--- In [email protected], "Jeff" <ovid...@...> wrote: > Park at a metered spot (on a day that's well below freezing), as you normally > would. Insert the proper coin (dime, quarter, whatever). Then (while no one > is looking) use a squirt gun to soak the insides of the meter with H2O. If > (as is typical for winter in the "frost belt") the temperature is below > freezing, the innards of the meter ice up. Nothing moves. Including the > timer. Until (of course) the temperature moves above freezing. > > Now, I'm sure this is illegal, and I would never, ever try it where I live > now (Atlanta), but some friends from my home town (Chicago) swear by it.
I suspect this only works with older-style mechanical meters. All the parking meters in my city now are solid-state with LCD displays. The only thing freezing their innards would accomplish would be to keep anybody from buying more time unless they have a "smart key". In New York and many other communities, curbside parking meters are gradually being replaced with "smart meters," one or two per block, that dispense receipts to be displayed on the windshield. "Smart meters" allow variable pricing for people who want to pay extra for parking time longer than that normally allowed, and also accept credit cards which curbside meters do not. I also suspect they're immune to water torture. David Patch Toledo, OH
