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Feb. 25th, 2002 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
planktondreamsquietlyok, so i left the pan9 party around 11pm and started walking off to my car. when i turned down rugg road (the street on which my car was parked), i noticed that there were *no* cars on the street anymore. yike. interestingly, i wasn't angry or shocked that it wasn't there. i think every time i walk back to my car i expect it to be gone (comes from living in jamaica plain where my car's been broken into twice, i suspect). anyways, i headed over to the nearest payphones and just before i call the police i go back to rugg road *one more time* just to be sure i wasn't seeing things (or not seeing things) that weren't true. sadly my eyes did not deceive me and i had to call the cops. tried my luck with 911. found out that wondering if your car is stolen isn't enough to illicit action from the operator. given the number for the BTD and sent on my way. try the number once, busy signal. twice, busy signal. once again, busy signal. now it dawns on me, it's saturday night, everyone gets towed. i don't like my chances of getting through, so it's time for plan b: find the lot that *should* have my car. if it's not there call 911 and say it's stolen.
oh and before i forget, i had the unfortunate luck of putting my coat in my car during the party. chilly man was i, and only getting chillier.
so i head towards the sports depot, probably the closest bar to rugg road, hoping they know where cars get towed around there. they tell me fries' auto towing, a two mile walk into brighton. the directions they gave are enough to get me started but i couldn't follow all the details. i figure i'll head off in that direction and catch the first cab i can. about a 1/2 mile down the road i flag one down. he tells me he's not sure where fries' is, but since i think i have a decent idea where to go (plus we have the obvious speed/warmth advantage of a vehicle) i take my chances and head off in that general direction...
ok so we're driving and driving and looking and looking and we can't find the street for fries. ugh. we end up at an IHOP and i head in to ask for directions. i can't follow what the cashier is telling me so i have her explain it to the cabbie. he nods in understanding and i get in the car. once inside he says "did you understand her directions?". :( i kinda sorta did so i figured we'd chance it once again without an exact idea of where we're going. history should have shown the folly of such thinking.
the directions involved taking our first left. ok, so the first left was an illegal left hand turn. the *second* left was an illegal left hand turn. the *third* left was legal. we laugh and shrug. maybe she meant this left? we take it and immediately end up in brighton suburbia. no garages, no anything, ack! after nearly getting lost we end up *back at the IHOP*. at this point i know this cabbie isn't going to get me anywhere useful so i pay him and send him on his way. new strategy - call fries', check if they have my car, get directions, and either get a cab or walk. i get fries' on the phone in IHOP, ask if they have a 2000 silver golf. they say yes, i sigh in relief. they give directions, i'm a 5 minute walk away. easy enough, i get off the phone thinking my mini-adventure is over...
btw, turns out the left we were *supposed* to take was the first illegal left. if we took that we'd have been there in 30 seconds. oh well.
anyways, so i walk up to fries' and am "greeted" by the most surly bitter man i've ever met. probably even considered bitter and surly for a tow yard worker. grrr! i ask again if he has my car, give him my license plate #. he says yes, and that it's $95. i hand him my credit card, he says, no credit cards. cash only. i ask about ATMs, he says he knows nothing and won't ask anyone inside for more info. i'm pissed and confused. fortunately i met a supernice guy outside who runs the yard and he gave me directions to the closest ATM, 3 blocks away. i head off, all chilly, and get my $$$. walking back i think this is the end of my night. it was a little more complex than i expected but at least it's over. yeah, right.
so i get back to the lot and ask again for my car. he says he's got it and reads off a license plate # WHICH IS NOT MINE. ack! he says that's all he's got. i go for a walk around the lot. they don't even have golf in the parking lot. wtf? so now i'm just baffled and no longer have any idea where my car is. i ask the nice guy who runs the yard where else i can look. he suggests brookline towing, which was, ironically enough, 2 blocks from where i was originally parked. but now i'm stuck out in brighton suburbia and unexcited over taking another cab. fortunately i hitched a ride from 2 20-something newbury st types in their lexus ls430 (very comfy car, even in the back!). we get to brookline towing and i thank them for the ride. at this point yet again i feel like my evening will soon be over. bad intuition - my car's not here either. i ask where my car could be. they suggest calling the BTD and i tell them that i've already tried and can't get through. they offer to call for me and after 10 minutes of dial/busy signal/redial they connect. now i get the first concrete news of the night. my car was towed and is at franks abc towing on brighton ave, near the autozone. i know where the autozone is so i start walking up there, thinking once again my night's over...
so as i approach the autozone i start hunting for the tow yard. i look before autozone, i look after autozone. i look on the other side of the street. no franks. no *nothing*. eh? baffled, i start walking back to allston center, hoping to get some info from a bar or a cabbie. before i speak to either, i see a franks tow truck go by. confirmation of existence - good. but they don't stop anywhere near where i thought they should stop so now i'm questioning everything at this point. getting tired now, so i figure i'll just take a cab and have him cart me to franks abc towing and my night will end. felt like a copout (not discovering franks for myself), like i didn't earn the right to get my car back, but i just didn't care. so i get in the car and ask him to take me to franks abc towing. he says sure and off we go, me thinking once more that my night is over...
after a while, i realize to my horror what is going on - he's taking me back to fries. argh! i tell him, "franks, not fries. understand?". he says sure and we head back towards where we came from. he *then* proceeds to take me to brookline towing. i tell him - "no! i've already been here tonight? do you have any idea where you're taking me?". he says that he doesn't know where franks is. really. i tell him i just want to get out of the cab. sensing that i'm not going to pay for the ride he tells me he'll call the dispatcher and get directions. ok, fine. he picks up the CB and here's a rough transcription of the the conversation:
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "je ne comprende pas. je ne comprende pas." (the cabbie had a french accent).
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "you're looking for an observatory?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "ohhhhh, franks towing."
some mumbling occurs in the background and eventually we get the address - 55 brighton ave. right back at autozone. so i get driven *back* to autozone and i see a tow truck sitting next to an empty lot. yay! i pay the cabbie (anyone who says franks abc towing *that* many times deserves some money) and head over towards the tow truck driver. i ask if he's with franks and he says yes. yay again! i ask if he has my car. yes he does. yay one more time! i hand him my $$$ and start walking towards a silver golf in the corner of the lot. as i get closer happiness turns to confusion when i realize that this golf is not my golf. my night's *not* over? i run back to the tow truck driver and ask him if that golf is supposed to be mine. he says no, and that there's another lot behind the one i looked in. i walk back, find the auxilliary lot and, to my shock, find my car. i get in my car, start it up, and laugh my way home.
in a way i was sad to find my car. the chase was fun. and in a way i was happy to find my car because after 3 hrs in the cold and in cabs i just wanted to go to sleep.
phew, i can't believe i typed that whole thing out. hope i don't screw up the submission to the site. :)
oh and before i forget, i had the unfortunate luck of putting my coat in my car during the party. chilly man was i, and only getting chillier.
so i head towards the sports depot, probably the closest bar to rugg road, hoping they know where cars get towed around there. they tell me fries' auto towing, a two mile walk into brighton. the directions they gave are enough to get me started but i couldn't follow all the details. i figure i'll head off in that direction and catch the first cab i can. about a 1/2 mile down the road i flag one down. he tells me he's not sure where fries' is, but since i think i have a decent idea where to go (plus we have the obvious speed/warmth advantage of a vehicle) i take my chances and head off in that general direction...
ok so we're driving and driving and looking and looking and we can't find the street for fries. ugh. we end up at an IHOP and i head in to ask for directions. i can't follow what the cashier is telling me so i have her explain it to the cabbie. he nods in understanding and i get in the car. once inside he says "did you understand her directions?". :( i kinda sorta did so i figured we'd chance it once again without an exact idea of where we're going. history should have shown the folly of such thinking.
the directions involved taking our first left. ok, so the first left was an illegal left hand turn. the *second* left was an illegal left hand turn. the *third* left was legal. we laugh and shrug. maybe she meant this left? we take it and immediately end up in brighton suburbia. no garages, no anything, ack! after nearly getting lost we end up *back at the IHOP*. at this point i know this cabbie isn't going to get me anywhere useful so i pay him and send him on his way. new strategy - call fries', check if they have my car, get directions, and either get a cab or walk. i get fries' on the phone in IHOP, ask if they have a 2000 silver golf. they say yes, i sigh in relief. they give directions, i'm a 5 minute walk away. easy enough, i get off the phone thinking my mini-adventure is over...
btw, turns out the left we were *supposed* to take was the first illegal left. if we took that we'd have been there in 30 seconds. oh well.
anyways, so i walk up to fries' and am "greeted" by the most surly bitter man i've ever met. probably even considered bitter and surly for a tow yard worker. grrr! i ask again if he has my car, give him my license plate #. he says yes, and that it's $95. i hand him my credit card, he says, no credit cards. cash only. i ask about ATMs, he says he knows nothing and won't ask anyone inside for more info. i'm pissed and confused. fortunately i met a supernice guy outside who runs the yard and he gave me directions to the closest ATM, 3 blocks away. i head off, all chilly, and get my $$$. walking back i think this is the end of my night. it was a little more complex than i expected but at least it's over. yeah, right.
so i get back to the lot and ask again for my car. he says he's got it and reads off a license plate # WHICH IS NOT MINE. ack! he says that's all he's got. i go for a walk around the lot. they don't even have golf in the parking lot. wtf? so now i'm just baffled and no longer have any idea where my car is. i ask the nice guy who runs the yard where else i can look. he suggests brookline towing, which was, ironically enough, 2 blocks from where i was originally parked. but now i'm stuck out in brighton suburbia and unexcited over taking another cab. fortunately i hitched a ride from 2 20-something newbury st types in their lexus ls430 (very comfy car, even in the back!). we get to brookline towing and i thank them for the ride. at this point yet again i feel like my evening will soon be over. bad intuition - my car's not here either. i ask where my car could be. they suggest calling the BTD and i tell them that i've already tried and can't get through. they offer to call for me and after 10 minutes of dial/busy signal/redial they connect. now i get the first concrete news of the night. my car was towed and is at franks abc towing on brighton ave, near the autozone. i know where the autozone is so i start walking up there, thinking once again my night's over...
so as i approach the autozone i start hunting for the tow yard. i look before autozone, i look after autozone. i look on the other side of the street. no franks. no *nothing*. eh? baffled, i start walking back to allston center, hoping to get some info from a bar or a cabbie. before i speak to either, i see a franks tow truck go by. confirmation of existence - good. but they don't stop anywhere near where i thought they should stop so now i'm questioning everything at this point. getting tired now, so i figure i'll just take a cab and have him cart me to franks abc towing and my night will end. felt like a copout (not discovering franks for myself), like i didn't earn the right to get my car back, but i just didn't care. so i get in the car and ask him to take me to franks abc towing. he says sure and off we go, me thinking once more that my night is over...
after a while, i realize to my horror what is going on - he's taking me back to fries. argh! i tell him, "franks, not fries. understand?". he says sure and we head back towards where we came from. he *then* proceeds to take me to brookline towing. i tell him - "no! i've already been here tonight? do you have any idea where you're taking me?". he says that he doesn't know where franks is. really. i tell him i just want to get out of the cab. sensing that i'm not going to pay for the ride he tells me he'll call the dispatcher and get directions. ok, fine. he picks up the CB and here's a rough transcription of the the conversation:
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "je ne comprende pas. je ne comprende pas." (the cabbie had a french accent).
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "you're looking for an observatory?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "what?"
cab: "hello, franks abc towing."
dispatcher: "ohhhhh, franks towing."
some mumbling occurs in the background and eventually we get the address - 55 brighton ave. right back at autozone. so i get driven *back* to autozone and i see a tow truck sitting next to an empty lot. yay! i pay the cabbie (anyone who says franks abc towing *that* many times deserves some money) and head over towards the tow truck driver. i ask if he's with franks and he says yes. yay again! i ask if he has my car. yes he does. yay one more time! i hand him my $$$ and start walking towards a silver golf in the corner of the lot. as i get closer happiness turns to confusion when i realize that this golf is not my golf. my night's *not* over? i run back to the tow truck driver and ask him if that golf is supposed to be mine. he says no, and that there's another lot behind the one i looked in. i walk back, find the auxilliary lot and, to my shock, find my car. i get in my car, start it up, and laugh my way home.
in a way i was sad to find my car. the chase was fun. and in a way i was happy to find my car because after 3 hrs in the cold and in cabs i just wanted to go to sleep.
phew, i can't believe i typed that whole thing out. hope i don't screw up the submission to the site. :)
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no subject
Date: 2002-02-25 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-11 05:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-10-11 07:28 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-10-11 09:56 pm (UTC)chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-02 09:09 pm (UTC)Re: chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-03 07:13 am (UTC)btw, how'd you find this? common interest? i bet it was iceland.
Re: chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-03 02:16 pm (UTC)Re: chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-04 06:47 am (UTC)and if you want more icelandic music, check out sigur ros and mum. i *highly* recommend Agaetis Byrjun and Finally We Are No One, respectively.
Re: chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-04 08:47 pm (UTC)Re: chrispety chrunchety peanut buttery
Date: 2002-12-05 07:18 am (UTC)i went to iceland in the summer of 2000, the best vacation i've ever taken. horribly expensive too. if you take a trip to europe try to fly iceland air - usually you can do a 1-2 day stopover for real cheap. plus they play kraftwerk videos on the plane!
no subject
Date: 2002-12-23 11:32 am (UTC)