Coming back from a recent trip, I was surprised to see a ticket affixed to my windshield.

So there I am, coming back from the Hot Rod Power Tour and as I made my way back to the parking structure - I noticed a ticket waiting to greet me. Of course, I was a bit confused at first. I looked around to make sure I was parked in the right zone; sure was - what could it be for? Upon closer inspection, I got nailed for not having a front license plate. Yes, it's the law and yes I know I need to have one. That said, I was a bit taken back simply for the fact it happened while the car was parked. And for what it's worth, the car never came with one when I originally purchased it, nor have I been pulled over for it in the five years I've owned it.

Long story short, I've been meaning to order new plates and unfortunately, I just didn't get around to it and kind of forgot about it - at least until I received a notice stating that the city wanted their money. Lets think about this, pay $25 now or $65 if I decided to sit on it for another week. Yeah, no brainer and I phoned in the payment.

Funny thing is, I expected the payment to be rejected, at least until I brought the car in to the local station and had it checked off with a front plate - nope, it wasn't like that at all. Instead, they took my payment and that's the end of it. It still seems odd to me, but I'll take it. Hmmm, then again, maybe it's because it was listed under another category on a parking ticket???

If I'm smart, I'll order a new plate and never have to worry about it again. The biggest problem will be making the time to address the problem. Do you have a similar story? If so, did it get resolved as smoothly as my situation or did you have to jump through all sorts of red tape to get it handled?