My Parking Garage

I work downtown, so I have to park downtown. I park at a garage that is reasonably close to my office, and I park on the roof because it is the cheapest floor. I just can't see myself paying more than twice what I do now, just so that I don't have to take the stairs.

When I first starting parking at this garage, it had a really, really old elevator. I'm talking 1920's here, people. The doors didn't open and close automatically, and they really weren't even doors. There were metal gates at each floor that had to be opened by hand. It was actually pretty cool, but it would have been way cooler if there had been a bell hop or elevator attendant, or someone to ride the elevators and open the gates for you, because sometimes it was nearly impossible to open up the gates to get on/off the elevator if I was carrying something.

Well, a long time ago, plans were made to replace this elevator. Since the elevator was going to be out of service, the garage rented a car, and starting driving people who didn't want to take the stairs up to their cars. At first, they rented a van so they could fit a bunch of people in per trip. But that really wasn't practical because of all the sharp turns in the garage, and the narrow lanes for two-way traffic. So, each time they get a new rental car, it gets progressively smaller. It's now a compact car that fits three passengers. Needless to say, I ususally take the stairs instead of waiting with all the old people for my turn for a ride. I now walk up and down 7 flights of stairs every morning and evening. (Who needs a gym?)

One good thing about the elevator replacement, though, was that I got a $20 per month discount on my parking fees because of the inconvience, which is really starting to add up, seeing as how the elevator has been under construction for more than a year now.

Seriously, entire buildings have been built faster than this elevator has been replaced.

Anyways, the reason that I'm here telling the world about my parking garage this morning is because of all the black ice on the roof top where I parked this morning. I got out of my car, and then proceeded to land right on my backside. Apparently, no one had made it up there to salt yet. Fortunately, I didn't go down too hard, rip my pants or break any bones. But, my bottom still hurts just a little bit.