i biked back from BT's house super super fast this morning because i had to move my car by 10am or get a ticket*. I was running a bit late and it was probably about 10:04 when I got there. I saw the red ticket car parked behind my car, and the dude punching into his little electo-ticketing thing and i biked as hard as i could, just dropped my bike on the sidewalk, sprinted to my car and jumped in and drove away before he could get the ticket onto my windshield. Woo! All i could see of his face in the rearview mirror was his raised eyebrows. In my head, i imagined him shaking his fist at me.

But after I circled forever to find a new spot and got back to where i'd abandoned my bike on the sidewalk (no lock! full of stuff in the milk crate! but it was all still there! i love you, canada) i felt bad, because it turned out I'd crushed an old old lady's flower bed. She was so upset because she was too weak to move my bike and it was ON HER PETUNIAS. I couldn't remember my french apologies very well and I couldn't explain about the ticket car guy. I had to enlist a bystander to translate my apologies (an upgrade from asking her to excuse me, to being VERY VERY DESOLATE). Then i fixed the little fence and all the flowers and i think we parted friends.

*I've only had the car in the city for a week. I put my car in what i thought was a spot where it would be safe for a week (I hardly ever drive)... but when I went to check on it I'd already gotten two tickets because i mis-read the sign. At 54$ a pop, it ain't no joke.

2:21 p.m. - 2012-08-14