h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Last night I parked my car in a residents only restricted area. This area means that Joe Public (ie the likes of me) can't park there between 10 and 11am and 2 and 3pm, Monday to Saturday. I did mean to move the car first thing this morning but I clean forgot.

Once Football Focus is over I'll pop up the road and take a look.

for your wheels, sounds like

Is there anyone you're not antagonising this weekend GD?

The fatherless son of his mother, parking attendant number 452 did my car at 10:33am this morning

Though on a brighter note in my subsiquent trip to a safer parking zone, taken via a cashpoint, a newsagents and a very fine local deli, I did drive past two other parking attendants and was able to express my love, admiration and affection for them and the fine job that they do along the highways and byways of Brighton & Hove...


* roll down car window, bend fingers over together, touch thumb to forefinger, put fist out of open car window, shake vigorously from the wrist whilst administering the verbal salute *

I've found that I can pay the fine on-line. Now I wonder if I can pay in installments: a pound twice a day for the next two weeks and I'll have paid it off, and will have left a nice administrative mess behind me

I shot a traffic warden once. With a gun bought from the gadget shop that fired foam balls. What made it impressive is that I was hanging out of a 5th floor window at the time.

I miss university halls of residence.

Sweet

The ones around here do ask from time to time for stab proof vests as the number of assaults on wardens is on the up.

One thing they do carry with them is DIY DNA sample kits so that they can wipe folk's spit from their clothes and use it as evidence in an assault prosecution. I think that that's terrible behaviour. We're much better brought up here, we all know, "no spitting allowed".

Spitting on people is just vile. I can't understand why anyone would do it. I'd prefer to take a punch than get spat on.

I thought you were a resident?

I am a resident, but not a resident of that particular group of streets. These are about 10 minutes walk away from my road, and are useful to use as a parking overspill if my local streets - which don't have residents' parking restrictions and are hence fully congested at all times - are full. Useful that is if one remembers to move your car before the parking wardens turn up

Sorry to hear that! Will this be the first one you've actually had to pay?

It's the first Brighton one in recent years, yes.

I was actually done last autumn in that exact same bay. But that time round I had a certain amount of wriggle-room and challenged the decison. Eventually that one went as far as the NPAS, at which point the Council made a school boy error over the timings of the case, and by default the case was awarded in my favour

Sadly such a set of cicumstances don't exist this time. But I have found out that the Council's payment website will indeed accept payments one pound at a time. So I've paid £4 so far, only another £26 to go

I think they might change their website at some point in the near future!

I must confess to a bit of traffic related spitting.


When I'm on my motorcycle and some one tailgates me I spit strait up over my head. If it hits their windshield that's there fault.

When did I forget their/they're/there?... I never used to make that mistake.

I'm up to £8 now spent on four different debit / credit cards. I'm thinking about sending in a cheque for the final quid


Gosho tells a fun story about dealing with tailgaters that involves spitting a half chewed sandwich out of the window and onto their windscreen as they pull out to overtake. The story is related somewhere in the backlog of my journal.

Funny you should mention that - I was thinking about it when I read this conversation earlier today over brekkers but thought better of bringing it up... if you'll pardon the image

Found it

249?thread=24905" >F63554?thread=429105&skip=8&show=1

You *know* you shouldn't have parked there? Yet somehow this is the traffic wardens fault?

And of course that chaotic trail of administrative mess is going to be paid for by your council tax, so it might be a little self-defeating in the long run.

But what I really came here to say was do us a favour and tell Warnock to let Wigan win so those arrogant, cheating b*st*rds at Upton Park get relegated.

Do you *always* have to come across as the voice of reasonableness


And no, we're going to let Wigan win, as that could relegate us. Obviously if the news from Old Trafford is that the Hammers are getting thumped then maybe we'll let Wigan score a cheeky goal.