The Observation Deck

well, as i woke up this morning,made coffee and got the paper, i noticed, that every car on my street (hopkins) had a nice, bright, orange ticket on their window. i guess they didn't hear about the parking ban. i'm not sure if there are signs on the street about parking bans or if anybody was notified or heard about the ban - city hall will be busy monday. i know some people have to park on the street, but what kills me are the hillbillys that have driveways and park on the street or on their grass in the backyard. i usually get a laugh at the people who have to dig themselves out (not at the people who have to park on the street but at the hilbillys who park on the street when they don't have to) .

Jim Marquard wrote:hillbillys

You got a problem with my people.


.

Yeah, I'm half hillbilly. I didn't know Lakewood had hollers?

Would the 'Canyon qualify as a holler?

Phil Florian wrote:Yeah, I'm half hillbilly. I didn't know Lakewood had hollers?

Don't be so hard on yourself, you are a purebred.

David

It is the Canyons, that have kept many of us here.

We are lowland, hunter gathers.

My people were well accomplished sod throwers.

Hence the O'

FWIW


.

Hey, I was born in Charleston, W.Va. (But I cleaned up my accent )

you guys scare me (clicky)



PS I bet some of these guys eat squirel

no orange tickets on the cars on my street ... sure wish they would, because those folks park on the street no matter what, even if it makes it tougher on the rest of us to get in and out of the street. I'd love to see them actually get tickets and see the parking ban enforced.

The frustrating thing about the snow ban is that the municipal lot behind my house which is technically where people should be parking in not plowed. Pretty impossible to get your car off the street into an approved parking area if that parking area is not plowed. Needless to say we knew the snow was coming and got our car back there before the snow really piled up. There is a path to get out but getting back in would be nearly impossible.

My street had tickets on every car as well. That was....friday night I believe.

Now that it's sunny outside and I can actually see down the street I have to say that this snow is actually somewhat beautiful!

Don't mean to get too heavy here, but...

As one born in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and whose Southern kin came from the hills of Georgia,(bless 'em all) There's a few things that those of you who call yourselves flatlanders ought'a know.

In the first place, those so-called "hillbillies" are probably among the last free people on earth. They are independent, God-fearing people, who rely on personal faith, and God-given brains to deal with whatever comes their way.

You would not see one trapped in a snowdrift either. They know how to handle snow. I did not even SEE much flat land until my 7th year of life. We knew how to drive in snow, and what to do with it.

It probably did not occur to many flatlander types to buy a power driven 8hp snowblower with tire chains either, but if you want to get through yesterday's snow like a knife cutting butter, that's what works.

And while, yes, squirrels, deer, rabbit, and other game were a part of our heritage, never, but NEVER would you take a living creature's life for sport. Meat on the table, with thanks on the lips to God for His blessings...and often, a Native American prayer for that animal's spirit.. THAT was what it was all about.

Here in Lakewood, the squirrels and birds around my house are treated with great love.

And they are in the hills too. Only when food is to be prepared, is the sad and ancient duty of the hunt ensued.

In the evenings, the banjo, fiddle and harmonica come out, and joy leaps forth. We know well that our so-called "hillbilly" ancestors left persecution and oppression far behind, as they found refuge in the mountains.

May it ever be so.

Gary,

I'm fairly sure the term "hillbilly" was used as the born, raised, bred city folks use it many times as a descriptive term for the people that many times leave their backyard with autos rusting, portions of bikes, swing sets, and who knows whatever. Of course this isn't limited to only the southern accent type and could easily be someone born raised and bred in Lakewood too.

I agree with you though. After spending 20 yrs on the road, one becomes a "trucker" and "hillbilly" equally as much as a musician, just by osmosis, from being around the people, food, doing as the truckers do, dressing as they do, not for looks but because it's utilitarian.

I supposed to a large degree me and my better half have become hillbillies by your description, and proud of it (in our own interpretation).

Mark Allan "Road-Rat" Crnolatas (10-4 good buddy).

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I am one of those people who did not move a car out of the street (until today). I completely understand the need for something like a snow ban and normally I would've moved the car just so the plows wouldn't have had another vehicle to avoid. But there are several factors that I think are worth mentioning:

1. My husband was (and still is) out of town. He left early Friday morning before all of this.
2. I am 8 months pregnant and have 2 children under 4 at home with me. (Shoveling isn't really a good idea at this point.)
3. When we dropped my husband off at the airport on Friday, we specifically discussed leaving his Subaru Impreza in the street because it's a 4-wheel drive and would be a lot easier for me to use in bad snow than our Toyota Sienna (minivan) which is not 4 wheel drive. Plus we figured it would be a lot easier to get it out of the street than out of our driveway, which would have to be shoveled in order to get it out.

By the time of the ban, there was absolutely no way to move the car. Even if I could have gotten it out of the street, there was no visible driveway. It was all at least a foot deep.

Plus, I was pretty sure - just about positive - that our street is not an emergency snow ban street. I even checked out the Lakewood ordinances online to make sure the ban only affects main streets or streets with a posted sign. I certainly don't remember seeing any of those signs on our street, but who knows. At that point I couldn't have walked up to the corner to check it out if I wanted to and I couldn't have moved the car anyway, so I just had to wait and see what would happen.

This morning my gracious neighbors borrowed a snow blower and dug out 6 or 7 people on our street, including me. On the ground near the spot where my car once stood was a tiny fragment of what looked like a parking ticket. I found several others around the area and decided to see if I could fit the pieces together. I discovered that I had pieces to at least 3 different parking tickets, none of which had any mention of our car.

So after all this yammering, I actually have a question! I'm assuming we must've gotten ticketed, and yet I have no ticket to prove it. I don't particularly think it was justified since I had no way of moving the car and I'm still not convinced we're a snow ban street anyway. But as an honest Lakewood citizen, I feel that I should at least attempt to pay it if there was one. Then again, I don't exactly want to send in a blind check to the city of Lakewood "just in case" when there very well might not have been any ticket at all.

Also, is there any sort of resource for people to find out if their street is a snow ban street. I searched online and found nothing. Might be a nice resource to have. If "emergency parking ban" means every single street in Lakewood, they really should clarify that in the ordinance or in the statement by the mayor or something.

Just my two cents with a few questions and some lengthy explanations included.