Parking tricks and tips

It's one of those mornings . . . the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and you actually wake up, get ready, drive to class (catching every green light by the way) and arrive at Del Mar just in time for class.

What a glorious way to start the day! Or so you think…

You arrive on campus and spot that dark evil grey cloud casting an uninviting shadow over everything…the infamous Del Mar College parking situation.

You know the dance; three to five laps around the lot, creeping at about two miles per hour behind every person walking on campus, and asking any person near a car if he or she is leaving.

You finally find a spot, but go figure – it's a nice five-minute hike to your class and by the time you get there, you end up 20 minutes late anyway. Bummer.

Good news though: there are a couple of tricks that can turn this nightmare into something not so nightmarish.

The first trick to tackling the Parking Lot Blues is to get to DMC early. In this case, early is equivalent to 7-7:30 a.m. It's tough to wake up early enough to get to campus at that time, especially if it's a Monday (and if it's raining or your class is at 11), but you will be almost guaranteed Front-Row-Joe parking, if not something pretty darn close.

This idea isn't too bad, but for those who, like most of us, enjoy to sleep in a bit, timing becomes key.

If you get your timing just right and arrive on campus about the time class lets out, you may catch a break. Keep in mind most classes at DMC let out at 20 or 50 minutes after the hour.

Trying to use this to your advantage may seem confusing, so here's an example. Your class time is from 9:30 to 10:50 a.m. This means prior classes will be let out at about 9:20 a.m. so you'll want to arrive on campus between 9:17 to 9:25 a.m.

If you get here within a certain time bracket, most of the time you only need to make a couple of rounds to find a parking spot.

Rock star parking? Not so much, but it'll usually be in the parking lot adjacent to the building you need to be in, as opposed to a lot across campus

Also keep in mind that when it comes to spot selection, try not to be too picky.

This spot is 50 spaces away from the building, the lines are a little tarnished and it looks like a car had leaked some oil. Sure it's not presidential parking or anything, but it's there… and it's empty… and if you park there you won't get ticketed.

Give it a chance. Beggars can't be choosers and when it comes to parking spaces, if you find one, take it.