Campus Parking

Parking on campus is tough enough as it is, but you're better off if you can find a spot that isn't under a tree. In the fall it's bad enough with falling leaves getting into every vehicular nook and cranny, but on high-wind days (such as today) you can even expect whole branches falling on your wheels. Like this poor fellow here—what a bummer! Doesn't look like there's too much damage, luckily, but still, I'm sure this would tick me off seeing that on my way out to the car. All that's really missing from this pic is one of our campus squirrels jumping off the branch onto the hood. That tree happens to be one that is popular by the little grey critters.

Meanwhile, as I was synchronizing my iPhone's photos with iPhoto, I remembered that I snapped this pic of a primo parking spot I got on the Wednesday just before Thanksgiving break. I normally think of parking lots in "tiers", in relation to distance: Tier I is right close to the back of the building where I work (almost impossible to get a spot there), Tier II is just around the corner from Tier I, and Tier III is the large lot that has the highest probability of empty spaces up until about 08:30 when it fills up and then you're stuck and have to drive off to a far-off parking lot and get bussed in. I don't even have a name for this sweet parking spot that I found in the front of the building. From this angle, you can see my office window on the top floor. If they ever put up a parking garage with dedicated spots that cost thousands of dollars a year to park in, I'll buy one! Back at my old undergrad institution I managed to get a covered parking spot in the garage, right in front of the pub doors, as it happened, after about a year's wait on the waiting list. Today I think those same spots either cost a fortune or are passed down through generations, i.e., inherited :) Those were the days, though!