Don't put Boris in a corner...

(Not my photo)

Who's Boris you ask? Well, that's simple. My car. But if you ask why I named my car, I can't provide you a very good answer other than 'because I wanted to.'

I recently decided to bring Boris, er, my car, to Boston with me - I mean...it beats taking the Megabus to New York City and then Metro North home. The last time I went home here was a brief time log of my journey:

• Woke up at 8 in the morning
• Hopped on the 'T' around 8:30
• Got to South Station 9:30
• Hopped on my bus at 10
• Got into NYC around 2:30
• Trekked my way to Grand Central
• Got "home home" at 4:30

Not necessarily what I call a fun day. And with a car, that trip would have taken only a measly 3 and a half hours - instead of the eight hour journey that was my day. So instead of making that reverse trip back to Boston, I hopped in my car at 3:30 and got into Boston around 7. Much better right?

Well it was. Until I realized the nightmare that is parking in Boston...especially on a Sunday night. Clearly I don't have a Massachusetts license plate, nor do I plan on changing that - so I have to drive around until I find street parking that does not have that ever-so-hated "Resident Parking Only" sign. Lucky for me I knew of one prime location by my apartment. But on a Sunday night, it was of course packed. I drove three blocks up and magically found a spot. I was in the clear.

In the clear until "street cleaning" hours - which for that side of the street was the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month between the hours of 8 and noon.

So I moved my car to an ideal spot by my apartment. Moved my car again because there was no sign about street cleaning - which I assume is an evil plot to give me a ticket for being there at the wrong time because I didn't know about the obvious street cleaning that isn't posted. Had to take my cat to the vet. Got back early, and made a fool of myself trying to parallel park in another spot (by the way, I'm awful and am used to parking in my driveway). Then had to pick my cat up from the vet and trek my way back during rush hour to my apartment.

That's another great story. "Massholes" are awful drivers. They cut you off and make last minute turns sans blinker, and on streets that have roundabouts this really throws me off. But I'll steer clear of getting too deep into this topic. Let's get back to parking.

Having my car here is going to make it very easy for me to go home for Thanksgiving (my birthday: I'm thankful for being born). But I've also been told to try to not bring it back. Why? Snow. I mean it snowed in early November, so it seems likely that it should snow between Thanksgiving and Christmas break - and parking in Boston without a Massachusetts plate (and without neighborhood "stickers") during a "snow emergency" sounds like a whole other set of problems I don't want to deal with.

I'm thinking maybe it's starting to be worth it to drop $150 a month for a parking spot...

Until then...

-A.