[mikester]

Yesterday (Sunday) I was down in Newport Beach at a nearby shopping center (the one with the Gelsons and Sur La Table and Peets near Fashion Island, for the locals) and I spotted a ST Elise with a hardtop. The driver and his passenger were driving up and down, and up and down, the aisles, looking for the perfect spot. The parking lot was moderately crowded, and as usual there were lots of large SUVs, so I could totally relate.

As I watched, I thought "this will be me in a few months!" Actually I'm really anal as it is, with my Miata, so I don't think it will really be that different. Just a few minutes earlier I had snagged an excellent spot on the end of an aisle, with a raised landscaped island on one side (which allowed me to hug that side), leaving plenty of margin between my priceless Miata and the Bentley Continental GT next to it ... You just can't trust those Bentley drivers, they can be so very careless

P.S. And no, I didn't chase down the Elise driver, or even approach them in any way. I didn't want to further solidify my "stalker" rep. :no:

 

[pinmagic]

Yeah, I can't believe I bought a car that you can't parallel park, for fear of someone tapping it and cracking the body.

We're ALL nuts!

 

[Patricko]

I bet that was Rockcenter (James) , he lives in Newport. He was at the Crystal Cove meet on Saturday.

 

[mikester]

I bet that was Rockcenter (James) , he lives in Newport. He was at the Crystal Cove meet on Saturday.

Could be, I didn't recognize them, it was a guy and a gurrrrl. Standard exhaust (at first I thought maybe it was you Patrick but then I saw the pipes and knew that it was not. Also you don't have a hard top, do you ?

 

[Patricko]

Could be, I didn't recognize them, it was a guy and a gurrrrl. Standard exhaust (at first I thought maybe it was you Patrick but then I saw the pipes and knew that it was not. Also you don't have a hard top, do you ?

No I don't have a hard top yet.

Did it have the base wheels? I am 90% sure that it was James.

 

[mikester]

Did it have the base wheels? I am 90% sure that it was James.

I think so, not sure though to be honest.

 

[Randy Chase]

Last Friday afternoon, pulled into a community recreationc enter parking lot. Found an end spot on the line. Yay. Go to play volleyball on the grass. After a few minutes, there is a freaking crowd of youth with bikes and skateboards all around my car, some even touching it, leaning over it on their bikes or with skateboards in their hands. HOLY CRAP. For the next 90 minutes, I had to play volleyball with one eye on the game, one eye all Marty Feldmanish, pointed to the parking lot.


Later that same day... driving around a local shopping center to get into BJ's Pizza* to purchase a gift certificate. OH MY GOD I must have driven for 15-20 minutes to find a spot that was safe enough. At least a 1/2 block away, end of the row, on the right end (passenger side of the car next to me) and in view of a security guard. Yay!

Go inside and buy gift certificates.

Come back out 15 minutes later to find the guard telling me that he had to shoo people off the car.


*Great beers and the best desert ever. A Pizzookie. A bubbling hot chocolate chip cookie made in a pizza pan, topped with Haagen Daz ice cream.

 

[LotusLust]

Later that same day... driving around a local shopping center to get into BJ's Pizza*


*Great beers and the best desert ever. A Pizzookie. A bubbling hot chocolate chip cookie made in a pizza pan, topped with Haagen Daz ice cream.

and with a name like that surely they deliver pizza that pleases

 

[Randy Chase]

and with a name like that surely they deliver pizza that pleases

Which is why THIS IS NOT THEIR WEBSITE-
http://www.bjspizza.com/forums/bj/

 

[ROCKCENTER]

it was me... next time say hello! For the record, I am usually not that "anal" about parking...

 

[MattG]

Later that same day... driving around a local shopping center to get into BJ's Pizza* to purchase a gift certificate. OH MY GOD I must have driven for 15-20 minutes to find a spot that was safe enough. At least a 1/2 block away, end of the row, on the right end (passenger side of the car next to me) and in view of a security guard. Yay!

Be glad you had that option. The BJ's up here (Cupertino) was so poorly designed that their parking lot is nowhere near big enough, so they only have (complimentary) Valet parking. Being surrounded by Apple Computer buildings, there are no nearby alternative parking lots.

 

[mikester]

it was me... next time say hello! For the record, I am usually not that "anal" about parking...

Hi Rockcenter, thanks next time I will, I was just feeling kind of shy I guess. Your car looked great BTW. I noticed that the security guard was kind of hovering around it, was he just curious about it or was he anticipating "stalkers" ?

 

[LotusLust]

Which is why THIS IS NOT THEIR WEBSITE-
http://www.bjspizza.com/forums/bj/

i see a cross reference to the high beam thread!

 

[ROCKCENTER]

I didn't notice the security guard - nonetheless, I will take whatever "help" I can get in keeping the car out of harms way.

 

[Balance]

Yesterday (Sunday) I was down in Newport Beach at a nearby shopping center (the one with the Gelsons and Sur La Table and Peets near Fashion Island, for the locals) and I spotted a ST Elise with a hardtop.

Isn't that a Bristol Farms by Sur La Table? Gelson's is at San Joaquin Hills Road and San Miguel Drive I think.

 

[Ridgemanron]

Last Friday afternoon, pulled into a community recreationc enter parking lot. Found an end spot on the line. Yay. Go to play volleyball on the grass. After a few minutes, there is a freaking crowd of youth with bikes and skateboards all around my car, some even touching it, leaning over it on their bikes or with skateboards in their hands. HOLY CRAP. For the next 90 minutes, I had to play volleyball with one eye on the game, one eye all Marty Feldmanish, pointed to the parking lot.


Later that same day... driving around a local shopping center to get into BJ's Pizza* to purchase a gift certificate. OH MY GOD I must have driven for 15-20 minutes to find a spot that was safe enough. At least a 1/2 block away, end of the row, on the right end (passenger side of the car next to me) and in view of a security guard. Yay!

Go inside and buy gift certificates.

Come back out 15 minutes later to find the guard telling me that he had to shoo people off the car.


*Great beers and the best desert ever. A Pizzookie. A bubbling hot chocolate chip cookie made in a pizza pan, topped with Haagen Daz ice cream.

Crowd of youths.....hanging around
near a vehicle.....I told you the Elise
is 'schoolbus yellow'. You're just damn
lucky the door wasn't open. They
would have piled right in and started
yelling for the driver of the bus.

 

[Robert Puertas]

Re: Re: Parking Angst

Isn't that a Bristol Farms by Sur La Table? Gelson's is at San Joaquin Hills Road and San Miguel Drive I think.

Thanks Balance! I typed out the same post and then deleted it after feeling embarassed about my familiarity with NB shopping centers...


If it makes you feel any better, I describe it as the Gulfstream / Tommy Bahamas center.

 

[Rob Ward]

Quote:

I didn't want to further solidify my "stalker" rep.
.................

Ha!! And this coming from the guy who followed me all the way home to my GARAGE on his bike the other day!!!

LOL!!

Come round any time, by the way....

 

[Thomas Praetzel]

It's just a car, get over it. It will get dinged, it will get scrathed, sh''t will happen to it, so what? The day that you stop owning the car and it starts owning you will be a sad day indeed.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel
waiting for the big storm, i park my car in the living room

 

[Randy Chase]

I still take care to avoid damage.

And considering that I will probably have to replace the front clam... I do understand that sh!t happens. But I avoid what I can.

My MR2 went over 10 years with ZERO door dings.