Car Karma

Talk about bad karma or whatever, but I always believed, like everything else in life, some cars are fated to have problems. This is beyond the car being a lemon and breaking down all the time. This has to do with serendipity (or lack thereof) and some people may call it chance or bad luck but it comes in streaks, and is relentless.

In the last week I've been pulled over what seems like a million times for lacking a front license plate and/or for having expired tags. I admit, it is my fault for letting the registration lapse while away in Hong Kong, but I've let it lapse before and I've never had a front plate on this car and I've never ever been pulled over for it. I've also amassed a mountain of parking tickets that aren't parking tickets but cite either registration and/or front plate. Why am I getting busted so many times in such a short amount of time? It feels like a curse.

I got my first ticket a week ago, and when the millionth cop stopped me a couple days ago, I told him to give me a chance to fix it -- I was going in on Monday!

Call BMW for the front plate bracket. $39.99 for the part and I have to drill holes in the plastic guard. Yeah, right. Since I'm a Home Depot junkie, I go there and buy enough screws, bolts and washers to mount 10 front plates for less than $2. Done.

Today, I park the car, put money in the meter, start my stop watch. I am determined not to get a parking ticket.

Returning, I turn the corner and as my car comes into view my stop watch is telling me the meter just expired. Except there's a parking attendant right there, taking out her book... I'm at the end of the block. But I run and get there for her to tell me, "I've already written it down off your front plate. Sorry, I can't stop now..."

I almost lost it. But I stayed calm and took my ticket and waited to get into the car before yelling:

FUCK.

You are not alone

I've been pulled over 3 times for registration issues. At least once my new sticker was actually in my glove compartment. Talk about being lazy....

In S.F. when I got a tag ticket there was also a $10 fine. I think it was like you had like one week to get it taken care of or you had to pay the $10. If you went in then you got some form that would cancel the ticket.

I've also had the crazy ass parking ticket crap. When I first moved back to L.A. from Baltimore I didn't have a car so I rented one for a few days. I parked on the street of course and not being used to L.A. I got a ticket becaues I didn't look at the sign. The next day I parked again on the same street thinking I was okay since the day before was ticket day. The ticket was for street cleaning day. Turns out the opposite side of the street was on a different day!!! Fuck! I got two tickets in a row. Fast forward 6 months, I get a car. Not having driven in 6 months or used my parking space somebody is in my parking space and so I have to park on the street and of course I forget all about it as it's been so long. Ticket!!! FUCK!

I also got two (or was it 3) tickets infront of my Brentwood apt. One when I first looked at the apartment and one while I was signing the lease. The first time I didn't read the sign (again, out of LA for awhile) The second time thinking I was only going to be 5 minutes so I'd risk it even though the manager warned me.

Ugh!

Only in that it's related to big bad bureaucracies check out <a href="http://www.bureaucrash.com/
">www.bureaucrash.com

Carma...

is S-car's mother. Whenever she sees S-car race she would yell - "S-car-go!"