Whoever Shoveled The Alleyway, THANK YOU!

Whoever did the shoveling in our alleyway this morning was great!
Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like they were trying to do it without disturbing the residents up above.
If I could afford it I would have 'tipped' them for being so conscientious! And if I wasn't half-asleep (and trying to remain that way) I would at least have thanked them [quietly].
It's much easier putting up with the seasonal noises like clearing snow if you know someone's at least trying to minimize their part.

Readers should keep in mind that those of us living on the south side of the Endicott building have endured over a year of construction noise, dust, and at times extreme vibrations while the Concord Commons building was being built.

As I've written before, I've gone through two air conditioners that have prematurely died from all the fine dirt that settled on our building during the construction, and what used to be (when I moved in) a nice bright apartment, is now dark, with a view of a brick wall and the unfinished floors of the Concord Commons building.


On another note, I thought I'd share my latest experience with the new parking garage.
I've been parking my car inside the new parking garage every time it's snowed to stay out of the way of Brochu's snow plows in the Market Basket parking lot where most of us park. After having Lenny(?) (he said he was Red's son) plow snow into all four sides of my little hatchback one time, and then curse me out* when I asked him about it, I've decided to pay the cost of parking instead of going through that again.

That experience aside, during the last big storm several days ago I parked in the new parking garage over the weekend. When I went to leave (Tuesday I believe) I had a envelope on my windshield containing a letter from the parking department and a parking stub to use.
You see the parking gate had to be left up during the storm, so there were cars inside that didn't get a stub/ticket when they entered. I thought it was great that the parking division went to the trouble of providing a parking stub and letter** explaining the situation. What they might not have accounted for though, were the folks like me who didn't leave on Monday morning.

When I took their supplied ticket stub and tried leaving, the system wouldn't let me. So, I went up to the 3rd floor pay station and stuck the ticket in to see if I had to pay something. The ticket popped back out with a message telling me to "See the cashier". Huh? I thought what 'cashier'?
I then tried calling the Concord police/parking department, twice, no answer, the phone system just sent me back to the beginning of the automated message....

By this time I was really frustrated. I had a doctor's appointment at 1 PM and it was 12: 55! My car and I were being held hostage inside the garage! Finally, thanks to another resident of the Endicott who was there paying he suggested that I try the 'call-box' down at the exit gate. I'd forgotten all about that in my panic so I thanked him and rushed down to the exit and pushed the button. After a short delay a helpful woman listened to my plight but had never heard of the "See cashier" message I'd received when trying to pay (I wish I had my camera so that I could have taken a picture),
and finally lifted the gate manually (by remote from PD). She was great and wished me good luck as I sped off to my appointment.

When I returned later that day to park inside again (because of ANOTHER expected snow) there was a serviceman already there to check the system! I must say even though there are obviously some bugs to work out with the new garage (and hopefully some additional pay stations) the parking department is staying on top of the situation. Now they need to work on their phone system! It's not good when you can't get someone on the line and you're caught in a unending phone system circle.

I'm sure Dave Florence (of the parking dept.) will adjust his procedures accordingly for the next big snow storm that will surely come. Every time I've dealt with him (and everyone else in the parking division for that matter) he's been pleasant to deal with and quick to respond.



* The younger Brochu said that if I continued to complain that he'd "make sure nobody from the Endicott could park there"... and since it was about a week before Christmas he added "Merry F****** Christmas!". Nice, huh?
---------------------------------------------------------------

**Copy of parking letter:

Monday, December 17, 2007

Due to the fact that the entry gate was left in an open position it is likely that you do not have an exit ticket for the parking garage. Please use the ticket enclosed with this note as you exit ticket from the garage. This ticket DOES NOT need to be processed at the Automatic Pay Station - simply insert into the exit gate verifier and the gate will open.

Thank you for your use of the Capital Commons Garage. Please contact the Parking Control Unit with any questions about the facility.

Sincerely,

Dave Florence
-----------------------------------------------------------