Trying to be responsible... and getting screwed

So last night, I went out to a Greek restaurant called Acropolis in Ybor. For those of you that have never been to Tampa, Ybor is a historic neighborhood in Tampa with a very heavy Spanish (and I later learned, Italian as well) influence where it's a center of the major night club scene in Tampa. (Also a very heavy concentration of gay bars, as my friends are quick to point out)

Anyways, the place is awesome but it's one of those areas (think: New Orleans) where if you're on 7th ave which is where most of the restaurants and night clubs are, you're probably fine... but if you turn off into the side streets, you should always be looking over your shoulder...

Anyways, so after eating there, we (I went out with people I met at the NYE party) we decided to go to a chill bar instead of like a hopping night club... and good call... this is where going to Ybor with people who know the area helps. We went to this bar that had a live "band" playing... basically it was just two guys but they were really good... basically, they were a cover band but just played whatever and was just really laid back.

Well, so, I drove my car there (only 4.5 miles from my apartment) but by the end of the night, I didn't want to drive home. I wanted to do the responsible thing but when I initially parked my car earlier that night, the parking attendant told me that I can keep my car there till 8am. Well shit... no way I'm gonna make it back by 8am... but I don't want to drink and drive so... I was gonna ask the parking attendant if I can pay for Sunday as well... well, by the time this thought was crossing my mind, it's already 3am (dinner was at 7... yes, we were hanging out for 8 hrs - good times!)... anyways, no parking attendant. But not to worry! I see the parking meter thing so I was like, perfect, I'll just buy another ticket... at this point, the girl who was gonna give me a ride home thought that I would be ok without buying another ticket... I mean it was $7... but I thought, I'd rather pay another $7 to be safe rather than taking a chance and getting my car towed.

So, I do the right thing. The responsible thing. I buy another parking ticket instead of driving home. And then I laugh. Check out my parking ticket and when it expires. (click on the pic)



Expires at 6am... as in 3hrs from when I bought it. BAD BEAT! Here I am, trying to do the right thing and I just got screwed for $7. Nonetheless, I left that on the dash of my car hoping that if they saw two parking passes, they will let it slide.

I have no idea if that helped or not, but when I went to my car today (I ran... it was only 4.5 miles after all), it was still there... so all is good, I suppose.

Oh and btw, happy new year everyone!