Ah! Best laid plans and all that.
I recovered and lost it again and recovered and lost it again. I did it all behind closed doors where she didn't have to witness it. She, of course, had left packing to the last minute and was running from one room to the other, headphones covering her ears, to gather her stuff and put it into the four suitcases that Southwest allows us for FREE. Shout out to Southwest, the best airline EVER. She never knew my meltdown.
The plane left late because it arrived late from some city with nasty weather. We barely noticed because it was twenty minutes, and the Southwest flight crew was hilarious the entire trip with sly jokes and a cappella. With a pit stop along our way to the baggage claim at the women's restroom, our luggage was just coming around the carousel when we arrived and we were out the door and on the shuttle bus to our rental car in record time.
In the past, Tom has taken care of my rental needs. He tends to go with the cheapest prices, which I was taught isn't always the best. My mother's motto was, "You get what you pay for," and the girls and I listened. He had used Payless Car Rental for several of my visits, and the last time, they tried some funny business with me and added funky charges and there was no one behind the counter for me to dispute it. I had to deal with it when I returned home, and although they did refund me, I was a ball of anxiety and stress. But this time I got my rental from Advantage and I booked it in May as soon as Madison knew when she needed to return to school.
There was no one in line at Advantage and the man behind the counter welcomed me and began my reservation. I, of course, started my nonsensical chattering which I believe everyone loves about me and finds entertaining, but I'm not sure he did. He was not wearing a name tag and so I didn't get his name, but in the course of my babbling I did let him know that he had a nice laugh. It was deep and throaty and immediately brought to mind something I could use in my romance novel because that is where my mind is constantly now, and so I told him that, clarifying it as sexy, along the lines of Barry White sexy.
Madison: "He was clearly uncomfortable with that."
His counter partner, Maranda, (how cool is that spelling of her name...for sure that is cropping up in my novel) however found me more how I believe people see me...delightful and fun-loving. She laughed, and when I followed Mr. Sexy Voice's instructions to check the car over, she asked Madison whether or not I wrote about her and Madison told her about my blog. When I returned Maranda asked me for my blog address, and I gave her my business cards, and we thanked them both and went out to slot #17 where our car awaited.
It was a hybrid. First of all, I barely know cars. I can't tell one car from the next in terms of make and model and refer to cars as vans, not vans, the tan one, and that car. Now the rental company was throwing in some new fangled hybrid that I believed had to be plugged into an outlet or something, and that came with keys that weren't really keys and were as large and heavy as a door stopper, and were certainly not going to fit in my pocket where I normally carry the keys to my VAN.
Madison pushed the button to get the car started. That was as far as we got. After farting around inside the car plugging in GPS coordinates for ten minutes, I realized the air conditioner was not cooling down the car. Madison, who forgot her phone charger (first item left at home) was trying to use mine and the hybrid car was telling her no-can-do too much battery power usage. I had no idea how to put the car into drive, and in searching for ways to do so noticed a funky picture on the dashboard in the area where ALARMS are located on my VAN at home.
Me: "What the hell is that picture? Get the manual out of the glove compartment so we can figure out how to use this damn hybrid. Why can't things be simple?"
Madison: "I think you should go back inside and tell them we want a regular car."
I didn't want to admit defeat. Actually, what I didn't want to do was toddle back into the office and admit I was an old lady who had no idea how to drive "these new fancy cars that you kids are driving nowadays". After finding a knob and turning it toward the "D" and still not moving forward and after locating the picture of the ALARM that stood for "service engine soon", I went back inside to find Maranda manning the office and no sign of Mr. Sexy Voice.
God love Maranda! (Hi Maranda! YOU ROCK!) She didn't make fun of me or laugh or even snicker. After discovering all the full size cars were hybrid cars, she upgraded me to a SUV. A NORMAL CAR! With air conditioning so cold our teeth were chattering after ten minutes. With no pictures or ALARMS or warnings. It is the smoothest car I've ever driven. According to the hotel guy, it is a Toyota Rava 4 for those who may want to know. I love it. Long live the old time cars that don't need to be plugged in!
Husband: "So you went back inside and asked for the horse and buggy."
Me: "Uh, yeah, I don't know how to drive those things either and I hate horses. Maranda knew what I needed. Plus, she's reading my blog now. Hi Maranda!"
I'm nominating her for Employee of the Week or Month or whatever Advantage Rental Car does for their employees because she turned what most likely was going to be a slobbering, my daughter is leaving home again for college and I won't see her for five months, crying mess (and I was that close people) into a joyful, cool aired car ride to our hotel.
Here's to a smooth transition of moving into the dorms and me holding my shit together! Thanks Maranda!
I recovered and lost it again and recovered and lost it again. I did it all behind closed doors where she didn't have to witness it. She, of course, had left packing to the last minute and was running from one room to the other, headphones covering her ears, to gather her stuff and put it into the four suitcases that Southwest allows us for FREE. Shout out to Southwest, the best airline EVER. She never knew my meltdown.
The plane left late because it arrived late from some city with nasty weather. We barely noticed because it was twenty minutes, and the Southwest flight crew was hilarious the entire trip with sly jokes and a cappella. With a pit stop along our way to the baggage claim at the women's restroom, our luggage was just coming around the carousel when we arrived and we were out the door and on the shuttle bus to our rental car in record time.
In the past, Tom has taken care of my rental needs. He tends to go with the cheapest prices, which I was taught isn't always the best. My mother's motto was, "You get what you pay for," and the girls and I listened. He had used Payless Car Rental for several of my visits, and the last time, they tried some funny business with me and added funky charges and there was no one behind the counter for me to dispute it. I had to deal with it when I returned home, and although they did refund me, I was a ball of anxiety and stress. But this time I got my rental from Advantage and I booked it in May as soon as Madison knew when she needed to return to school.
There was no one in line at Advantage and the man behind the counter welcomed me and began my reservation. I, of course, started my nonsensical chattering which I believe everyone loves about me and finds entertaining, but I'm not sure he did. He was not wearing a name tag and so I didn't get his name, but in the course of my babbling I did let him know that he had a nice laugh. It was deep and throaty and immediately brought to mind something I could use in my romance novel because that is where my mind is constantly now, and so I told him that, clarifying it as sexy, along the lines of Barry White sexy.
Madison: "He was clearly uncomfortable with that."
His counter partner, Maranda, (how cool is that spelling of her name...for sure that is cropping up in my novel) however found me more how I believe people see me...delightful and fun-loving. She laughed, and when I followed Mr. Sexy Voice's instructions to check the car over, she asked Madison whether or not I wrote about her and Madison told her about my blog. When I returned Maranda asked me for my blog address, and I gave her my business cards, and we thanked them both and went out to slot #17 where our car awaited.
It was a hybrid. First of all, I barely know cars. I can't tell one car from the next in terms of make and model and refer to cars as vans, not vans, the tan one, and that car. Now the rental company was throwing in some new fangled hybrid that I believed had to be plugged into an outlet or something, and that came with keys that weren't really keys and were as large and heavy as a door stopper, and were certainly not going to fit in my pocket where I normally carry the keys to my VAN.
Madison pushed the button to get the car started. That was as far as we got. After farting around inside the car plugging in GPS coordinates for ten minutes, I realized the air conditioner was not cooling down the car. Madison, who forgot her phone charger (first item left at home) was trying to use mine and the hybrid car was telling her no-can-do too much battery power usage. I had no idea how to put the car into drive, and in searching for ways to do so noticed a funky picture on the dashboard in the area where ALARMS are located on my VAN at home.
Me: "What the hell is that picture? Get the manual out of the glove compartment so we can figure out how to use this damn hybrid. Why can't things be simple?"
Madison: "I think you should go back inside and tell them we want a regular car."
I didn't want to admit defeat. Actually, what I didn't want to do was toddle back into the office and admit I was an old lady who had no idea how to drive "these new fancy cars that you kids are driving nowadays". After finding a knob and turning it toward the "D" and still not moving forward and after locating the picture of the ALARM that stood for "service engine soon", I went back inside to find Maranda manning the office and no sign of Mr. Sexy Voice.
God love Maranda! (Hi Maranda! YOU ROCK!) She didn't make fun of me or laugh or even snicker. After discovering all the full size cars were hybrid cars, she upgraded me to a SUV. A NORMAL CAR! With air conditioning so cold our teeth were chattering after ten minutes. With no pictures or ALARMS or warnings. It is the smoothest car I've ever driven. According to the hotel guy, it is a Toyota Rava 4 for those who may want to know. I love it. Long live the old time cars that don't need to be plugged in!
Husband: "So you went back inside and asked for the horse and buggy."
Me: "Uh, yeah, I don't know how to drive those things either and I hate horses. Maranda knew what I needed. Plus, she's reading my blog now. Hi Maranda!"
I'm nominating her for Employee of the Week or Month or whatever Advantage Rental Car does for their employees because she turned what most likely was going to be a slobbering, my daughter is leaving home again for college and I won't see her for five months, crying mess (and I was that close people) into a joyful, cool aired car ride to our hotel.
Here's to a smooth transition of moving into the dorms and me holding my shit together! Thanks Maranda!
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