Damned Parking Charges

In the space of just a very short time the place I park when I drive into Newcastle has increased it's parking charges from around £1 per hour to £1:60 per hour which I reckon is disgraceful. So, if I'm going into town parking is going to cost me generally around £4:80. Public transport is out of the question as it's too unreliable, miles more expensive and infinitely slower.

Something has to be done about this so I've devised a plan. Parking is free after 18:00 so when I go into town I'm going to arrive in town just after 17:00 and pay for just one hour of parking as the ticket will be valid until 08:00 the following morning. The shops are all still open late so that's not an issue and this arrangement will deliver the following benefits:

1. Reduce cost of parking from £4:80 to £1:60, the money saved will pay for the petrol.
2. The shops will be a whole lot quieter, I can get around quicker with less hassle.
3. The morning will be completely free as I'll not be going shopping in the morning again.
4. Most of the afternoon will be free too.
5. I'll be home by about 19:30 so that will also leave plenty of the evening free as I'll be going into town using some time that I often waste.

So, the good thing about this is that say on a Saturday I could possibly go out and do a 100 mile ride, then go into town shopping if need be, and still have time for some couch time in the evening. Now that's what I call a win, win, win!