Permitted Assigns: Fill & Download for Free

My husband and I were renting an apartment in San Antonio TX , that had covered parking for residents, (not assigned, first come, first served) that required a parking permit. It didn't cost anything, you just went to the office, filled out a form with the make/ model/year of the vehicle, and license plate number. The manager signed, I signed, and received a sticker with a number, which I promptly affixed to the windshield. We were very happy, just bought a new SUV, after working and saving for quite a while.This was March 2015. Fast forward to May, Sunday, Mother's Day. We're going out to go to brunch, no vehicle where we parked it. First thought, stolen, but the complex had a towing company contracted, that would cruise the complex, looking for unauthorized vehicles.So I decided to check with them, before I called the police, because I had been hearing about some trouble with the tow company from the neighbors. So I called, asked about my truck, they say yeah, we towed it. You can come pick it up downtown at the lot, today, it's $278.00, it goes up $25 per day until you get it. I asked why was it towed, the guy says, no permit. I said, yes, there is, I have the paperwork provided by the office. He said, our driver said there wasn't one. I said, go look again, it's there.He keeps me on hold like 20 minutes, comes back, ok, yeah, it's there, but it's really hard to see. Ok, come get it. I said, I'm not paying for the wrongful tow, he said you don't have to pay. I get down there, the lady there says she doesn't know anything about not paying. So we pay, and we're fuming.I looked online, and found a lawyer who takes these types of cases. We go to small claims court, and the owner is there, turns out that's who I talked to. And he's lying his ass off, said he never told me I didn't have to pay, never saw any permit, and has the apartment manager there, that we've known for 4 years, and she testified she doesn't remember issuing us a permit. We're looking at her like, really?! We all walked outside, to view the permit sticker, and she's still saying that she doesn't remember, that we could've gotten it anywhere, etc.The judge knows this tow truck owner, apparently he's a frequent flyer in his court. But he's got to look at the evidence. And it's kinda looking bad for us, because of the manager. And then I remembered that the entire property is recorded with cameras. It never gets deleted, all the footage goes to the cloud.So the judge orders the manager to access the feed for the day we got the sticker and put it on the monitor. After we all watch it, the judge is so mad that the both of them sat there and under oath, and lied. They were so smug while doing it. The judge tells the tow company owner, “I realize that you are used to steam rolling over people who don't fight back against you and your disreputable business. Today is not that day”.We had only sued for the cost of the tow, cab fare to the impound lot, and the lawyer fees. He gave us a judgement for the maximum amount allowed, $5,000, plus attorney fees. Plus he had to pay a fine of $10,000 to the Texas Towing Compliance Division, because with our case, it was the company’s 10th complaint won against them, and the fine goes up every third violation of wrongful tow.Oh, the smile I turned and gave that idiot. Then, he tells the apartment manager, it's obvious to me that you are getting kickbacks from this company, for allowing wrongful tows, and lying to me about these residents not assigned a permit from you. That's a violation of statute so and so (I don't recall the numbers), which carries a fine of $6,000, you will be reported to the residential management housing authority, violation code, and they will be reviewing the information, and decide if they want to impose jail time, and notify the property owner of the malfeasance of the manager of the property. I'm also going to order a payment made to the plaintiff, for $2,500, for inconvenience, and abusing the trust placed in you by your tenants.You should have seen her face, hahaha! Another big grin from me. The judge turned to them and said, I hope the tow fee was worth it, and ma'am, the $50 or whatever amount kickback you received, I hope that was worth it too.The last thing he said to my husband and I, was he was pleased we took the time to file a claim, and take them to court. He said many people don't, they don't want to miss work, or risk going against the manager at the place they live, so they just pay these thieves, and the more they get away with it, the bolder they get.We left the court a couple of happy plaintiffs. Yay! Score one for the little guy! One last piece of karma, the manager was fired, and we received a free month’s rent.

Tickling toddlers is tricky and misunderstood. I learned how tricky it is when I was doing parenting evaluations for child custody.THE COCKY BOYFRIENDI’ll never forget when a mother’s live-in boyfriend showed up for an observation session with mom’s 4-year-old daughter. He was a cocky guy determined to show what an amazing relationship he had with the little girl. Watching the two of them together made me think she was hesitant and uncertain with him. What happened next upset me and I’m angry now just typing this.WHY I INTERRUPTED THE SESSIONI gave them a play assignment, and instead of getting on the floor with her to build something, he started to tickle her. She’d laugh and look away and pull back. He’d look at me and nod and wink as if to say “see what a great father figure I am? She’s laughing and having a great time.” The opposite was true, and her distress became less subtle with each tickling. It takes a lot for me to interrupt a parenting observation, but the second time she looked at me I said “OK, thanks. The rest of the observation is just conversation, no touching.” Boyfriend was a little deflated, little girl relaxed, and I was relieved and kicking myself for not stopping it sooner.Just because child is giggling does not indicate it’s a good thing. It’s an intentional, intrusive stimulation that produces the odd neurological response of laughing and cringing at the same time.LAUGHING OR EVEN ASKING DOESN’T MEAN THEY WANT TO BE TICKLED.Some kids ask to be tickled because it’s a way of getting touched and attended to. Some enjoy it, though usually only briefly. Most will exaggerate and sustain their response if the adult seems to be enjoying it a lot.Kids are extremely resilient and can survive insensitive tickling and a whole lot worse, but I suggest parents be a little cautious with it. If you must do it, keep it very brief, permit only close, safe and child-aware adults to do it, and keep a close eye on the child’s body language (apart from the reflexive laughing).

My frat’s parking lot driveway was one of three driveways on a narrow one lane road. Another driveway led to a single spot on our property, which we assigned to our President. Street parking on the one way street was by permit only. The owner of a small sports car decided to park in our President’s spot one day. We called the police to come issue a ticket prior to towing, but the owner came back just as the police arrived, and got off with a verbal warning. Next time he parked in our lot. Fine. The lot is posted no trespassing. We didn’t need the police to issue a ticket, so we had him towed. Mr Glutton For Punishment hadn’t had enough. Next time he parked on the street BLOCKING our driveway. It’s amazing what 12 guys can lift. Someone (ok, I might know who, but I’m not saying) inserted his car on its side inside a stand of trees on the side lot. It could not be lowered onto its wheels because of the trees. When he showed up with a tow truck, we informed the operator that we would hold him liable for any damage to the trees. And, no, we would not permit anyone other than the owner of the vehicle and the tow truck operator onto our property, and that only for the purpose of removing the vehicle. The car’s pretty paint job didn’t look so good after being dragged on the side through the trees. Rumor had it his girl friend in the apartment next door watched all the commotion and dumped him for being such an ass.