We've given the city of Chicago a lot of our money. And I mean a lot. You may remember me telling you about the parking sticker debacle of 2011 that cost us $240. We had an expired parking sticker but didn't know it...we parked in a friend's neighborhood...we never got the ticket and blah, blah, blah, we ended up owing the city a ton of cash.
And of course there's always the tremendously large amount of rent we pay, which is partially so high because of Chicago taxes. I won't give you an exact figure, but let's just say in my 2 1/2 years here, we have paid a healthy five-figure number for a one-bedroom apartment. And you can't forget the food, drinks and just about everything else that costs more in a city.
But apparently it's not enough. Chicago always wants more.
Look at this fun letter I opened yesterday. Yep, the city caught us (and by us, I really mean my husband) running a red light last month which will now cost us a cool Benjamin Franklin. (Sadly, I'm pretty sure the last time I got a $100 bill was when I graduated from college.)
Oh, and there's no denying the infraction...there's photographic proof. They included three photos of my Murano cruising through that light like Katie Holmes is cruising her way out of being Mrs. Cruise. The city says I can fight it, but why even bother? I just hope the guy in the white car next to us got the same fun letter.
The funny thing is...I know exactly when this happened. It was my grad school graduation day and Mike was driving his parents and my dad home from Evanston. I can almost envision that car ride...lots of family members talking all at once about their ingrown toenails Christmas Vacation style and Mike knew he needed to lay on that gas and get home as quickly as possible.
The other funny thing is...this isn't our only ticket from that day. Yep, Chicago found us later parked on our street so my parents could have our parking garage spot and wouldn't ya know, we had an expired license plate. That cost us another $60. Yep, it seems we'll never learn. It's just so hard keeping up with car stuff when I only drive the car once every couple of weeks.
So there you go Chicago, you're getting another $160 from the Evanchans. The new score--Chicago 3, Evanchans 0.
And of course there's always the tremendously large amount of rent we pay, which is partially so high because of Chicago taxes. I won't give you an exact figure, but let's just say in my 2 1/2 years here, we have paid a healthy five-figure number for a one-bedroom apartment. And you can't forget the food, drinks and just about everything else that costs more in a city.
But apparently it's not enough. Chicago always wants more.
Look at this fun letter I opened yesterday. Yep, the city caught us (and by us, I really mean my husband) running a red light last month which will now cost us a cool Benjamin Franklin. (Sadly, I'm pretty sure the last time I got a $100 bill was when I graduated from college.)
The funny thing is...I know exactly when this happened. It was my grad school graduation day and Mike was driving his parents and my dad home from Evanston. I can almost envision that car ride...lots of family members talking all at once about their ingrown toenails Christmas Vacation style and Mike knew he needed to lay on that gas and get home as quickly as possible.
The other funny thing is...this isn't our only ticket from that day. Yep, Chicago found us later parked on our street so my parents could have our parking garage spot and wouldn't ya know, we had an expired license plate. That cost us another $60. Yep, it seems we'll never learn. It's just so hard keeping up with car stuff when I only drive the car once every couple of weeks.
So there you go Chicago, you're getting another $160 from the Evanchans. The new score--Chicago 3, Evanchans 0.
OMG Jeannie, I just read this and am having a good chuckle. Too funny, however I know it wasn't that funny for you and Mike.
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