Baseball and grads; parking and elevators

Saturday we drove down to Linfield College in McMinnville. Nephew Vance was in the 1A-2A-3A state all star game. Vance pitched a stellar game...most valuable player!

We had to leave before the end of the game to go see niece Amanda graduate from Tualatin. The graduation was at the Memorial Coliseum. We have not been there since we got our eight and a half foot tall van. We found a top of a parking garage where we fit, even though we scraped the maximum height sign. Eric joked how one day we're going to decapitate our van.

Jodie, Eric and I got in the elevator to go down to street level. As we got out of the elevator, one of Jodie's wheels got stuck and Eric's foot got stuck. We should have gone back up a half floor, but neither Jodie or Eric were going to get back on the elevator. We found a way around to the sidewalk.

Jodie and I found the last 2 wheelchair spots on the far left side of the semicircle seating. Eric sat up high with Jodie's sister Pam. 410 grads...3 hours!

Afterward we met up with Eric. The handicap door closed on me; a very nice guy pried it open for me.

Just a mass of humanity! All Jodie and I could do was go real slow and wait for people to part so we could get through. I don't care for crowds, but people were really nice and let us get through.

Rather than use the elevator in the parking garage, we went around the block to avoid it. Eric did not complain; he did not want to go back in that elevator.

We made it to the van and got Jodie's chair and my scooter loaded before the crowds came. When we were ready to leave, the crowds were there so we just waited.

We made it home by 11. It struck me how we get around and participate in life. It's not always pretty and graceful - a scraped top on our fan, an elevator trying to swallow Jodie and Eric, a handicapped access door trapping me - but we make it through.

$150,000 Disabled Parking Spot

Disabled vet wins battle against homeowners association.

Downtown Portland hot button issue - Disabled parking

A story in the Portland Tribune outlines the dilemma: providing the disabled with easy access parking in downtown vs. people who may be using disabled placards that aren't really theirs just to be able to park for free.

I have read that some places want to differentiate between wheelchair parking and disabled non-wheelchair parking. Jodie and I would fall in between the cracks on this one. More often than not we use our scooters when we are in public. But sometimes, for short distances, we don't use them.

The task force charged with implementing the state's new rules the continue to guarantee free parking to wheelchair and scooter users, but not for the disabled who do not use wheelchairs and scooters. I'm happy to see that the majority of task force want to continue the free parking for all, and crack down on abusers of the program --- though that is much easier said than done.

I must confess that the two years that I worked downtown from 2002-2004, I took advantage of the free parking using my disabled placard. It was nice. I parked on SW Jackson between 5th and 6th every day...for free.

Even so, I do feel for downtown businesses who have so much of the convenient parking surrounding their business taken up by long term disabled parkers.

I do not really know the answers. Short term parking should be just that -- short term -- for disabled and non-disabled alike.

Maybe a new kind of sensor parking meter:

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3696701

Set it so that people cannot put additional money in the meter to extend the time beyond the time limit on the meter, or can extend it once.

A disabled vehicle would not need to pay, but would be under the same time limit as people who paid.

I don't know if the costs would make such solution possible, but I think it is a fair solution to the dilemma that is worth a look.