Emergency Parking for a Wedding?

It's not unusual to see signs posted on trees along the sidewalk regarding parking restrictions. The white signs with the red print only mean one thing - less places available to park your car in an already congested neighborhood. Usually the signs are for people with U Hauls and moving vans that are taking their households apart or putting them back together. Most recently, our own family members posted a couple in front of their house for this purpose. You always know what the required need is for because it not only states the exact dates, but the exact times, and the reason to inconvenience anyone who is on the look out for a parking place. Once in awhile, the city needs a spot for a truck to do maintenance work, or for room to plant a tree. But in front of St. Peter's Church recently, there were several signs posted the length of the entire block. The purpose of the signs this time was for an obviously huge wedding party. Unfortunately we did not see the actual event, or the number of vehicles that required it. We don't always use our car everyday, so it could happen that we may not notice a sign like this go up until it is too late. It almost happened one time, so we are extra alert to note the when, the where, and the whys and avoid the area at all costs. Just another reason to miss our garage and driveway. I'm just glad we don't live next to the church. 

Washington Nationals Opening Day

In Milwaukee, I would check the Brewers schedule to avoid the rush hour traffic on the freeway and take an alternate route home whenever it was game day. Now we live in Washington and live only a few blocks from Nationals Stadium. I make a copy of the schedule every year and keep it on the desk to help us plan when we should or shouldn't move the car, or avoid the overcrowded restaurants in town. Someone recently circulated a petition to make opening day a national holiday. I'm sure for most people it makes perfect sense. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind baseball or sports in general, but it's not always easy to live in a neighborhood that has a major sports team playing in the vicinity on a work day. On top of that, even though the cherry blossom season so far is a bust, the traffic this time of year is indeed the worst on top of all the spring break crowds. Some of my colleagues at work were really complaining that it can take two hours to get out of town if it coincides with a game that just ended. Our only saving grace is that I walk to work, and we move the car when we have to. When we left to go to lunch this afternoon in Alexandria, the streets and freeway were filled with Nationals' enthusiasts. When we returned we circled the block a few times before finding a parking space two blocks away. All I can say is at least it wasn't raining.