Peniless in...oh, never mind

I'm in Seattle on the first trip for my new book, and for the first time ever on a business trip, I'm paying my own expenses. This changes the routine dramatically. For instance, when I pulled up to the hotel last night, instead of flinging my keys to valet and paying the 26 FREAKING BUCKS A NIGHT this joint charges for parking, I circled the block until I found a metered spot that I had to get up early and feed. And speaking of feeding, I'm beginning to suspect that I'm going to taste nothing but fast food for a while (unless I'm lucky enough to get a room with a fridge, in which case I'm going grocery shopping).

So if I appear 10-15 pounds larger next time you see me, thank Krystal (No. 5 combo: two mini burgers and two mini chicken sandwiches, fries, and soda at Atlanta airport), Taco Bell (two 7 Layer Burritos in the parking lot next to SeaTac), and whatever modestly priced grub I can scrape up till Monday. No more Wolfgang Puck breakfast pizzas on the company dime! I'm having a nasty peek at what seizing the means of production actually entails.

I got a deal on the hotel, a self-consciously chic place staffed entirely, as far as I can tell, by thin women in vaguely Maoist black smocks, through Orbitz; it turned out to be $4 more altogether to stay here than at the Space Needle Travelodge, which had decidedly mixed reviews on Trip Advisor. There's free WiFi here, too, which actually saves me money, and as you can probably imagine, the coffee in the lobby is first-rate.

Any tips for parking for free or low cost in downtown Seattle would be greatly appreciated.