The Meter Maid is now waterproof

I had to work one of the most pain-in-the-assed shows yesterday @ the Pavilion. I showed up for the sound check / tech rehearsal @ noon & parked @ a meter for five reasons:

1. I left for work & smelled the air & knew it was about to rain
2. I normally park on the other side of Minn. Ave because it is free
3. I did not want to to to haul ass in a downpour to where I normally park
4. I had Duffy {my laptop} with me. [see #2]
5. I did not think I would be there for more than an hour

So after plugging the little gray minion of revenue for 2 hours of time, {SIDEBAR: If you goto the Washington Pavilion, park on the north west side by the loading docks, they have a four hour time limit}, thinking I would be there MAYBE 90 minutes, I went to work.

While dealing with music that sounded like it was recorded on a Close-N-Play, we had a rainburst that we could hear in the "sound proof" Great Hall that lasted forever. After 3.5 hours I was able to go out to plug the meter, & found a little yellow $5.00 present soaking on my windshield.

Normally I would not be surprised about it since I was there longer than payed for, but this is different. Normally when it is storming outside, the meter mavens gather indoors @ the old parking ramp & wait it out. So during those times you normally can get away without dumping coin into the little bastards. But after carefully drying out the envelope & ticket I discovered that it was written during the worst of the downpour.

I guess my question is:

Since when did the city get a rainproof Rita?