Parking Woes, or Would That Be Snows?

This was the state of the parking lot at my apartment complex yesterday around noon:A few sad souls, for whatever reason, had to venture out yesterday. All had to dig their ways out. I'm sure the people in the underground parking, as they started their motors, thought, "Thank goodness I pay extra for the garage! It's worth every penny not to have to scrape ice and dig a trench in snowdrifts."

Then, they had to get up the ramp to get out. The snowplows don't do ramps.

This poor schmuck, who is out there digging and digging and digging to unstick his car, spent 30 minutes just getting that far. He pulled out of the garage, got about 5 feet up the ramp, and slid back down. He put his car in reverse and backed into the garage. About two minutes later, he came barrelling out again. He got up another couple of feet, fishtailed, and then backed down. Again, about two minutes later, he made another try. This time, he started sliding side to side. Three people showed up about then, and started to dig him out. They cleared the snow to the top of the ramp and spread salt. They left, and the guy started back up the ramp.

Where he met the pile pushed there by the snowplow. So, here he is, digging himself out.: This is what I'm facing when I decide to venture forth:

Lest you think, "Oh, that's not much," let me give you a view of the distance between the backs of the cars (or fronts) and the plowed pathway.:Yes, that's a good five or six feet. Yes, the plowed path is only one car wide.

Despite my gripes, I don't have the problems that the people on the other side of the path have.:This is one of the handicapped spots:

This is one of those tiny little sports cars. You could proably lift it up and carry it over the drift.:Then there is this guy, who will be carrying a few extra pounds in back.:

This is in the lot perpendicular to where I parked. In the distance there you can see someone on a Segueway. It slipped about two seconds before I snapped the shot. Perhaps two wheels on marginally plowed streets with no traction was not a very good idea, after all.:

This is what the people who own these cars have to dig themselves out of.:

Yes, that car there in the center, with its windshield wipers up, is entirely buried.

The wavy patterns of snow in the drifts are quite lovely.:When I got back to the lobby of my building, I found that, what the complex management lacks in plowing responsibilities, the tenants make up for in entrepreneurial skills.:

It offers snow shoveling services; and the picture is from our parking lot. Clearly, this person already has a lot of business!