I hate tow trucks

I got towed.

I am mad.

It's a long story and now that I actually sit down to type it, it makes me tired. Pretty much, my house is technically on Van Buren St. and the house number is 659 (an odd number), but the house faces Summer St. Well, Minneapolis has these crazy snow emergency rules about where you can park on Days 1, 2 and 3 of the snow emergency. I was parked right in front of my house today and figured I had followed the rules of parking on the ODD side of the street on Day 2. My roommate, Kyle, did the same thing, and we even texted each other to confirm that we had it right. Well, after being on campus for class and work from 8-5 today, I took the bus home, walked the block and a half home in the cold temp, and then noticed that there were no longer any cars parked in front of the house. I let out a loud expletive and am certain that if the tow truck guy had been standing there, I would have punched him in the stomach. I could feel the anger growing in my stomach. Oh, I was mad. So then I noticed that my neighbor across the street had just gotten home from work (he parks in the garage -- no worries for him). So I asked him about the snow emergency situation since he's lived here a while, and then I found out that on Summer St. (the street I face and he faces), his address is ODD, so I was supposed to park on his side of the street today. How confusing is that? Really? I mean, sitting here pondering it, I guess it makes sense. But when it is 7:30 in the morning, and you are leaving in the bitter cold to walk to the bus stop, you just comprehend the fact that your address is odd, your car is parked on the same side of the street as your address, and that's that.

So here is what I found out reading online:
1. I could have searched this nifty little website for my address and gotten a little pop-up map that shows you where you can and can't park on certain days. Would have been nice to know yesterday.
2. My roommate Kyle can't get his car until his mom (she owns the car) sends a signed, notarized paper giving him permission to do so.
3. To claim your car, you need to provide: proof of insurance, a title/lease info, your license plate number, VIN number, the promise of handing over your first born child to the tow company of my choice....These are all true except the last one. Oh yeah, and you also need $138 for the towing and $34 for the parking ticket. Tis the season to ... not buy any gifts because I had to pay the city of Mpls.
4. If you don't claim your car before midnight, they charge another $18.

So I'm sure you're now wondering why I'm sitting here typing instead of getting my car. Well, first of all, there is no one to drive me there right now. The other two roommates are at work with their beloved cars. Eric offered to drive me, but he's in class til 9. The guy across the street offered to drive Kyle and me, but now I want to wait to check out one more thing. See, Beth just called and said that a family friend of ours who works for Hennepin County might be able to help me with the situation since this seems to be a weird street setup -- it's not just your run-o-the-mill "here's the odd side, here's the even side." So when he gets home at 9:30 tonight, I will be calling him to see what he suggests. After that, I will head to the impound lot and see if I am able to resolve this.

Wish me luck.