Why I Am An Idiot

So I decided, on a day off from work, to go downtown and visit some establishments I usually don't get to see because they close at 5pm. I pull into a nice parking spot. I check the meter. 42 minutes left on it, but I put in a quarter and pay for an extra hour. I roam around, visit the used bookstores, stop into some other shops, have lunch, wander around the block, finally get back to the car. I check the meter--ah, still 24 minutes on it, plenty of time. Oh oh. On my windshield is a $10 parking ticket--time expired. What th--? How can that be?

Shit. I paid the wrong meter. Don't ask me how, but the meters are staggered in such a way that the meter I paid is actually closer to my car than the meter I should have paid. So some jagoff in a minivan got some free parking, and I got a $10 ticket.

I'm an idiot.

EDIT: I paid my fine online. But I didn't like it.