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.

Not only is this MINI parked in the handicap spot closest to the entrance of B&B Hardware in Culver City with no visible handicap parking tag, it also has the license plate “FIT2FIT”. Irony alert, or just coincidence?

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.

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

Yes, slow news day. And its been a while since a reader complained our banal parking complaints. But we know some of you love this stuff, so here you go. Happy Easter!

Found at Ralphs on Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes.

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.

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.

Red Curb – check

3 Feet from curb to intrude into street – check

Do so in front of 12 metbloggers – priceless!

Pic by me with the trusty cellphone cam.  Gets bigger with a click.

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

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.

The 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.

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:

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.

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?

Spotted in Culver City last night. I really want one of these for some reason…

When is a parking ‘tard not a parking ‘tard?  This Chevy Avalanche was taking up two nice spaces in a West Side supermarket parking lot.  On foot, I snapped this picture before I noticed that the driver was inside.  As a result of seeing me, I think, the driver then started the engine and took off.

So, does that make him a parking ‘tard?  A standing ‘tard?  No ‘tard at all?  If my rudimentary photo software would have allowed me to black out the license plate, I would have done so unless and until a “guilty” verdict was reached.  What do you think?

I had to run out to my vet this afternoon to pick up some medication. I was driving east on Burbank Blvd. (the way this monster of a truck is facing) and attempted to turn right into the partially blocked parking lot. Luckily, I have a small car, but I still had to back out into the street and maneuver to pull in. When I went across the street to take a photo, I saw several other cars have the same difficulty. Except for the Jeep that just drove right over the curb! Maybe this person hates pets. Whatever the case, he’s a jerk.

After the reader submitted Parking Tard a few days ago people have been on the hunt. This fine example was spotted in Santa Monica near 5th and Colorado, 6/4/09, by jeffro:

OH: “I used to drive an Escalade but I could barely get both my doors open in these tiny parking spot pairs. So I sold it and got this sensible Mini Cooper. Now it’s so easy to get my car right down the center line and there’s plenty of room to get the doors open.”

Ok, not really overheard, but you can imagine.

Alternatively: “it was a messy divorce. She got parking space #11 and he got space #12. Still no agreement on who gets the car.”