Permission to park

According to an announcement I heard yesterday on the radio, the city of Albany is about to introduce a Residential Parking Permit scheme in the districts closest to the Capitol.  Starting mid-January, residents of those areas will be required to show a permit decal in their car window; and parking visitors will need to borrow a temporary permit from a resident friend, or face hefty fines for parking longer than two hours between 8am-6pm.

It happens that my refugee friends live in one of the districts in question.  The dad has a car.  Today was his day off, so I was able to go along with him to City Hall with the correct paperwork and the $25 fee and we got him all set up - well ahead of the game.

It may not sound like much, but it was rather satisfying to get this done - another indication that after a difficult year, one way and another, my friends are starting to keep on top of things. It's been quite a learning curve for me, too, but lately we've been managing to get necessary applications etc submitted in a timely fashion and I'm really happy to see them less worried and more in control of their lives here.

Ah, but if only I could apply the same level of efficiency to my Christmas card list...

The Man adds...this evening I accompanied the Boy to his Fifth Grade Science Night. We both had fun. I had of course done all the same experiments with the Girl two years ago. And despite the doubts I expressed in this blog back then, students are still being taught that aeroplanes fly because of the Bernoulli Principle.