkingTard by Roky
FedEx ParkingTard by Roky

in my book  as he could have just as easily double parked in the street like the guys in brown do regularly on my street.  Seriously, taking up 3 spaces in an already crowded apartment lot is pretty cheesy.   As he attempted an angle park couldn’t he just finish the job right?  Roky’s exact email…

I just shot this photo from my apartment balcony in Hollywood.

I would be thrilled if you posted this on la.metblogs!

thanks, Roky

As good as done Roky, keep ’em coming, especially the ones in handicapped spots that don’t belong there.

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Anyone have a better name for this parking genious?

nothandicappedThe car is the caddy XLR…basically a badged engineered ‘vette, but that is beside the point.  Mr. Courtesy here parked in a handicapped space at the Pavilions in Monrovia without a handicapped plate nor a handicapped placard on the mirror.   His license plate reads “turtlex” my first thought is it should read “M-A-Turd” for the assholian stunt of taking a handicapped space when there were ample regular spaces in the vicinity.  What plate would you give him?

Pic by me with the trusty phone cam…does get bigger with a click.

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Uhaul hits fire hydrant. Venice floods.

Venice flooding from fire hydrant accident

That is usually the quiet walkway part of Ocean Front Walk near 25th Street. Right now it’s under a few inches water thanks to this:

Venice flooding from fire hydrant accident

Yes, that is a Uhaul parked on top of a huge blast of water shooting out of the ground where a fire hydrant used to be. This happened around 10:30am today and it took almost an hour for the water to be turned off. Apparently it’s trial and error to find the right turn off valve, and then once the fire dept did find it it was unfortunately under the Uhaul which they couldn’t move because then the water would shoot up on to the roofs of neighboring houses and likely cause even more damage. It all got sorted out though thanks to the hard work of the LAFD. Also, the dude who hit it was totally embarrassed. More pics and video can be found here.

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How much of a scam is Street Cleaning?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O6rdy7XuoA[/youtube]

Matt Schrader spent a few months talking to people about the street cleaning policy in LA – both the people who are in charge of it and the people effected by it. Turns out you are much more likely to get a ticket then you are to actually have your street swept.

If you get a ticket for parking in a no-parking-because-of-street-sweeping zone, and they don’t ever bother to sweet the street, should that ticket be void?