Parking Problems

I've determined that the lack of parking at the University of Texas at Austin is the cause of all of my social problems. Try to follow along...

There is extremely limited parking at UT Austin. I put my name on the waiting list for the garages near my office two days after I started. The waiting list is approximately 2.5 years. That is not an exaggeration. I have 2 years to go. In the mean time, if I choose to drive to work I can park in a public garage for a "reduced rate". It is only $6 per day. I can't afford that because I work in student affairs. So most days I take the bus. It's free, but if I leave my office at 5pm I don't get home until 6:30pm. By the time I make and eat dinner and make an attempt to exercise and then shower it's about 9:30pm. I get up at 6am and need 8 hours of sleep so I have to go to bed at 10pm. So that is 30 minutes of free time.

I have been told that I need to be more social and outgoing and to some degree I agree. I would like to actively participate in the ADPi Alumni Association in Austin. I would like to join the OSU Young Alumni Association kickball team. I would like to join a fun young professionals group in Austin that goes to happy hours and mountain biking. Not only do all of these activities have their own fees and costs, but they also take place on week day evenings. That would require me to drive to work several days in a week. And that would require me to pay for parking that I can't afford.

So if UT Austin would just be a little more accommodating to staff members then maybe I could actually have a social life.